Haley, Governors ask FCC to change contraband cellphone regulations
May 23, 2016
“States must have the flexibility and authority to eradicate this threat to the public safety in our states”
COLUMBIA, SC – Governor Nikki Haley and fellow governors from across the country signed a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Thomas Wheeler requesting a re-evaluation of regulations regarding contraband cellphones in prisons.
In a letter to Chairman Wheeler, the governors said, “Correctional officers across the country work in an environment many will never see or fully understand in terms of threats to staff and public safety. Contraband cellphones in the hands of prisoners dramatically increase these threats to witnesses, the public, the officers, their families, and even other prisoners.”
Last month, during a FCC field hearing held in Columbia with FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, Governor Haley asked that cellphone jamming restrictions be lifted and that states be granted permission to use the blocking technology. The governor said, “This is something that has a solution to it. Allow us to jam our prisons … Something has to change.”
“We need the FCC to allow us to streamline processes,” said Gov. Haley. “In corrections, a lot of times, I don’t have fixable problems but this one…but it requires the FCC, it requires Congress, and it requires the Telecom industry to step up.”
