That is cruel. Cruel and unusual. Like they don't know these things are highly addictive. Like they don't know people are desperate for contact.

Massively. Fucked. Up.

I think it should be free for inmates. When you consider the massive amount of time people spend on social media, it would probably cut down a great deal on their need for security. More time they spend reading books, playing video games, interacting on social media, the less time they have to start fights and otherwise get themselves into trouble.

Well you can’t pass drugs or contraband thru a video call. No need to dedicate staff to move prisoners to visiting areas or screen visitors.

You can always donate directly to prisoners you think are worthy of rehab. Send money to their prison account or send books. I have personally done that for the brother of a dear friend.
Writing letters is appreciated as well.

Well you can’t pass drugs or contraband thru a video call.

But you can conspire to commit various other crimes, plan prison riots, contact outsiders to target the family of an inmate you don't like, etc.

You would need to have these video calls monitored carefully.

“C.J. Ciaramella writes at Reason:”

On a side note, does anyone know if he is a relative of deep state operative Eric?

The State has a book that they throw at you when you're indicted. Isn't that enough?

We're basically making it very, very difficult for people who want to live an honest life outside of prison to earn a living and do that.

A root problem is that inmates will abuse - severely, massively, and reliably - abuse anything that is within their grasp. It doesn't matter what it is. This means that after a while they are given as little as possible and this as grudgingly as possible.

The people who see and work with them every day tend to develop a very dark and cynical attitude about these men and their prospects. The more experienced senior employees who are able to initiate new programs tend to not be interested in setting up bothersome classes in case one or two percent of the men who go through them might do better later.

“A root problem is that inmates will abuse - severely, massively, and reliably - abuse anything that is within their grasp. It doesn't matter what it is. This means that after a while they are given as little as possible and this as grudgingly as possible.”

Yes, wonder how long those tablets will last?

I had a friend who worked for IBM in Texas. He traveled the state repairing computers back in the late 80’s and 90’s. Texas prisons were on his route. He said there was a lot of deliberate breakage because the prisoners were more interested in causing problems than using the computers.

Your tax dollars at work.

Kinda of like “why doesn’t someone help those poor starving people in Africa? “

Go there and try it, and you will find out why.

If inmates don't pay for the use of the tablets before they use them, who do officials think will pay? Even if they have access to money, most prison and jail inmates don't pay for things you can't force them to pay for. I suppose they would have a prepaid account like JPay or ConnectNetwork that they would log into to use any services.

Tablets would become a new medium of exchange inside the prison. Inmates who have an account with money could trade with other inmates for commissary items, contraband or personal services.

If tablets are made of metal, glass and hard plastic, and inmates are able to get a tablet out of line of sight of guards, more tablets will be used for weapons than for reading.

Defiance, poor judgment and lack of impulse control are common characteristics of prison inmates. Tablets will be stolen or broken.

Kinda of like “why doesn’t someone help those poor starving people in Africa? “

Go there and try it, and you will find out why.

Shhhh! We're not allowed to notice that people in different countries might be different!

And this is why I oppose prisons totally and completely. If someone is so dangerous they can't be trusted in society, let their next intended victim or a rescuer end that person's life through an act of defense.
Otherwise, let violators earn money at a regular job to pay restitution.
I utterly despise prisons. (Before people make assumptions... I've never been imprisoned and have never really known anyone sentenced to prison, but I have a relative who worked in them for several years-- bad environment for the worker, turning him into a person with no concern about cruelty and injustice. "If they are in prison, they must be bad people who deserve it").

“And this is why I oppose prisons totally and completely. If someone is so dangerous they can't be trusted in society, let their next intended victim or a rescuer end that person's life through an act of defense. “

As much as I despise the revenue model of policing, an all out vigilante justice system of actual and pretend victims gunning miscreants down would be much much worse.

We no longer have an uninhabited continent to ship off those who are not quite bad enough to execute.

I know some current and former prison guards who are compassionate and caring people. My son in law is one of them. Maybe your relative is responsible for his or her own twisted personality?