The Pennsylvania Department is Corrections is banning prisoners from receiving books.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

RogueAltGov Retweeted:

The Pennsylvania Department is Corrections is banning prisoners from receiving books.

Instead, they can buy a $149 e-reader, and pay between $2-$29 for e-books of work largely in the public domain. There are no dictionaries available

https://cbldf.nationbuilder.com/r?u=7kKpU69b7MfCwPxLrqgHPNMnQeULBUdiaptgr16kgFTBh7j8wjYy6P6quD88aZm8taAnG1mL_DuQX7aSEWG5oVErZftVEXlyUmwOlhhMyMI&e=42466a73382e7b55208eb73a03b85b58&utm_source=cbldf&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news_v7_39&n=6 …

Link to tweet

LaughedAtHat Retweeted:

These are not the actions of a civilized society. This is immoral and counterproductive.

Link to tweet

[tblue37]

1. K&R for visibility. nt

[dlk]

2. Prisons for Profit

[FakeNoose]

3. E-readers might be a good idea but why are they so expensive?

People would donate e-readers (like old Nooks) and the prisoners wouldn't have to buy them. This just seems like a way to make money off them.

Anyway, there are plenty of old library books that are just collecting dust now. They should be donated to the prisons. Seems like the Good Will, Salvation Army and similar second-hand stores are overloaded with old books that are still in good condition.

[mrmpa]

8. The Thomas Merton Center has "bookempa.org" available for prisoners.

in Pittsburgh collects books for prisoners. Prisoners requests books they would like, either genre or specific titles and the center tries to fill those requests. I lo

http://bookempa.org/

[Anon-C]

4. Give them Bibles and they can match the literacy levels found in the typical madrasa.

The Koch Bros must be elated.

[ghostsinthemachine]

5. Okay, not that big of deal, and actually is better

I doubt that prisoners anywhere can receive books, except via the facility library. Drugs get smuggled via books. Messages, written in code, lots of things. I know you cant in CA. Only newspapers, and only sent directly by the publisher, with a long wait.

They get the readers and can access books. You cant donate used ones, for the same reasons, they have to be uncontaminated.

[DeminPennswoods]

9. I think so, too

It's actually not that easy to send books or magazines to prisoners as both are screened for whatever the prison deems inappropriate content. I don't think you can send hardcover books either because of their potential to be made into weapons.

There are many books available for download for free from the PA Library System. I'm sure families who would spend money on buying books could send those sums instead to the inmates prison account for use in paying for downloaded books.

[lark]

6. Damn. I thought Fl was bad bout squeezing money out of prisoners & family, this is worse.

At least in FL, you can bring a book to the prison, they search it, and then give it to the inmate. They also have good libraries on site with books for free. The calls, however, were very costly. It sickens me how states use prisoners & parolees as profit sources, jailing people with no job or place to live for not paying fines they couldn't afford. Sickening.

[steventh]

7. Rules in my county's jail about books:

Back when I visited the jail regularly in my NC county, hard cover books were not allowed. Period. The reason given was that they could be used as weapons. Or the larger ones could be hollowed out and used to hide objects within them.

Paperback books were allowed. Paperback books could be donated by anyone. They were inspected before being made available to the inmates.

It seems reasonable that there have to be safety rules regarding books. But I don't see good reason for policies that require expensive kindles as the only way of getting reading material to inmates.