Internet for prisoners
 

Hello all.
This thread raises the question on how dangerous it is to give the prisoners access to the Internet while they're doing their time inside the prison.
Is this a wise thing to do? Or should they be forbidden to have communication outside the prison? I'm interested in what kind of damage they can do if they only have access to Internet Explorer.

OctoberOmnicron: Did you guys have Internet? Where some sites filtered and blocked or did you guys have full access to a normal PC?

It doesn't sound wise to me. They're cut off from society for a reason, right? Why tempt them to possibly cause further damage? Besides, the internet is a privalege, not something that's essential to live.

Internet is one of the activitites that's being offered to prisonsers. One of the goverment's goal is to take care of them too. Although they're are bad guys, they's still human.

Yeah, well, I always got the internet taken away when I was grounded for not doing something right. XP

And there are a number of civilians who still don't have access to the internet at home.

You guys never heard of Kevin Mitnick? After his release he talked about some of the myths people had about him, one of them was that he could whistle into a telephone with just the right frequency to launch or detonate an atomic bomb. Imagine what he could have done with access to the Internet!

Anyway, I don't think that's such a wise idea, unless they can only visit certain sites to keep up with the world, like CNN or something. There are too many Internet predators out there as it were, and letting criminals on there will probably just make the problem worse, once they get out. If there were given Internet access, I'd bet all their actions would be spied on, like most companies do to make sure their employees aren't wasting time and goofing off.

"Your tax money pays for prison internets!"

In all seriousness, I think it depends on the circumstance and the nature of the reason for which the person is imprisoned. Violent criminals and the like should be denied access, but there's no reason for... Less easily-influenced inmates to not be allowed access.

Prisoners should be allowed basic rights, such as food, water, place to sleep, etc etc. The internet is not a basic human right. It's a priveledge. Prison should be about punishment first, rehab second.

I don't think it's "dangerous." I think it's improper.

When you're a prisoner, innocent or not, you are supposed to not get the luxuries of the outside world. This is pretty much why you're in prison - to have your liberties removed.

The internet grants all sorts of awesome liberties.

Danger, though, I don't see how. Parents should know by now that the internet is not a place for kids to wander around uncontrolled. If an ADULT is stupid enough to fall into a trap with prisoners, what damage can it do? I mean yea, eventually, you'll likely find out that the guy is in prison, if you're smart.

If you're not smart, well. Maybe you can use a lesson.

It really depends on the crime the prisoner is in for. If someone gets busted for soft drugs, or something of that ilk, I don't think computer privledges are too bad of a thing. For one, it would probably keep the inmates under control if you had that to hold above their heads.

If we're talking about serial murderers and rapists, though, I don't really think they should be given internet time.

I think that prisoners should not be allowed the privelege to acces the internet. They are in prison for a reason, they should have the basic needs. Water, food, and somewhere to sleep, and maybe a job to keep them occupied.

The internet is a luxury and should not be accessed by those in prison. They would abuse it, and use it to make their life in prison more comfortable. Life in prison is not meant to be comfortable, it is meant to be a punishment for the crimes that they have committed. There is no way that the prison service can watch all that the prisoners access on the Internet, sure they can put filters on, but I'm sure that some of the prisoners would be able to get around that, and look at whatever they like.

And to think, we're paying for them to have the luxury of surfing the Internet :(

People forget that not everyone in prison is some fucking hardened criminal. These people are human.

Nah, I don't think its a great idea. Whether they are all human or not, you don't know what is going through their heads all the time.

Although, if they had a filter system as big as the one in my old high school, I am sure they could do it there. I mean, at school, we couldn't even get to joke sites....:(

Nobody has answered my second question :(
Besides clicking on pornsites (which are probably blocked) or similar sites that contains virus and trojans, what else can a person do?

I'm thinking about the pc/network security. I just want to map out all kinds of possibilities a prison can do with a pc when not observed. Possibly to do any form of hacking if he only has access to the browser?

If some computer nerd like Kevin Mitnick gets acces to the internet from prison, that would be a pretty bad thing. They could do all sort of things with no regulation (no matter what the administrators of the network tried, there's always a way out). They could even continue scamming people.

Still, people inside prison need some fun. The prison is not a place to be punished at. It's a place to keep "bad" people away from "good" people. The alck of freedom is punishment enough, I think. They are humans and need information, entertainment, distraction... being in prison must be pretty shitty, it'd be good for them to have some spare time to do something they like for once.

Double Post:
Imagine a pedophile. A pedophile with internet access and a few distractions or corruption from the guards could lead to a disaster. Also, scammers.

It's obvious that when you become a prisoner, you lose all rights, including the one to a fair trial. Because, after all, if you weren't supposed to do bad things, God wouldn't have let you. So it's clear that you are not ever going to go to heaven, and should just rot in prison forever.

I think we're beginning to move over to the discussion whether it's right or wrong of the government to take away their right of getting information.
Some of them is going to have an afterlife when they have done their time.

Activitites are important. How would you feel if the only social event of the week was bingo on saturdays?
They should not be punished as humans, but punished for the crime that they have committed.

In absolute agreement. What about everyones favorite prisoner OO. I bet not one person here would vote against internet access to prisoners while he was behind bars.

They get TV, don't they? They can watch the news... I'm sure there are books and newspaper around too. It's not like the internet has to be the ONLY source of entertainment. I don't see why it's seen as such an essential sometimes.

Do they do Bingo? I know there are other activities to keep prisoners occupied. I had a professor in art college who gave some art lessons at a prison. It's not like there's absolutely nothing.

As for what they could do on the internet... well, think about what the internet is... Information Super Highway. It's not just hackings, but also things with pedophiles, internet bullying, and fake identities. Not that anyone can't do that stuff, it's just more worrisome if it's people who they could prevent from doing those things.

I don't think it's safe. Who knows what kind of potential they have? With the internet, you can do a lot of things that you could use to your own advantage. Think about a prisoner and why he's in there in the jail cell in the first place. He's a criminal. Unless he's a stupid criminal, chances are that communication on the net can invoke suspicious activity and ideas. There are criminals that get released and return to crime. If that's not bad enough, who knows who or what he might be targeting next? I know this particular planning doesn't have anything to necessarily do with the net, but it could.

The biggest thing I would worry about is the inmate being in contact with undesirable people on the outside. How do you destroy a group like the KKK if everyone you arrest can still communicate with each other as members. Even though they are incarcerated and can do no physical harm to innocent people, it does not help to break the person of his ideology.

Perhaps that communication could be used to the benefit of bringing down such an organization, though. Chat logs and such could be used as 'tip-offs' if that's a legitimate form of evidence. Should prisons go out of their way to have internet access? No, but allowing prisoners to use the internet under highly monitored circumstances seems fine.

Wouldn't happen if the convicts knew it was going to be monitored. Couldn't happen if the convicts didn't know about it being monitored.

I'd have to say no, they don't need it. Sure, they're humans and all, but they're still behind bars for a reason (even if it's not for murder or grand larceny).

Prison life for the most part (at least in America), has never been better than ever before. In the Roman Empire for example, prisoners didn't even get fed, they'd have to rely on compassionate people to give them food, otherwise they'd just starve to death.

I once took a tour of a prison when I was in the National Guard, because my unit was the "back-up" unit in case the guards all went on strike (or there was a prison riot, and the guards and all their back-up needed more help), in which case we were to be the guards to keep the prisoners in check.

From what I saw (I think it was a medium security prison), they got access to schooling, gyms, religious functions, tv's (albeit not a personal one), etc. I noticed that while they were playing ball, if the ball fell out of the court, they couldn't go get it, they had to wait for a guard to throw it back to them (not sure why, unless it was to prevent them from passing stuff along the ground or something).

Prisoners have enough stuff to keep them busy. They don't need taxpayers to spend money on getting computers and then internet access for them.

On the other hand, I wouldn't be against them having video games. I'm sure it would occupy them for a long period of time (and hopefully no violence erupts from it because some guy lost a match), and I'd rather they're playing a game than thinking about how to rob the next guy when they get out.

I'm not sure what you're referencing here. The Romans had no penitentiaries. The only jails were used for brief storage. Criminals were made into slaves, executed, exiled, or made into gladiators.

Usually crucified.... :(

The entrance to Rome had crucified people along the road heading to the city.. Could you imagine that sight?.....

If people here are going to argue the fact that this is a senseless waste of taxpayer money, I have a whole other argument about who this country sends to jail. Just remember, the US has the highest inmate-to-population ratio in the entire world. Over half of those people are in there for non-violent crimes.

That is true. But then they are going to have filter who would not take advantage of the internet, and those who would. They would be spending even more money on a system that already takes a lot of money.

Its very expensive to keep people in jail already. Feeding them, clothing them, shelter, electricity, heating, washrooms, guards, etc.....

Sixty billion bucks a year is spent on prisons in the US.

Holy Man! That is a ridiculous amount of money. Now does that go up every year? Or does it remain around the same?

How much more would you think it would cost to give everyone internet?

It goes up every year, thanks to a rising population and inflation. With the internet it would undoubtably be more, but at $60 billion already it's not going to make too much of a difference.

Yeah, sounds like... $74 Billion more needed for the war in Iraq isn't going to make much of a difference. ;)

Meh, I am still against doing it. Too many variables to play with. People can do weird things and can figure out how to take advantage of things.

Selective privledges and use of the internet as a reward for good behavior could both be implemented, though.

Hmmm, that is a possibility. But maybe they are being good to get on the internet so they can figure a way out. I mean, not everyone is going to be like that, but the possibility is there.

I still find it risky. But it does seem possible. Mix good behaviour with a strong internet filter, and someone scanning what the person is logging onto (if possible).

I would suggest getting a really slow internet connection, then they could get sick of waiting and it would make sure they don't wander too far off on the web.

This would work especially if a time constraint were implemented, such as the convict not being on the Internet for more than an hour at a time.

I 100% agree with Capo. We need to get people who aren't a danger to society out of jails. The problem with the American justice system is that it's neither purely rehabilitiative nor purely punitive: it's somewhere in the middle, which results in the sad situation you see today, where we have.2.2 million people in prison. That's a fuckload of people! Three quarters of a percent of the entire US population, in fact. What the hell!

Internet + Microphone = Skype. This only makes it one step closer.

That's what I agree with. The internet in prison should be something earned and rewarded for good behavior, however it should probably be filtered out as well, like maybe any of the buddy sites out there ie MySpace. However email access should be allowed to contact loved ones. But then again, that's what snail mail is for.

As was said before, what would they be using the internet for that they can't already access?

They can get info from books / tv / newspapers, entertainment from tv, and in england they have ps2's so they have video games, they can learn from the schooling they recieve, they even have sky digital in their cells! More than I have...

The only other thing the internet is used for that they can't already get is communication. They have their phone calls and letters to communicate with their families.

It's totally unneccecary imo.

Other than communication with non-family members I think everything else is pretty fine. Its just that the Internet seems to me like something really dangerous for it-smart criminals. Things like writing, education, re-education, art, music, chess etc may be a better choice. In some places inmates make handicrafts to sell. The money earned would then go to charities and rehabilitation programs. Of course, there would be a middle man so the no one would know which inmate made what. All in the name of sercurity!

Oh and to answer your 2nd question, Internet explorer can be used for all kinds of crimes, even with flash and javascript disabled you could still access a html telnet terminal and basically do what you want to.

And it only takes the admin filtering the sites to make one small slip up and again they could freely roam the internet. They should just cut all risk and not have it there to being with.

If Internet is offered, ports for most programs would obviously be blocked and all... but im assuming they would be giving them access to some kind of Intranet instead, wich would prevent any risks since it would be a private network.

Time in prison is meant to be long and dull. It is in theory supposed to feel ridiculously long and cause folks who get out to not wanna come back. If they had internet access, that'd make time fly a lot for them. Even if their logs were watched and stuff...

They shouldn't have it. Hell, some places let them see TV or listen to radio at times. They should have bare minimum.

An idea comes to mind... Myspace for prisoners -- Mycase.

I'm sitting on a goldmine!

This obviously doesn't work.
Anyway, again, I'm not talking about giving the prisoners in some Supermax facility these privledges. Non-violent offenders aren't inhuman scum. They deserve something. Being locked away for such extended periods of time is punishment enough.

I said "in theory".

Let's not forget that lots of these folks are repeat offenders.

They deserve something if they're non-violent. They can get put in a minimum security prison as opposed to a "federal fuck me in the ass" prison. Happy ending for all. My old man did two years in jail when I was still a kiddo. And despite that, I still have no sympathy for those doing time. It's punishment, bottom line.

Edit: Nevermind. I'd rather not.

Maybe they wouldn't be in prison if they weren't on the Internet "[breaking] international copyright law by downloading MP3s from file-sharing sites like Morpheus or Grokster or Limewire or KaZaA," nor be treated like "the evil hard-bitten criminal scum [they] are," even if "[they're] a grandma or a seven year old girl."*

They're even lucky some of them get TV privileges, some equipment to work out, a library, or making a little bit of money for doing menial tasks. It could be a lot worse than it already is, especially in other countries. This is prison not computer camp. This is like Oliver Twist asking for some more food; he's lucky they even gave him gruel or whatever that nasty shit was the orphans ate.

If they wanted their freedom to roam the Internet, they should'nt have gotten busted in the first place. All you kiddies scared of being put away for smoking weed or whatever else illegal thing you're doing, well that's the breaks. Sometimes you gotta grow up and face the consequences.

*Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz-grdpKVqg.

Is that really a criminal offense? I was fairly sure that it was civil.

Yes, it is actually a very civil offense and is only punishible with fines. Also I think that Internet freely available to Criminals is wrong (As thought of before this). However, if a person is rewarded with the internet (strickly Monitored with IP Filters,time and bandwidth constraints, and guard presence) is a good way to promote good behavior. I think that they should just be happy with a small library. No the thing I wouldn't mind is using computers as Electronic Books in the library.

You've never actually read Oliver Twist, have you?

And depending on the degree of crime committed, I don't see that much of a problem with allowing them highly monitored and regulated internet access. Obviously to make sure they arn't breaking any more laws, learning about things they shouldn't, or talking to people they have business talking too. Some guy who is in jail for killing a family and eating their heads? Yeah, maybe keep him off myspace. But some guy who got arrested for a white collar crime and wants to check CNN, big deal.

Oliver Twist lolol

My dad mentioned something the other day about maybe letting them take educational courses online for schooling. That actually didn't sound too bad.

Yeah, educational courses might actually be a better idea. Must more productive than just surfing the internet checking up on the news and weather. ;) And as we said before, they can get the weather, news, etc., off the television. The internet would be fairly useless in that case.

The minute you commit a crime, you lose all rights. And when prisoners demand cable, internet, etc, I find it a bit wrong and that society shouldn't give into what they want. They're in jail for a reason. The only access to a computer they should have is for educational purposes connected only to the jail library and nothing else.

I know the term crime is subject though and that it's hard to say who really is a threat to society and shouldn't recieve any rights. But once you allow some prisoners to use the internet, you'll have to allow the others.

No, you won't.

I don't think it's necessarily a bad idea, as long as they restrict what sites they are able to access. CNN, ESPN, etc., no problem. Myspace, probably not.

I dont agree with giving internet to prisoners. Secret communication through hidden channels is dangerous already, giving them privilages to access the global world in a solitude is truly unwise. Who knows if they will somehow abuse them and building their network via underground?

It's dangerous and too risky, I really dont agree with giving this privilage to prisoners.

I don't think there's a problem at all with providing internet access to criminals. Just don't give them access to buy things online or other methods of obtaining things. Plus, the internet would be accessible in some place outside of their cell. So, they wouldn't have a machine of their own to access. If anything, make a mini PC cafe and they can play games or chat. Sending email isn't too bad if there were a team of technicians to work on verifying the domain name and who it is.

hahahahaha..... no.
prisoners get room and board, food, cable, education and now they want internet? hell, if that's the case let me do some stupid crime to where the public's tax dollars will pay for me to live such an easy life.