Telmate asked the FCC to waive a video visitation annual reporting requirement for inmate calling service providers. Telmate said the waiver is justified because the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently vacated the video visitation reporting requirement, though the court’s mandate hasn't been issued, technically leaving the rule in place. The "requirement would impose a significant burden" as "Telmate would be required to expend internal resources in order to gather and provide the video visitation information," said a petition posted Tuesday in docket 12-375. As an alternative, the company asked that its video visitation reporting deadline be extended until 15 days after the FCC acts on its petition. ICS provider Global Tel*Link recently bought Telmate.
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The Regulatory Commission of Alaska warned Securus about the risk of trying to close its sale to Platinum Equity before getting RCA approval. Alaska and California reviews are pending, with California to vote in late August, but Securus said Friday it didn’t mislead the FCC when it said it had all necessary state regulatory OKs and urged quick federal approval (see 1708030040). Over the weekend in FCC docket 17-126, the inmate calling service (ICS) provider clarified that it has OKs from all states where it was “contractually” obligated, and urged the federal commission to quickly greenlight the deal. Opponents the Wright Petitioners disputed the explanation.
Securus needs at least two state regulatory OKs for its sale to Platinum Equity, despite Securus CEO Richard Smith telling the FCC last week the company got OKs from all states needed. With an FCC decision expected soon, the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) said Wednesday it will decide by Dec. 11. Earlier, the California Public Utilities Commission said it couldn’t issue an order until at least its Aug. 10 meeting (see 1708010030). Securus targeted an Aug. 1 closing date and recently warned it would incur $75,000 in transaction fees on every day after Aug. 1 that the deal wasn’t closed. The Securus deal is still under review, an FCC spokesman said Thursday.
The Wright Petitioners asked for en banc review of a panel ruling that reversed key FCC inmate calling service pricing decisions, including intrastate rate caps, in a 2015 order (see 1706130047). A divided three-judge's panel's opinion "is at odds with fundamental Chevron principles and conflicts with decisions of the Supreme Court and this Circuit," said the inmate family advocates' petition (in Pacer) for rehearing en banc by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Global Tel*Link v. FCC, No. 15-1461. The panel "struck down FCC regulations designed to rein in monopoly-fueled overcharges for prison inmates’ telephone calls that often constitute the only contact between incarcerated individuals and their families," the petition said Friday. "The panel did so on the basis of its de novo interpretation of the governing statute, refusing, except on one issue, to defer to the FCC’s longstanding statutory interpretations in a notice-and-comment rulemaking. This was not because the interpretations were unreasonable, or because the Commission had rescinded its decision, but because the agency’s Deputy General Counsel represented in a letter to the Court that a majority of the Commission no longer supported all of the issues as briefed. ... Courts review decisions, not letters from counsel." The FCC didn't comment. "Given the history of stays in this proceedings, the FCC’s stance on the crucial issues, and the straight forward arguments presented, this seems a real long shot," NARUC General Counsel Brad Ramsay told us. The Wright Petitioners had said they planned to file the petition when they asked the D.C. Circuit to delay consideration of an industry challenge to a 2016 FCC reconsideration order that revised ICS rates (see 1707140044).
Some states are weighing caps on inmate calling service rates after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit last month struck down FCC intrastate rate caps, and as Chairman Ajit Pai seeks a “lawful” way to address high costs (see 1706130047). Tuesday, the Montana Public Service Commission opened a rulemaking to revise the rates, concerned charges may exceed provider costs. Other states are watching the issue, officials told us, while Securus CEO Richard Smith supports state reviews of intrastate rate caps, blaming high fees on commissions it pays to government agencies to win ICS contracts.
Inmate family advocates and the DOJ and FCC said a court should continue to delay consideration of an industry challenge to a 2016 commission order that revised inmate calling service (ICS) rates set the previous year. The Wright Petitioners said they are planning by July 28 to petition for rehearing of a related U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruling reversing key ICS rate decisions in a 2015 FCC order in Global Tel*Link v. FCC, No. 15-1461 (see 1706130047). The D.C. Circuit should thus continue to hold in abeyance its review of a challenge to the commission's 2016 ICS reconsideration order, said a Wright Petitioners' filing (in Pacer) Friday in Securus Technologies v. FCC, No. 16-1321. If the rehearing petition is filed on GlobalTel*Link, the Securus case should continue to be held in abeyance until the rehearing petition is resolved, agreed a joint DOJ and FCC filing (in Pacer) Thursday. But Securus, Global Tel*Link, Telmate and CenturyLink (here in Pacer), Pay Tel Communications (here in Pacer) and state and local entities (here in Pacer) said the court should vacate the recon order and remand it to the FCC. The ICS providers asked that a court stay of the order remain in place while the commission considers issues on remand. Meanwhile, a Wright Petitioners filing in FCC docket 17-126 disputed arguments in a recent filing by Securus and SCRS Acquisition defending the planned sale of Securus to SCRS. The Wright Petitioners also criticized the parties' procedural handling of filings, given their requests for both domestic and international service FCC approvals.
Some recent court decisions have “nibbled away” at the concept of Chevron deference, attorneys from the FCC Office of General Counsel said at an FCBA CLE Monday evening. The legal principle that courts should give deference to expert agencies on matters of interpreting legislation is “in flux,” said Litigation Division Chief Jacob Lewis. “Chevron lives, it’s still healthy,” Lewis said, but the doctrine is facing “more serious challenges.
Federal judges shot down key parts of an FCC order that limited inmate calling service charges without regulating ICS provider "site commission" payments to correctional authorities. A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated caps on intrastate ICS rates, use of industry-averaged cost data in setting rate caps, and exclusion of site commissions from industry costs. It remanded rate caps, ancillary fees and site-commission costs for further agency consideration. Judges Harry Edwards and Laurence Silberman approved the ruling and Cornelia Pillard largely dissented in Global Tel*Link v. FCC, No. 15-1461 (see 1706130012).
Federal judges struck down FCC intrastate rate caps on inmate calling services and several other provisions of a 2015 ICS order. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Tuesday also vacated the commission's use of industry-averaged cost data and the imposition of video visitation reporting requirements in Global Tel*Link v. FCC, No. 15-1461. It said FCC exclusion of site commission payments from its cost calculus couldn't stand as currently constituted, and vacated and remanded that decision for further proceedings, but it denied challenges to site commission reporting requirements.
Inmate calling service providers backed and inmate family advocates opposed a request by Securus Technologies for the FCC to extend an ICS provider reporting deadline until at least Sept. 1 and preferably to April 1, 2018 (see 1703130032). Global Tel*Link, Pay Tel Communications and Inmate Calling Solutions supported the Securus motion, which cited litigation over a 2015 ICS order and a delay in Office of Management and Budget approval of the reporting duties (see 1703010008). The June 1 deadline "contravenes the plain language of the Second ICS Order, which demonstrates the Commission intended to give ICS providers time between OMB approval of the reporting requirement and the due date of the first report," said GTL comments posted Wednesday in docket 12-375. ICSolutions' comments expanded on Securus arguments and said a court stay of certain FCC rules hindered provider ability to facilitate rule compliance. In opposition, the Wright Petitioners, Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants and Prison Policy Initiative filed joint comments that said the motion "must be denied." They noted the FCC already had extended a previous April 1 deadline by two months, and said providers have been required by rule to "clearly, accurately, and conspicuously disclose their interstate, intrastate, and international rates and Ancillary Service Charges to consumers" since March 1. The Human Rights Defense Center commented that Securus was trying to delay reporting duties the provider helped create in a "carefully constructed consensus proposal" with others. "That we need this level of reporting at all is the direct result of current and past industry practices and the lack of transparency regarding [ICS] rates and fees," HRDC wrote. In reviewing an annual reporting form and instructions, Pay Tel commented it "identified several discrepancies regarding, or questions concerning, the information sought," and it requested various clarifications.