Prison Reform: Internet Use by Prisoners
"If any other institutions in America were as unsuccessful in achieving their ostensible purpose as our prisons are, we would shut them down tomorrow"
-- Prof. James Gilligan , New York University
Prisoners in the United States, if lucky, are able to use the TRULINCS system within their prison. This allows them to use e-mail based, text-only messaging. TRULINCS usually is provided by a third-party corporation who charge unheard of amounts for prisoners to have incredibly limited messaging access. The rest of the internet is off limits. By preventing inmates from using the internet, the rehabilitation process is beyond stunted, it is completely nullified.
We like to imagine we live in a world where people make mistakes, they go away, and they come out ready to reintegrate into society, but this is painfully untrue. Imprisonment is essentially a sentence to live the rest of ones life out as a second-class citizen. The court systems disproportionately affects minorities and cash-poor folks. The only feasible first step, short of complete prison abolition, is to allow inmates to internet access. With internet access, inmates would not only be able to preserve their dignity, they would have massive amounts of resources to better themselves and prepare for the grueling process of reintegration. If we opened up the internet to inmates and monetized the rehabilitation process (instead of the incarceration process) there is a great chance we would reach a new age of humanity.
"The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed."
-- Stephen Biko
http://humanevents.com/2013/07/25/are-we-chicken-about-prison-reform/