Email for Inmates?

[Still BLUTANG]

State considers e-mail access for inmates
Messages that would be screened for security could be swapped with a limited list of outsiders.

By WILLIAM PETROSKI
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
Copyright 2007, Des Moines Register and Tribune Company
Published September 4, 2007

Prison may be one of the last places without easy access to e-mail, but Iowa inmates could be checking their messages in the future.

The Iowa Department of Corrections is studying a plan to install sophisticated software to provide a tightly restricted version of e-mail for the 8,900 convicts in the state's prison system.

Inmates could swap e-mail messages with a limited list of relatives and friends, and the software would screen the communications for any hint of trouble, said Fred Scaletta, a prison spokesman.

Convicts would not be allowed to carry BlackBerry wireless devices or Apple iPhones to receive their e-mail. Instead, they would use surplus government computers in designated prison areas where e-mail use would be supervised, Scaletta said.


more...

[honeychile]

What would be the domain? @prison.con?

[SydneyK]

Ugh... I have such mixed feelings about this topic.

Yes, inmates are people, too. But they're inmates for a reason (and yes, I realize that innocent people are in jail, yada yada yada...).

Since they have access to cable TV, PlayStations, weight-lifting equipment, etc., then why not let them have email. The world (at least, the world of prisoners) would be such a different place if I were in charge, but alas, no one has asked.

[AlethiaSi]

Originally Posted by honeychile

What would be the domain? @prison.con?

LMAO

[Tom Earp]

When I was in college, I had a tour of the South Dakota State Maximum prison. PCs were not available then but I know that they ate better than I did in college.

Giving inmates this access gives them an open door to the world and peoples lives. Scams can abound.

No one but themselves placed them there but them selves.

You wish to give it to them?

[OneTimeSBX]

Originally Posted by Still BLUTANG

Convicts would not be allowed to carry BlackBerry wireless devices or Apple iPhones to receive their e-mail. Instead, they would use surplus government computers in designated prison areas where e-mail use would be supervised, Scaletta said.

umm...duh? i would be QUITE upset if my tax $$ was going towards Blackberry devices. whats next, giving them ipods?

as a person who has had problems being contacted from that type of situation, i wonder how strict the monitoring would be? its just one more way to be harassed by people with too much time on their hands.

[AlphaFrog]

I'm assuming since there's a list of people they can send to/receive from, the people would have to sign-off to be on that person's list.

I still don't think it's a good idea.

[cuteASAbug]

This sounds like a plotline for an upcoming episode of Law and Order.

[Still BLUTANG]

Most prison libraries allow inmates to use computers (word processing, very BASIC internet access). I know I'm generalizing here, but many inmates lack the educational foundation to effectively take advantage of these resources.

I am all for access to information and stuff, but I can't see a legitimate reason for an inmate to have email. I mean, theoretically they're in prison to rehabilitate themselves... so maybe an email account for job apps? or an email for when they send ridiculous research requests to the county libraries?

I just don't see any GOOD coming from this and i definitely would hate to be on the administrative end of this nightmare.

[OneTimeSBX]

i agree that some dont have the skill to fully utilize it, but just like they go in for armed robbery and come out assault experts, someone in there will "teach it". these guys/gals have soooo much time on their hands!

i would also hope that nobody with a penchant for internet crimes (see: Chris Hanson on "To Catch a Predator") would be allowed to so much as see a computer in there.

[texas*princess]

Originally Posted by honeychile

What would be the domain? @prison.con?

LMAO!

Hmmmm maybe it's because I live in Texas, the state that's all about the death penalty, but I don't really see why taxpayers should make prisoner's lives any easier while they're in the pen.

I would absolutely not be OK if my tax dollars were being spent on anything like that.


It's bad enough that they eat better than many law-abiding citizens who aren't in jail or prison, let's give 'em email too!!!

[GeekyPenguin]

At least then when they try to intimidate witnesses the log will already be typed instead of some poor intern at the DA's office having to type out pages and pages of "No baby, tell the DA you lied, you know I didn't mean to rape you."

[KDAngel]

Oh hell no. Someone keep us posted on how this develops. If Iowa residents have any sense whatsoever (not implying that they don't), they'll start complaining non-stop now about this one. Talk about a ridiculously stupid idea.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by KDAngel

Oh hell no. Someone keep us posted on how this develops. If Iowa residents have any sense whatsoever (not implying that they don't), they'll start complaining non-stop now about this one. Talk about a ridiculously stupid idea.

It's not at all stupid.

First, inmates are given pen and paper to write letters to whomever they wish, right? This is not "surfing for fun" we're talking about - it's a move into the modern era. There is no fundamental difference, from the inmate's perspective, between writing a letter to your mother and emailing her.

Besides this, there are massive advantages from the state's perspective - you can keep track of email MUCH more easily, just as Geeky pointed out. It's cheap, it's insanely easy to monitor, it's a stupid tax for retarded inmates who write stupid stuff (because there is no doubt who sent and it lives on servers permanently), and the list of potential recipients is narrowed, screened and gives massive information about the inmate to authorities. There is a very real upside for authorities.

This is COMPLETELY different from a "luxury" like cable television, which serves no purpose other than comfort - email does not give a 'liberty' to the incarcerated (in fact, the narrow range of recipients actually narrows the liberty from your letter-writing capabilities). So save your "JAIL IS SOFT!" rhetoric for cable TV, visitation, and commissaries - it's unfounded here.

-RC
--Iowan, so actually knows what's going on . . . "any sense" be damned.