March, 07 2017, 01:45pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Email:,press@civilrights.org,Phone: (202) 869-0398
Civil and Human Rights Coalition Concerned with FCC Chair Pai's Recent Actions
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is raising concerns over Federal Communications Chair (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai's recent decisions on Lifeline, media ownership, and inmate calling rates.
WASHINGTON
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is raising concerns over Federal Communications Chair (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai's recent decisions on Lifeline, media ownership, and inmate calling rates.
In a letter sent today to the FCC Chairman seeking a meeting, The Leadership Conference noted in part, "These three issues comprise the core of the Commission's obligations under the Communications Act to 'make available ... to all people of the United States, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex, a rapid, efficient, Nationwide, and world-wide wire and radio communication service with adequate facilities at reasonable charges.' Thus, we hope to meet with you soon to discuss the above concerns."
"Chairman Pai should align his statements with his actions," said Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference. "He professes concern with media ownership diversity while removing the only policy that has actually increased diversity. He says he wants to close the digital divide while cutting off access to affordable broadband. He acknowledges the cost of calling prison is unacceptably high and the product of a dysfunctional market, but takes the side of phone companies and jails seeking to protect predatory rates. We look forward to meeting with the Chairman to discuss these and other important issues."
The full letter is available here.
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States. Through advocacy and outreach to targeted constituencies, The Leadership Conference works toward the goal of a more open and just society - an America as good as its ideals.
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U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that he is commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 Americans and pardoning 39 people convicted of nonviolent crimes, a move the White House described as "the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history."
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According to a White House fact sheet, those who received commutations "have been serving their sentences at home for at least one year under the Covid-era CARES Act," a law that extended the amount of time in which people could be placed in home confinement to reduce the spread of the virus in prisons.
The White House did not name those who received pardons or commutations but said the list includes a "decorated military veteran," a "nurse who has led emergency response for several natural disasters," and "an addiction counselor who volunteers his time to help young people find their purpose."
The Biden Justice Department paused federal executions in 2021, but President-elect Donald Trump pledged on the campaign trail to expand the use of the death penalty and is expected to allow the executions of the 40 men on death row to take place if they're still there when he takes office next month.
In a statement on Thursday, Biden said that he has "the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for non-violent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses."
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Biden, who campaigned on ending the death penalty at the federal level, vowed to "take more steps in the weeks ahead" as his administration reviews clemency petitions, leaving open the possibility of commutations for death row prisoners.
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