LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin today issued the following statement after he and Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita filed a lawsuit on behalf of Arkansas, Indiana, and 12 other state attorneys general challenging the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) new rule that regulates phone service providers in prisons:

“The FCC can’t dictate to Arkansas prisons how they negotiate cost-sharing agreements with service providers, and it can’t arbitrarily and capriciously pre-empt state laws regulating prison operations. Funds derived from inmate phone use go toward covering needed security measures. Without proper security measures, what would stop inmates from conducting criminal operations over the phone? The FCC’s regulations are disconnected from the economic and practical reality of providing communication services to inmates, and they exceed the FCC’s statutory authority.

“If these regulations go into effect, no one will benefit because prisons won’t be able to provide adequate security for phone calls prisoners make, and prisons may simply discontinue existing communication services, which means inmates won’t be able to make calls at all.”

Prisons negotiate contracts with communications service providers based on rate caps set by the FCC and use their portion of the revenue from these contracts to fund security measures and services that benefit inmates, including access to online legal libraries and remote religious services. The FCC’s new rule drastically reduces the rate caps, thereby making it nearly impossible for prisons to continue to invest in security measures to monitor calls.

Joining Griffin and Rokita on the lawsuit were the attorneys general of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia.

To read a copy of the complaint, click here.

KUAR | By Hunter Field / Arkansas Advocate

From the Arkansas Advocate:

A Central Arkansas judge is allowing the group challenging Arkansas’ new ballot petition law to amend its complaint before he decides whether to grant the attorney general’s request to dismiss the lawsuit.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herb Wright wrote in an order this week that he had concerns about whether a sitting state senator and the League of Women Voters of Arkansas had legal standing to bring a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a new state law that raises the number of counties where ballot initiative groups must gather signatures from 15 to 50.

“Plaintiff League of Women Voters comes somewhat closer to chinning the bar on proving standing, as the record shows that they have been involved in voter initiatives in the past and may be in the future, including the upcoming November 2024 election,” Wright wrote. “Nonetheless, their argument regarding their standing also falls short. Plaintiffs’ counsel stated for the record that the League is currently involved in two ballot initiatives that would be affected by Act 236, but that fact is not pled in Plaintiffs’ Complaint.”

Arkansas judge will allow amended complaint in challenge to new ballot petition law