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.
Oh hell no!
Good grief!
I smell Soros.
My tablet is connected to the Internet.
There’s a learning curve associated it but once you get up to speed, you wonder how you did without it.
The CEO of JPay must be a good friend of Gov. Cuomo. Big kickback time. And the inmates get registered to vote, too.
What do you think is the great danger there? Remember, they don’t have internet.
Even in California, the CDCR was not that stupid.
And.. Wait for it.. They'll be CASTING THEIR VOTES ELECTRONICALLY IN ELECTIONS!
Evil DemonRat mindset at work.
I believe there are better uses for the money that will benefit the inmates more. But maybe not donors...
It can’t hurt do a trial in a select few prisons...
Managed correctly, it might be a ppositive thing...
Even my ancient Kindle can access the Internet, if there’s WiFi; and there is probably a way to do that in some prisons.
I think that reading - and books, newspapers, magazines available to convicts - are important. But if you wanted to offer something digital, you’d have to be careful...
Many people in prison aren’t going to be there forever. Whatever you can do to cultivate and lift their minds and spirits might make a big difference in how well they do when they leave prison.
Unless they are specially-made tablets that do not have a WiFi chip, they have the capability to be connected to the Internet. And specially-made tablets would cost on the order of tens of thousands of dollars each (they'd have to be specially designed and manufactured -- and with these extra costs only being divided among a small number of tablets, the costs would be extreme. Think $30,000 hammer)
If they use retail tablets, then mischief can ensue pretty quickly. Remember that prisoners have a LOT of time. And remember that, while most of them are dumb as a box of rocks, some are pretty smart...and would be able to exchange those smarts for quite a bit of value.
I can think of five ways to make some pretty frightening weapons out of one, just off the top of my head. One of them would clear the prison.
...you mean like cyanide?
The concern is this is the first step toward doing away with direct to direct visiting. Families would only see their loved ones on a computer. I have a dear friend in a 4-5 level prison (5 is the highest) and he needs two courses for his associates degree. You would never believe how hard it is to get the material. There’s only a couple of schools in the Nation left who will do everything by mail as most have gone to computer and he doesn’t have access to internet. Books and lessons are constantly getting lost because other prisoners could care less if he gets the material and proctors are not available for weeks at a time.
follow the money
Oh they’ll be on board now. Prison is so unfair donsha know.
Free computers to prisoners? What could *possibly* go wrong?
Your tax dollars at work. Making prisons great again ... for the criminals.
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