Prisoners and the Internet/ PCs

[Chris W]

http://www.insidetime.org/mar06articles/celltech.htm

Interesting article, which I am sure will spark some debate and conflict, but i'd be interested in what people think on this subject.

Stephen Cousins makes some very valid points, so let's have your views people- but i would ask everyone to bear in mind the 5 purposes of punishment:

Incapacitation
Deterrence
Restitution
Retribution
Rehabilitation

[skyblueheroes]

Voted No. They can do damage with a PC. If it happens, it needs to be guarded and monitored.

[Chris W]

did you read the article? Allowing only emails to "allowed lists", screening for keywords, and only allowing access to "allowed sites" was what Cousins was proposing.

Yes - if monitored/managed appropriately.

[cimt]

No, they already get enough. What is the point in putting people in prison if you're just going to treat them like mad? Idiotic government....

[Xaccers]

Yes, but heavily restricted and monitored, for educational use, and not in their cells but in an IT room.
Personally, I don't think TV's should be in their cells either, if they want entertainment, read a book (if they have trouble reading, then reading a book is probably the best thing for them!).
Have a TV room.
Much cheaper to provide 1 TV per TV room (1 per prison would be silly considering how many inmates there are these days), likewise with providing computers in IT rooms rather than every single cell.
You also have the issue of security for repair staff.
A single room can be closed off for extended periods of time to make major repairs without having to worry about what to do with inmates.
The same can't be said about a prison cell. If the inmate can't be in the cell, they need to be somewhere.
Internet access has been used by several inmates to show that they were wrongly convicted.
It's also a good educational tool which is part of rehabilitation.

Yes. Email, News and such access. Maybe webcam to talk to kids or something as well.

[jkat]

i would allow it under controlled circumstances, the obvious ones for me that would not be allowed, paedo's. very educational tool and could help rehab? an experiment somewere is called for i think.

[punky]

Errr...

to entertain them during the tedium of the lock-up hours.

help to keep prisoners occupied, entertained,

This is prison we are talking about? The place where people go when they decide to not live by the same laws as us?

You can tell a lag wrote it. Laptops with broadband and webcams, TVs, all paid for by us mugs? I'm not sure how keeping lags 'entertained' fits in with the Incapacitation-Deterrence-Restitution-Retribution-Rehabilitation paradigm. I don't get free Internet access and laptops, why should criminals? I don't know how he has the front to suggest it. It was probably the same front that made him thought to hell with laws, i'll do what I want.

Prison should be punative and rehabilitory. They should be taught how to use computers and the Internet, but not have access to the real Internet, only a closed LAN that has a small selection of pre-approved webpages on something uninteresting. Its for education, not entertainment.

Prison should be fun? Whatever next. I think I have heard it all now.

[Halcyon]

What would they use it for ?

If it is to contact their family or friends then no they should not have access to it as the whole point of prison is to be away from life and serve your time with no luxury whatsoever.

Being granted access only to sites such as jobs sites, alcohol / drug / relationship guidance, etc is more the thing they should be able to access.

[Wicked_and_Crazy]

No - Why should they have any comforts?

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Halcyon

What would they use it for ?

If it is to contact their family or friends then no they should not have access to it as the whole point of prison is to be away from life and serve your time with no luxury whatsoever.

Being granted access only to sites such as jobs sites, alcohol / drug / relationship guidance, etc is more the thing they should be able to access.

and as an educational resource, they shouldn't be used to provide them with entertainment or a link to the outside and it certainly shouldn't be avaliable anywhere other than an IT room at specific times

[rogerdraig]

good idea as long as its tied to education

Yes provided it isn't a right but a privilege.One that is earned by good behavior and rescinded by bad behavior as well as being well monitored.

[Raistlin]

Me obeying the law = me paying for all my own stuff, having to go to work, having to pay for my own food, having to pay for my own education, having to buy my own clothes, etc.....

Some *******, law-breaking, scrote = free food, free fags, free computers, free TV, free education, etc.....

Let's just get this straight for a second. Prison (as it stands at the moment) *isn't* a deterrent. There's no way, no where, no how, that these guys/gals should be getting computers with Internet access. Let's work on taking away their liberties and actually punishing them before we even begin to think about giving them shiny toys to play with.

Although, I supose there could be a marketing opportunity here.

<<----- Goes off to see if 'www.crims-reunited.com' is taken

Nope, it's available. Now there's a great idea. A social networking site for scrotes, while we're at it let's have www.mycell.com, www.Facebooked.com, or (for those without soap on a rope) www.youlube.com.

Oh, and as for monitoring content/filtering sites. I've got a 7 year-old brother that could get 'round most of the technology likely to be employed for that purpose - I'm damn sure that these 'criminal masterminds' won't have too many problems.

I voted 'No' by the way, just in case anybody was in any doubt.....