Prisoners to get satellite television
by Lori Barrett | July 31, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Posted in baltimore crime
Inmates in some of Maryland’s state prisons will soon have a new amenity: satellite television.
According to the Herald-Mail, three prisons near Hagerstown will provide the service to inmates who have a personal television in their cells — reportedly at no (direct) cost to taxpayers, as it will be paid for by commissary sales and telephone charges.
Officials say the move is largely a safety measure because inmates are more inclined to say in their cells to watch TV when the option exists. A prison representative said: “[Y]ou have to keep in mind that anything you can do to keep inmates out of a staff member’s face is a good thing…. It eliminates congregate activity, that’s the kind of activity that, with gangs and so forth, present the opportunity for violence.”
Really, will a shanking be prevented just because So You Think You Can Dance is on tonight? Seems unlikely to me.
What do you think? Is prison becoming less of a crime deterrent as we provide inmates with more outside luxuries?
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July 31st, 2008 at 6:37 pm | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
Prisons have removed most of their "outside luxuries years ago. What we are seeing here is them being returned to prisoners.
Bring TV back to prisoners is probably an okay idea. After all, it is hard to discipline people if you have no leverage over them.
July 31st, 2008 at 7:18 pm | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
Couldn't agree more Mr.Wise - your name is fitting. It's also important to remember that if you treat people like animals, expect them to behave in kind.
!
August 1st, 2008 at 2:42 pm | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
WHAT???? How is not allowing prisoners cable/satellite tv treating them like animals??? These people commited a crime and they are now in jail for one reason... to pay for their crime! If they don't want to take advantage of prison wroks programs to learn a new skill or take advantage of educational opportunities allowed them, then that's bad on them. You go to jail to pay a pennance.
Allow them access to network tv and the cable news channels only. Then they are allowed tv.. if they don't like what's on tv it's up to them to find a new diversion. Go to the prison library and read a damned book.
Seriously, the ONOY thing the Constitution guarantees prisoners is to not be treated in a cruel or unusual way. There are plenty of people in this nation that don't have cable/satellite (only 40% of homes have it) so why should they? It's neither cruel nor unusual to take it away.
August 1st, 2008 at 4:44 pm | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
You're about 100 years too late with your "pennance" theory. I suggest you do a little further reading on the subject - treating inmates like lesser human produces....wait for it...people that behave like lesser humans. And, as stated in the article, it's not free....the inmates have to pay for with their commissary account - just like in the real world. Also it's only availible to inmates with a TV - that excludes Murder one and SHU inmates (you don't get A TV.)
And although your suggestion to "go read a damned book" is ambitious...you've obviously never seen a prison library...or literacy rates for incarcerated individuals.
Honestly, if someone robbed me and then got sent to prison with the option of Satellite TV, I'd probably be pissed. But the reality is simple - if you treat people like human beings they are less likely to become institutionalized and return to prison for hurting someone else. But don't take my workd for it - go access the data for yourself.
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August 1st, 2008 at 4:52 pm | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
it's up to them to find a new diversion
----snip----
BTW...Some popular prison "diversions":
- agrivated rape (tossed salad isn't just a side dish)
- Gang Activity (Learning new criminal behavior is fun)
- Assaulting Guards (Sorry about your left eye...you want it back?)
- Throwing urine and feces on one another (yum)
- Beating on smaller/younger inmates (That'll leave a mark)
- Unprotected sex (HIV is fun for the whole family)
- creating weapons (Wanna see me make this pencil disappear?)
Yeah, I think I'd rather they watch some Showtime instead...
August 2nd, 2008 at 8:35 am | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
so you're saying you'd just follow the mob? Did that work on your mom when you were growing up... you know, saying... "well, everyone else is doing it!"
"well, everyone else is assaulting guards."
"well, everyone else is throwing feces and urine."
"well, everyone else is creating weapons."
So, the prison syustem isn't perfect. No. I realize that. Somehow, Satellite TV is going to make it better? Hell, it just means a prisoner will be watching tv WHILE getting his salad tossed.
It's up to the individual prisoner to take charge of their lives, in or out of jail, and take the necessary steps to make themselves better, make the most of their time. Yes, I realize prison isn't the most ideal of places to make that happen. You can look at all the statistics you want. I've known people that have been locked up. I come from an area that had a lot of crime. There was a drive-by shooting that killed a student on my school campus my senior year of high school... in 1993. My best friend got locked away for drug dealing. Everyone I've known agree that jail is one place they don't want to return to. Only one of them has returned... because HE made bad choices, both in and out of jail. Two of them came out of jail much better off. One with a job set up through a works program where he learned IT skills. the other took college correspondence courses and walked out of jail with a degree. It was THEIR choices that enabled them to do what they did in jail. There's your statistics.
August 2nd, 2008 at 11:01 am | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
so you're saying you'd just follow the mob? Did that work on your mom when you were growing up... you know, saying... "well, everyone else is doing it!"
----snip----
Yeah because people that go to prison are known for being self-actualized and thinking for themselves. Hell most people could have avoided jail if they had just avoided "the crowd." Clearly you don't understand how prison works - if you did you would understand that it's a hieracrchy...and your place in that structure informs EVERYTHING you do. Independant thought is a luxuary reserved for people that aren't one wrong move away for getting a beat-down.
Also I'm confused by your arguement - on the one hand you say prisoners shouldn't be allowed luxuries beyond what is necessary to "pay their pennance" then you turn around and celebrate the unique opportunities one has while serving time. Exlain?
And if it's all the same to you I'll rely on valid scientific data instead of your "this guy I know" supported perspective. But I am glad your friends made the most of their time...seriously. You know that wouldn't have happened under your "shut-up pay your pennace" theory, right? Remember though, your friends are unfortunately the exception, not the rule.
!
August 2nd, 2008 at 2:10 pm | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
Explain? Simple. Prison works programs, skills learning, college/GED correspondence courses the my friends took advantage of? Those are something that serve to benefit the incarcerated person later in life, after they are released from prison.
Something like cable tv? What benefit does that provide to them? How does it provide them with any skills or something to help them in the future? It doesn't.
August 2nd, 2008 at 3:53 pm | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
I guess feeling human isn't something you consider "helpful" or "beneficial" in the long run. Television offers the same sort of comfort to them that it provides to you. But then again I forgot you're stuck the 1920s when it comes to prison protocol. And keep in mind, not all prisoners are illiterate street thugs in need of vocational training - I have a friend serving a few years right now that has multiple post-grad degrees. I seriously doubt he's interested in learning how to break into the floor sanding or data entry fields. He just wants to do his time and come home. You should familize yourself with actual prison demographics before you go painting with such a broad brush.
Also, according to your theory, prisoners should sit in their cells feeling remorseful until it's time to enthusiastically swallow their daily dose of self-improvement. The reality is that it just doesn't work that way. Most, like my friend, just want to do their time and leave. T
And like I've mentioned...they have to pay for their satellite service...it's not something that is freely given.
Frankly, I don't really care if inmates get television or not. I'm just opposed this idea that when someone breaks the law it's automatically OK to assume they are less deserving or less human. People make mistakes. All of us have taken chances in our lives that could have landed us in a cell wishing to god we could pass the time with south park or shark week too. We're no different, we just didn't get caught.
!
August 3rd, 2008 at 12:08 am | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
Frankly, I don't really care if inmates get television or not. I'm just opposed this idea that when someone breaks the law it's automatically OK to assume they are less deserving or less human.
---------------snip-------------
Less human? No. Less deserving? hell yes. The prurpose of incarceration is so those who have committed crimes pay for those crimes. They are seperated from the rest of the populace, they have the luxuries they previously had taken away. SHOULD those incarcerated choose to occupy their time constructively, so be it. Those who do not, sadly the rule rather than the exception, well, they just continue to make the same bad choices that laned them in jail in the first place.
Should someone choose to rape someone, or to savagely assault someone... well, yeah, that does make you less deserving.
A 'mistake' is washing red clothes with whites resulting in pink clothes. A 'mistake' is putting salt instead of sugar in your coffee. Embezzling money from a company is not a mistake. Dealing drugs is not a mistake. Even a DUI, though 'impaired,' is not a mistake. They are acts that are planned out in detail, such as a robbery, or happen on-the-fly as the result of a bad thought process. They are punishable offense.
I wil say this, though. You are definitely someone who stands by what they believe in, strongly and passionately. I've actually enjoyed this exchange. I don't believe either one of us is going to change the others mind... but I think valid points were made on both sides and, in the very least, we've gotten a good discussion going that, though not posted here, perhaps we have others looking at all sides.
August 3rd, 2008 at 12:34 am | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
That's funny - I was just thinking that at this point we should just agree to disagree. I thank you as well for sticking to your guns and providing a really great opportunity to think about the topic critically. I really do see where you're coming from - and I appreciate that you respect my perspective.
I think Lori would be proud - I'm assuming this is the sort of discussion she is attempting to prompt. Which is why Lori rules on so many levels...
!
August 3rd, 2008 at 10:30 am | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
I think Lori would be proud - I'm assuming this is the sort of discussion she is attempting to prompt. Which is why Lori rules on so many levels...
---snip---
and that, my friend, is something we can finally agre on!
:-)
August 3rd, 2008 at 1:32 pm | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
Two articulate arguments over the weekend? I am more than proud. I think my work here is done... for the moment.
November 5th, 2008 at 11:22 pm | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
Interesting article and good comments. Other than regular satellite TV, an alternative is PC satellite TV. Learn more about it at http://www.1-satellite-tv-facts.com