Current Events > WV inmates charged $3 an hour to read books

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://reason.com/2019/11/22/west-virginia-inmates-will-be-charged-by-the-minute-to-read-e-books-on-tablets/

Inmates at several West Virginia prisons are getting free electronic tablets to read books, send emails, and communicate with their familiesbut there's a catch.

Any inmates looking to read Moby Dick may find that it will cost them far more than it would have if they'd simply gotten a mass market paperback, because the tablets charge readers by the minute.

Under a 2019 contract between the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (WVDCR) and Global Tel Link (GTL), the company that is providing electronic multimedia tablets to 10 West Virginia prisons, inmates will be charged 3 cents a minute to read books, even though the books all come from Project Gutenberg, a free online library of more than 60,000 texts in the public domain.

The WVDCR says the tablets provide access to educational materials, incentives for good behavior, and an easy way to stay in touch with loved ones. But the Appalachian Prison Book Project, a nonprofit that offers free books and education to inmates, says the fee structure is exploitative.

"If you pause to think or reflect, that will cost you," says Katy Ryan, the group's founder and educational coordinator. "If you want to reread a book, you will pay the entire cost again. This is about generating revenue for the state and profit for the industry. Tablets under non-predatory terms could be a very good thing inside prisons. GTL does not provide that."

According to the contract, using the tablets will cost $0.05 per minute (currently discounted to $0.03) to read books, listen to music, or play games; $0.25 per minute for video visitations; $0.25 per written message; and $0.50 to send a photo with a message.

The Prison Policy Initiative estimated in 2017 that wages in West Virginia prisons range between $0.04 and $0.58 an hour.

According to the contract, the WVDCR will also receive a 5 percent commission on gross revenue from the tablets.

In a statement to Reason, a WVDCR spokesperson noted that no inmates are being forced to use the tablets. In addition, the 5 percent commission will go toward a fund at each prison that inmates "use for such things as paying for cable TV and hosting open house visitation events for families." And the agency is not restricting purchases or donations of regular print books.

That last item is important, and hopefully it will remain true. There's been a troubling trend in other parts of the country of prisons restricting book donations and forcing inmates to purchase books through pre-approved vendors or to use electronic tablets provided by private contractors like GTL and JPay.

Earlier this year, Book Riot reported that numerous Ohio prisons were banning book donations by groups like Appalachian Prison Book Project. Amid media scrutiny, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) announced it would lift the bans for third-party book donations. But family members are still banned from sending print material. In at least one Ohio prison, family members must put money into the inmate's account so they can order it themselves. JPay, which handles money transfers for the Ohio prison system, takes a cut on all deposits. The director of the ODRC is the former general manager of JPay.

Pennsylvania, Washington, and three prisons in New York all attempted similar bans on donations of used books to inmates, then relented under citizen pressure. The prisons cited security concerns over contraband, but news investigations showed there was little actual evidence of smuggling via donated dictionaries.

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Antifar posted...

In at least one Ohio prison, family members must put money into the inmate's account so they can order it themselves. JPay, which handles money transfers for the Ohio prison system, takes a cut on all deposits. The director of the ODRC is the former general manager of JPay.

Don't you just love it when we have people that should be thrown in prison running the damn system?
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This is what you happens when you incarcerate people for profit.
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we got so many people in there for weed

and all the wallstreet fucks who destroy countless lives get away with it

but sometimes life finds a way
https://nypost.com/2017/12/03/wall-street-big-killed-by-shark-while-diving-in-costa-rica/

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Antifar posted...

showed there was little actual evidence of smuggling via donated dictionaries.

So there is evidence, but we want to ignore that because there isn't enough

So what is this arbitrarily set amount of evidence that will convince investigators that smuggling is a problem? Hmm?
Of course, that's one that will never be answered.

Paper_Okami posted...

we got so many people in there for weed

and all the wallstreet fucks who destroy countless lives get away with it

but sometimes life finds a way
https://nypost.com/2017/12/03/wall-street-big-killed-by-shark-while-diving-in-costa-rica/

Eat the rich

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Wow that's really fucked up
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KobeSystem posted...

Eat the rich

hell yeah

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Don't they make 4 cents an hour?

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Cheater87 posted...

Don't they make 4 cents an hour?

That's really unfair, they could also make as much as 60 cents an hour!
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TheGleamEyes posted...

So there is evidence, but we want to ignore that because there isn't enough

So what is this arbitrarily set amount of evidence that will convince investigators that smuggling is a problem? Hmm?
Of course, that's one that will never be answered.

There's a link in that sentence to this article
https://bit.ly/37CXOqq

Last week, corrections officials faced a backlash after banning nonprofit groups from mailing used books to prisoners. This week, their math is raising eyebrows.

In defending the ban, the Washington Department of Corrections (DOC) said last week it was a necessary step to tamp down on contraband that ended up in inmates hands. The agency cited a rise in illegal items, including 17 instances last year in which contraband was reportedly found in books.

But information on those 17 separate instances, provided this week by DOC at the request of The Seattle Times, tells a different story.

A dozen of those instances didnt actually involve books at all.

Another case involved a shank apparently discovered on a bookshelf at the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton, Mason County. An offender found it and then reported it to an officer.

The information on three of the four remaining instances involving contraband detail suspected drugs that were discovered in books. While narrative accounts of those incidents provided by the DOC indicate inmates holding contraband inside the books, none say whether the items in question had entered the prisons inside the books.

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Such a shitty fucking thing to do. WV trash

doomer memes are starting to speak to me
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So what if all the prisoners decide not to use them, then what happens? Is the prison gonna force them to use them so they can make money?

My extended family is originally from West Virginia. What a joke. Glad I never lived there. Their politics are horrid
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private prisons were a mistake
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TheMikh posted...

private prisons were a mistake

These are public prisons

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Antifar posted...

TheMikh posted...

private prisons were a mistake

These are public prisons

jesus christ
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this needs to be stopped

They're prisoners.

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The prisoners could have chosen to not commit a crime if they didn't want to be damned to a life of recidivism. haha take that liberals

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Paper_Okami posted...

we got so many people in there for weed

and all the wallstreet fucks who destroy countless lives get away with it

but sometimes life finds a way
https://nypost.com/2017/12/03/wall-street-big-killed-by-shark-while-diving-in-costa-rica/

based shark

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Pretty steep fee but this type of stuff is not uncommon in correctional facilities.

Most people can't be trusted with any electronic devices. Phones and tablets are not allowed because of what they can be used for.
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The fair thing to do would be to provide the inmates with access to educational books (especially law books) free of charge, but there really shouldn't be an issue with charging them for entertainment.
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some entertainment should be free. the most basic kind. it's a matter of mental health

DifferentialEquation posted...

The fair thing to do would be to provide the inmates with access to educational books (especially law books) free of charge, but there really shouldn't be an issue with charging them for entertainment.

yeah if its something like videogames or movies I completely understand it, but reading books should be encouraged by prisons, not discouraged.

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Wii_Shaker posted...

Pretty steep fee but this type of stuff is not uncommon in correctional facilities.

Most people can't be trusted with any electronic devices. Phones and tablets are not allowed because of what they can be used for.

They are being charged specifically to read books from a free online library, not to possess the tablet.

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Only in the land of the free.
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How is this kinda shit not illegal...