------------------------- Moderator's Note ----------------------------

This email was forwarded to me by a member of my Friends meeting: he
gave me permission to publish it. Full disclosure: I once worked for a subaidiary of GTL, fixing telephones in prisons and psychiatric
hospitals.

The original email is a bit too hyperbolic for my taste, with the same
URL repeated five times: a URL that would automatically credit my
friend with the clicks others make. I removed all but one of the
duplicate links, and changed that one so it goes only to a page that
gives readers the /option/ of signing the petition. I also substituted
URL's in the references so that they point to the original sources in
place of redirects that route through the color-of-change website.

Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly.

-mod
+--------------------------------------------------------------+

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: "Prison Phone Justice, Color Of Change" <info@colorofchange.org>
Date: Thu, Oct 28, 2021, 11:51 AM
Subject: UPDATE: The fight for prison phone justice is still happening.
To: Telecom Digest <telecomdigestsubmissions@remove-this.telecom-digest.org>

*Brian, join the fight.*

<https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/martha-wright-act/>

*Add Your Name To Fight For Phone Justice*

*Incarcerated people and their loved ones deserve to stay connected, Brian.*

This remains true and why we are continuing the fight for prison phone
justice.

Prison telecom corporations like Securus and GTL make more than $1.4
billion [Per day? Per year? -mod] charging families up to $16 for 15
minute phone calls. They are extracting wealth from Black families who
simply want to speak to loved ones.

*That is why we are calling on Congress to pass the Martha Wright Prison
Phone Justice Act.^1* This bill would require the FCC to put a cap on
how much prisons and jails can charge incarcerated people and their
families for these phone calls.

*Brian, we need your help now to keep families connected. Sign the
petition to call Representative Madison Cawthorn and Senators Richard
Burr and Thom Tillis to pass the Martha Wright Prison Phone Justice
Act.*

*Keep Families Connected*

Earlier this month, the House Committee on Energy & Commerce held a
hearing about a number of bills, including the Martha Wright Prison
Phone Justice Act.

Our prison phone justice coalition partner Cheryl Leanza^2 testified
before the committee and urged for the passage of the bill.^3 As
Leanza mentioned, there are 1.4 million children in the U.S. with an incarcerated parent, and because of our racist criminal justice
system, Black families and communities are hurt the most by predatory
telecom companies. *We need federal legislation to combat these cruel practices.*

*Tell Congress to pass the Martha Wright Prison Phone Justice Act so
children can speak to their incarcerated parents without causing
financial instability.*

There are a number of representatives who have co-sponsored the
legislation in recent weeks, but we need to keep the pressure going.

Families shouldn't have to make a decision between being able to speak
to their incarcerated loved one or pay bills. *But that is the harsh
reality that some of these families are facing.*

*You can help fuel our fight for prison phone justice. Join us in that
fight.

Until Justice is Real,

Scott, Erika, Rashad, Arisha, Malachi, Megan, Ernie, Palika, Ariel,
Madison, Trevor, Erick, Ana, Kristiana, McKayla and the Color Of
Change team

+--------------------------------------------------------------+

References:

1. H.R.2489 - Martha Wright Prison Phone Justice Act https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2489

2. @Cheryl Leanza.
https://twitter.com/Cleanza

3. @FreePressLeo. https://twitter.com/FreePressLeo/status/1445809298915868678?s=20

+--------------------------------------------------------------+

Color Of Change
<http://act.colorofchange.org/> is building a movement to elevate the
voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and
political change. *Please help keep our movement strong.*

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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