The judge's gavel hits the podium with a sobering thud; life in prison with no possibility for parole. The inmate turns to his family and friends in the gallery. With tears in his eyes he says: "Be sure to check my Facebook page for my visitation times and a link to put money on my commissary account. Also Johnny, I have some sheep to sell you in Farmville." Should inmates in Prison be entitled to internet privilidges? Facebook? The state of California does not think so; in fact, they have never offered them internet access. Smuggled in smart-phones have served to keep inmates active in their social network circles. Now the state has asked Facebook to close all inmate accounts. Is this going too far?
In this episode, Tmaxx and Tempestuccia review this story and others to create a clear picture of the issue from both the side of the victims families as well as the inmates themselves.
CLICK HERE to listen to STORM WATCH: The Trott Report-"Facebook in Prison."
So, I will say, I do think that there should be programs for prisoners to help to rehabilitate them, to help those that truly want to better themselves for when they get out. However, I do have problems with them being provided things that are a "luxury". Case in point, if I was given basic cable for free, that would save me $30+ a month, a gym membership would save me another $30 a month, and the list goes on. Like Stormy said, if some people who are living paycheck to paycheck were offered some of these things, their lives could be improved. Yet that doesn't happen, so WHY exactly is it offered to inmates? That being said, I definitely don't think Facebook should be allowed. I think a lot of times social media causes problems in normal day to day citizens lives (i.e. bullying, etc.), let alone allowing inmates to have access to this type of communication. This was a great topic, I really enjoyed the discussion! Keep up the great work guys!! ~~ Tina
ReplyDeleteExactly! Also when a man is sent to prisone for traumatizing a small child and then finds a way to stalk her almost daily from his cell, it makes me absolutely sick that there are groups of "free" people who are out there fighting for their "family contact/connection" or whatever the bs reasons were. Perhaps these groups should look at exactly which families these men are connecting to! I am sure they would say it is beneficial and their right to maintain contact with their victims...."it helps them remember their need to reform by being reminding them of who they've harmed" It makes so little sense to me why someone would actually make such silly statements......the only thing I can figue is that they are recieving funding some funding from a philanthropist somewhere and this is the one that they found where all they have to do is make flowery statements that only a tiny fraction of the population actually listen to. OK, I am rambling again!
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