Media Contact: Matthew Berry, (202) 418-2005 matthew.berry@fcc.gov For Immediate Release STATEMENT OF FCC COMMISSIONER AJIT PAI On the D.C. Circuit Once Again Staying the FCC’s Attempts to Regulate Inmate Calling Rates WASHINGTON, March 7, 2016.—This morning, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit stayed the agency’s latest attempt to regulate the rates charged for inmate calling services. This was no surprise. Last October, I warned the agency that these regulations were unlawful. The FCC should have learned its lesson the first time around, in 2013. Then, too, I warned the agency that its regulations were fatally flawed—and then, too, the D.C. Circuit blocked those regulations. This case captures well how the FCC in recent years has done business. Political expedience trumps everything else; the rule of law is ridiculed rather than respected; and bipartisan compromise is rejected in favor of a party-line vote. Thankfully, we can still count on the federal courts to rebuke an agency untethered to the rule of law. Rules and reason may yet triumph over raw power. ### Office of Commissioner Ajit Pai: (202) 418-2000 Twitter: @AjitPaiFCC www.fcc.gov/leadership/ajit-pai This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action. See MCI v. FCC, 515 F.2d 385 (D.C. Cir. 1974).