High Tech Prisoners

They are giving prisoners computers in some states here now. Can you believe it? Ohio became the latest state last month to allow inmates to purchase and use mini tablet computers while in jail. It is a controversial move intended to, "better connect those in jail with their families and friends outside of it." Actually, I think it will enable the prisoners to be able to better connect with on line crimes. Hmmmm I wonder which state will be the first one to have one of its convict order a murder though use of his prison tablet?

Anyway, at least six other of the fifty states permit criminals to have a personal computer in jail. Those who favor the policy say that it will "deepen prisoners' ties to their communities and keep them in sync with modern technology." They envision it as an "educational tool". Yes, educational too....but a negative one in many cases, I think. I wonder if giving them computer access is also a training guide for more crimes once the prisoner is released from jail. I would prefer that those in jail are not " tied to the community" as they are in prisoner because their ties to the community have been criminal ones. They can tie all they want  themselves when they have served their jail term and are released from prison.

Is not one reason that prisoners are confined in jail to protect the community from their harmful activities? Giving convicts computers is like handing an arsonist a box of matches and pointing him toward a wood house. Too, I wonder if the victims of their crimes will be put in jeopardy by convicts in jail who exact revenge on their victims through use of the computers. Unrestricted and unsupervised use of the computers can make it easier for inmates to re-victomize or continue to intimidate the victims they harmed in the first place.  More than four in 10 offenders in the U.S. return to state prison within three years of their release, so the odds are great that many prisoners will abuse their computer privileges.

In the states that allow the convicts to have the tablets  inmates or their family members can purchase a $49.99 mini tablet that allows them to send E mails and listen to music,  The E mails and any included attachments can be monitored by the state's department of corrections or the individual facility, but that is hard to do given the number of computers in use and the shortage of the number staff to do it. One would think that prison officials would realize the danger of convicts having computers by recalling the endless number of crimes already committed by convicts who have sneaked cell phones into their cells and used them to commit crimes. Drug gangs who often sneak cell phones in must be happy that computers are now allowed. Uh...prisoners do like breaking rules and giving them access to technology that make it easier to do so seems to me to be stupid.

Androids for convicts! Do you think it's a good idea? I wonder if it is the responsibility of prisons to make life more comfortable and high tech for the convicts, or is it better to rehabilitate prisoners with tools that do not pose a potential threat to those of us outside of jail? The old hard labor system seemed to work well. Maybe that might be a better tool for rehabilitation. At least after a full day of hard physical work the convicts would be too tired to plan or execute crimes on line from their jail cells