
Incarcerated Pennsylvanians now have to pay $150 to read. We should be outraged - akudha
https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/opinions/incarcerated-pennsylvanians-now-have-to-pay-150-to-read-we-should-all-be-outraged/2018/10/11/51f548b8-cbd9-11e8-a85c-0bbe30c19e8f_story.html
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cgriswald
Being outraged about this one policy in one state is like focusing on a paper
cut when the patient is a bloated corpse. Prison systems across the country
are focused almost exclusively on exploitation of inmates and taxpayers for
profit or political gain, making our world less safe. Rehabilitation is given
lip service but is actually actively discouraged, because recidivism means
more money.[0]

If the article gets people more outraged about the system as a whole,
fantastic. If it just gets this one policy reversed, that's a positive, I
guess, but it means people get to feel good about _that_ and pretend or forget
about _all the other problems_ with these systems.

[0] - I am aware of many of the programs which are exceptions to this rule.

~~~
danso
I definitely agree with your assessment, but I do think it's worthwhile to
focus on smaller "paper cut" injustices. For one, the smaller injustices are
usually microcosms of the overall systemic failures, and provide a digestible
window into the greater problem. Two, if it's unlikely (if ever) that system-
wide reform will be enacted, it's still worthwhile to relieve inmates of these
day-to-day problems, which, over long sentences, can result in real harm at
the individual level.

------
learc83
What is the excuse they are using to push this? People building paper
crossbows à la MythBusters?

I can't even see a paper thin justification they could use to sell this. I'd
be interested to know who owns the company and who they are connected to in
Pennsylvania government. And how much of a kickback the prison system is
getting from this.

~~~
sigmaprimus
If this was the only article I read about this subject. I would agree with
your comments, unfortunately this is another example of a one sided news
article. I was so shocked by this story I looked into it further and it turns
out that certain inmates and "donators" were using the book donation system to
smuggle books who's pages were infused with drugs into the prisons. Not only
that, this article makes it sound like the prisoners have no access to books
at all, which is very misleading as all of the correction facilities have
libraries and are going to increase funding to improving them in the wake of
this new policy. I would agree that it seems absurd to force inmates to
purchase an expensive e-reader and this also may be a form of censorship but
I'm not sure I disagree with censorship in prisons. You lose many other rights
when you are incarcerated and not being able to read everything you want seems
very small on the list.

~~~
learc83
>it turns out that certain inmates and "donators" were using the book donation
system to smuggle books who's pages were infused with drugs into the prisons.

I looked into that after another poster replied. I'm almost certain the
problem is being exaggerated based on the quotes from prison officials, and
removing the ability to deliver books to all prisoners is probably overkill.

Thanks for answering my question though. This sounds like the paper thin
justification someone is using to get rich that I was looking for.

------
jstanley
I just do not understand why American prisons have to be _so_ harsh on the
prisoners. These people are already being punished by having their freedom
taken away, where's the sense in torturing them further?

~~~
bfuller
The love of money. It's legal slavery and the market masters have always loved
that

~~~
slouch
The cost of an inmate is greater than the cost of a student, per year. The
industries in Pennsylvania's state prisons mostly supply the inmates with
textiles and soap.

------
masonic
As usual, WP spins the story by leaving out a key detail: all mail is
digitized for _free_.

So, just _mail_ the damn books (or whatever printed matter you like).

~~~
cdmoyer
I can't imagine that the prison is going to scan an entire book mailed to a
prisoner. Where can we read about that?

~~~
masonic
[https://www.cor.pa.gov/Initiatives/Pages/FAQ-New-
Procedures....](https://www.cor.pa.gov/Initiatives/Pages/FAQ-New-
Procedures.aspx)

"Will inmates or inmate families be charged with printing the mail?

DOC is printing the mail from Smart Communications _at no charge_ to inmates
_or_ their families."

They may not do it _quickly_ , and they may not do it _well_ , but they are
obligated to do it for _free_ under the contract terms.

(This is an _Opinion_ piece -- check the URL. WP does not fact-check opinion
pieces at all.)

------
jacob019
This probably doesn't belong on HN, but it sure is outrageous. Our system is
so messed up, we need federal guidelines and protections for prisoners.

~~~
ggm
It's the intersection of (mis) applied Technology, and incarceration.
Monetization and Control of what prisoners read, through restriction to
digital print. I think thats fascinating, chilling, evil. I bet what you read
is re-read by the controller.

I wonder how long before people work out point-to-point covert channels using
primitive cipher systems inside shared text corpus?

~~~
masonic

      Control of what prisoners read, through restriction to digital print
    

In this case, there is NO content censorship applied to digitization _any
differently from printed matter_.

And all mailed content is digitized for _free_.

~~~
masonic
Uh, downvoters: this, like all WP _opinion_ pieces, was not fact-checked.

If you look into the actual rules'[0] Q&A section, you will find:

    
    
      Q. Will inmates or inmate families be charged with printing their mail?
    
      A. DOC is printing the mail from Smart Communications at no charge to inmates or their families.
    

[0] [https://www.cor.pa.gov/Initiatives/Pages/FAQ-New-
Procedures....](https://www.cor.pa.gov/Initiatives/Pages/FAQ-New-
Procedures.aspx)

------
sandworm101
All prisons should have free libraries. This is basic stuff. Reading is a good
thing and should be promoted at all times. We can talk about edge cases for
censorship (extremist stuff) but there is no reason not to allow them ready
access to the books available at any local library.

~~~
slouch
Pennsylvania's state prisons, the ones this article is about, do have free
libraries.

