Let Our Inmates Blog!

...and tweet, and facebook and read their hometown newspaper.

The two-million-plus U.S. prisoners, or at least those who earn the privilege with good behavior, should have access to the Internet. As far as I know, very very few prisoners in the United States have Internet access.

What would society gain? We could use the web as a rehabilitation tool, delivering technical training and educational materials in every career field out there. The web would keep prisoners in closer contact with their families, keeping family and community bonds strong. The world would benefit from the hearing the perspectives of our prisoners and learning more about prison conditions.

But even stopping short of complete access and giving inmates access to read-only educational sites, or a strictly monitored suite of sites, would prepare prisoners for the high-tech world they will someday reenter and would give access to the endless education we all take for granted online.

Who and what is stopping this from happening? Well, wardens and lawmakers are horrified that prisoners would use the tubes to orchestrate a vast wave of crime. I think this is extremely unlikely, and any implementation of web access behind bars would probably be pretty heavily censored and monitored (as inmate phone use is today). If this is a sticking point, we could limit internet access to non-violent offenders to start.

The other group of opponents are those who view prison as punishment and not rehabilitation. If prisoners can check email in their cells, then we're rewarding crime by sending criminals to country clubs with free meals, free lodging and free Internet access. I've heard this argument too many times, and I disagree for two reasons. One - from what I hear, prison ain't no country club. Two, treating prison as punishment is a vicious cycle. Denying educational and social opportunities simply sends prisoners back into society with no new skills (except maybe those they learned from other prisoners) and - perhaps - a chip on their shoulder against a system that treated them so harshly. On the other hand, a prison system with educational options and access to treatment, therapy and creative outlets, gives prisoners every chance they need to improve their lives when they're released. I know this doesn't work for everyone, and I'm not opposed to long sentences - or even life without parole - for some repeat violent offenders. But for non-violent and first-time prisoners, rehabilitation is the only way out of the massive prison system we're in today.

An article this week in the Guardian by former prisoner Erwin James visits a maximum security prison in Norway and finds something a country with 1 in 1,200 citizens in prison (the U.S. has 1 in 100) and a focus on education for inmates. Oh, and inmates have internet access in their cells.

There are some American prisoners with an online presence, but they're high-profile exceptions. Some prisoners, like California death row inmate Scott Peterson, have websites through third-party organizations. Federal prison inmate Michael Santos works with his family to publish blog posts a couple of times a week. Mumia-Abu Jamal has a podcast.

But providing limited Internet access to American prisoners could be the first step toward making our millions of inmates feel like a part of society.