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Dead Air Walking: Prisoners Face Loss of TV After Digital Transition

Started by TLF · 10 months ago

Haven’t they been punished enough?Â Inmates in our nation’s prison’s may find themselves without over-the-air television next February, unless Congress acts to fill a gap in the subsidy program for TV converter boxes.Â That’s right: acc ... Continue reading »

5 comments

Richard Bennett
10 months ago

Well, you know. Maybe the question is what the guests of the state would do if they didn't have TV to watch. Perhaps the list includes things like:

1. Plan break outs
2. Deal more drugs
3. Lift weights
4. Read the Bible, Koran, and L. Ron Hubbard's books
5. Riot
6. Rape each other
7. Beat the crap out of the guards
8. Attend Aryan Brotherhood meetings
9. Illegally download stuff from the Internets
10. Steal your identity

TV is one of those things that help the guards maintain order. That's what they mean by "normalcy."

reply

Berin Szoka
10 months ago

One would think that if television were truly essential to control of the prison population, prisons might invest in the DTV converters, which start at about $50/each (not counting the coupon):

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Seth Finkelstein
10 months ago

@Berin - the article above shows the reason why. Mean-spirited right-wingers will play politics with it, demagoging and sneering about e.g. how they "sit in stunned silence for a moment". Unless you believe that the optimum way to manage a prison matches exactly with reactionary rantings containing barely disguised sadism, well, there's a problem.

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Jonathan Richards
7 months ago

As a former federal prison inmate, I can say without hesitation that TV is essential to keeping the peace in prison. It provides something for inmates to look forward to and of course occupies endless hours of time that would otherwise be spent in less docile ways. Congress needs to expand the subsidy to cover prisons now!

reply

Toronto Web Design
4 months ago

Unless you believe that the optimum way to manage a prison matches exactly with reactionary rantings containing barely disguised sadism, well, there's a problem.

reply