Posted on 02/01/2018 5:32:26 PM PST by markomalley
Under a new state contract, all inmates in New York State prisons will receive free tablets.
The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) is partnering with JPay, a company that specializes in inmate and corrections-related services. JPay is providing the tablets at no cost to the state or inmates, and DOCCS is not taking commissions for the tablets.
The tablets will be preloaded with educational content and DOCCS plans to make additional services available through the tablets, such as Prison Rape Elimination Act reporting, Grievance filing, and the potential for placing commissary orders.
According to DOCCS, JPay will get money from transactions that happen via the tablets (ebooks, music, videos). The tablets are only part of a larger contract with JPay who are also handling commissary and care packages sent from families to inmates.
The tablets will not be able to connect to the internet, but inmates will be able to use the tablets to purchase music, e-books, videos, and other entertainment. There will also be controlled kiosks where inmates can plug their tablet in to send emails to an approved list of recipients. Inmates will only have supervised access to the kiosks at scheduled times.
State corrections officials say they believe using the tablets will help inmates stay in touch with their families and be better prepared to reenter into the community.
The tablets have sparked debate since the program was announced. Many are critical of the program, but some say it can give inmates an opportunity to better adapt when they get out of prison.
Pastor James Giles is on the latter side. He has ministered in a re-entry program for newly-released prisoners for 23 years. He also served time behind bars for six years. He says the tablets will prepare inmates for life after their sentence.
"It's going to open up a huge, vast array of opportunities for inmates that they didn't have before," Giles said.
Republican State Assemblyman from Batavia Steve Hawley is adamantly against the program. So much so that he is contacting Governor Cuomo and DOCCS demanding an end to the program. 7 Eyewitness News will continue to provide updates online and on the WKBW app as more information comes in.
Yeah - give them free luxury items - that’ll make prison hard on them and induce them to earn an honest living when they get out....
Great for Hackers. NY is as BAD as CALI with all the perks criminals get in prison.
This is not a bad idea. This will encourage prisoners to read & write, a good thing. It will also give them something to do beyond plotting further crime. Playing Candy Crush is preferable to planning an escape.
Understand the feeling.
My friend is NOT a victim. And he does not claim to be a victim in any way. He caused the victim and he can’t take back what he and he knows he can never make it right, but he tries. He has established a HS scholarship in the name of his victim and gives part of the $70 a month he gets for teaching painting and drywall. I didn’t post this looking for sympathy. He doesn’t expect any. I posted it because all the BS about helping inmates to make it on the outside is just than...BS. So they end up right back inside. And if you are a minority you have even less of a chance.
None whatsoever.what I found is the system is actually geared towards money for contractors.when the state pays 300 dollars for 10 feet of 4 inch schedule 40 pvc.l mean really?
Thanks. I’d bet you have many stories like that and you’re happy to be away from it.
I like to tinker, know how things work, and even devise new things in my head, even if I don’t follow through or actually need them.
The bike thing growing up was enjoyable, and I know what you mean about others that don’t have those sorts of skills.
I do think this generation misses out on a lot. For one thing, they don’t get those early jobs we used to, in many instances because there are adults who will work for kid’s wages, then bitch about them.
It an interesting new world we’ve allowed to be created around us.
That’s a great point about why young people today can’t find work (the “early jobs”); in my area newspapers are now delivered via van by Hispanics gunning them out both sides - not actually putting them in a mailbox. Landscaping “summer jobs” are also done by Hispanic adults, and even the gas pump jockeys (popular with high school kids in my day) are now replaced by Indians (mainly students, probably off the books due to student visas) who are all working for their “uncle”...
FWIW, I think the bike thing also kept us in better shape; I still occasionally see a pack of kids on BMX bikes, and it brings back great memories. Living on the edge of the NJ Meadowlands, we’d ride for miles and miles when we weren’t in school (then skate on the swamp when winter would freeze it).
Yes, you nailed it there. That’s exactly what I was talking about.
Yes, I could pump away barreling down the road for long periods of time on my bike. Now I’d be gasping for breath.
You know, I purchased an eBike, and I am amazed at how much I can do with it. I’m peddling using the assist function, and I’m still just using the lowest setting and getting some really good exercise out of it.
I highly recommend them.
“And if you are a minority you have even less of a chance.”
Absolutely. A huge lack of opportunity in this society. People just need a chance. Good luck getting that in THIS country.
Bring back the draft for all men and women in this Nation after high school. Focus them on cleaning up the cities and rebuilding the infrastructure with a mix of private industry and draft labor.
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