Prisons Upset That Prisoners Don't Get Discounts On Digital TV Converters
from the you-want-prison-riots? dept
As you probably have heard, the US will be shutting down analog TV broadcasts early next year, as the conversion to digital is complete. For most TV watchers, this won’t matter one bit. For anyone who watches TV via cable or satellite TV, the change means nothing. It only impacts those who watch TV-over-the-air and who don’t have a digitally-enabled TV or conversion box. So, as part of the effort to move the transition along smoothly, the gov’t is handing out coupons to individuals that can be used to pay for a converter box.
Except, apparently, if you happen to live in prison.
Prison officials are getting quite worried that prisons that use over-the-air TV signals for their televisions won’t be able to afford the converters, because the gov’t won’t give them the coupons. As South Carolina Corrections Department Director Jon Ozmint notes:
“We asked them for the coupons and they said they’re only available for households. I said, ‘We’re the big house.’ But they didn’t buy it.”
Now, many might point out that this shouldn’t be a big deal, as perhaps the gov’t shouldn’t be using taxpayer money to subsidize the TV watching habits of prisoners, but the prison officials are claiming that most people don’t understand just how important television is in keeping the peace within prisons. The article includes some quotes from folks that suggest that television is a pretty important part of the prison experience in encouraging good behavior and keeping the prisoners connected to the outside world. Who would have ever thought that the conversion from analog to digital TV might lead to prison riots?
Filed Under: converters, coupons, digital tv, prisons
Comments on “Prisons Upset That Prisoners Don't Get Discounts On Digital TV Converters”
No Cable either?
I would think that not having cable would be enough to start riots in the prisons.
Come on, are you honestly surprised that TV distracts and pacifies the weak and the stupid?
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Having worked in a prison, I can tell you that most prisoners are neither weak nor stupid. The validity of our penal system and the psychology of why they offend is not the topic here. From a purely economic standpoint, tvs are cheap babysitters. They help to alleviate boredom and, depending on the show, to keep the mind engaged. Prison officials would rather have an inmate watching tv than planning an escape, assaulting someone or wreaking some other havoc.
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Prisoners neither weak nor stupid?
Um, weak enough to commit a crime, and stupid enough to get caught?
Yeah, I thought so.
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Yeah, really stupid. Like Hans Reiser. On the other hand, none of the really profoundly physically and mentally handicapped persons I have met have ever been to prison at all. So much for your theory.
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You are absolutely correct.
Television privileges do indeed help keep the peace and keep prisoners connected to the outside world. Most prisoners have not done something bad enough to justify total seclusion, or total deprivation of any technology (e.g. some computer use is justifiable as well)
Also, television is an incentive in jail not to behave bad enough to lose the privilege.
That said, I have met plenty of jail officers that get just a wee bit to pissy when their inmates don’t get their toothbrushes or their phone cards fast enough.
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coming from… stupid herself
The bigger picture....
Aren’t they there to be punished? Make them work! Get them off their butts and have them do menial or hard labor so they can contribute to society. You don’t “pay your debt” to society by being locked up with a TV and three square meals a day.
Re: The bigger picture....
That’s more up to the judge than it is to you.
Re: The bigger picture....
“Aren’t they there to be punished? Make them work! Get them off their butts and have them do menial or hard labor so they can contribute to society.”
People think prisons are about housing prisoners and while that is part of the job, they are largely just cheap labor factories (making hats for the military, telemarketing for catalogue or credit card companies, etc). The truth is they are SOO successful in the markets they attack, they generally kill any private businesses left, (the hat manufacturing business for example) as no private copmany can compete with .30 cents an hour labor (thats cheap even in china) and government subsidized healthcare, housing, meals, etc.
As well all know, a good worker is a comfortable worker, thats what this is about. It has nothing to do with coddeling prisoners. Be careful if the Republicans keep pushing things in the direction they are going (attempting to bankrupt the American government), we may all one day go to prison, just to have a job, a meal and somewhere to sleep.
I am guessing the prison has $50 in their budget to pay for the community TV. It just won’t be government subsidized. So I guess the Government will have to pay for it.
I wonder if those crappy prison TVs can even accept a digital converter box. I’ll bet most of them are 5″ kitchen type TVs that have the built-in antenna and no input option.
Prisoners aren’t the only ones rioting. Plenty of lower class America hates the conversion as well. The retail store I worked over the summer sold those boxes, and OH MY GOD PEOPLE WERE SO ANGRY
– “You mean I have to pay the goverment money to keep watching TV? *rage*”
– “I have 23 TVs and this is a major problem *rage*”
– “This digital signal looks crappy and sounds worse *rage*” (lesson: don’t buy the Wal-Mart boxes)
Then you have the whole weaker signal deal and lots of people had to buy a more powerful antenna. Even though my company offered 25% our antennas with a TV purchase people got red in the face when we mentioned they would probably need to get one.
Are prisoners mad? Yes. Is everybody else mad? Yeah. The kind of people who have an airwave as their primary TV are generally poor. Sure you can get a box for the price of the coupon value and not spend money, but those $40 boxes STINK. In two months or so when they break the customer will have to pay the whole $40 to get a new one.
Thanks for this post, Mike, I liked it.
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The kind of people who have an airwave as their primary TV are generally poor.
Um, most of the poor people spend their money on cable instead of food for their babies, the government pays for that.
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“Um, most of the poor people spend their money on cable instead of food for their babies, the government pays for that.”
I’m sorry, did you work at a store selling converter boxes? “Basic Cable”, the cheapest programming package, will sometimes need a converter box. It varies by region.
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Um, most of the poor people spend their money on cable instead of food for their babies, the government pays for that.
Kill the poor, then we won’t have to deal with them.
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Actually I’m quite well off and choose not to subscrive to cable TV. Can’t stand the ads, and the advertiser supported dumbed-down programming.
Fuck the prisoners. If they get violent for not having TV put them in “the hole”. If that doesn’t work, kill them. There is no loss to society if these scumbags are killed.
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You sure are bloodthirsty!
It is people like you who think that way that make mobs dangerous.
I hate to live in a society where people think revenge and mob justice is a fine idea.
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Dear Mrs. Obama,
Please move to a country that you would be more proud of and where you would happy to live. We are sick of your self-righteous crap.
Sincerely,
Proud Americans
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And I am sure you’re self-righteous yourself too! I am sure if I have my society the way I like it, you’ll move, right? Maybe not?
Maybe I just have more sympathy *GASP* for the accused and prisoners. What wrong with criticizing the bloodthirsty sentiment of your fellow citizens, anyway?
And you’re talking to an anarcho-capitalist. You know…the kind of people who hate Obama for his robin hood style wealth redistribution policy.
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You’re right. A guy who didn’t pay taxes or defended his wife in a bar fight deserves to die in order to convenience you. Good call.
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Indeed, a great many people are in prison for doing things significantly less “bad” than the things done by the people who write the laws that put them there.
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In my area recently a guy was given 30 years in prison for killing a child. It’s possible that he’ll be out on parole in less than half that. On the same day another guy was given life in prison without the possibility of parole for possession of some prescription pills without a valid prescription. Both were first time offenders.
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On the same day another guy was given life in prison without the possibility of parole for possession of some prescription pills without a valid prescription
if this is not a flat out lie, at least you are leaving out some key details, because the way you describe it, ain’t ever happening
not signing your name is one thing, if you want to make a claim like yours, at least post one decent link to support your claim
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anonymous coward..youre fucking stupid. That is what most people are in prison for.Read a paper, book, turn on your tv. Leave the room when the ad comes on.
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With such violent tendencies I wonder how long it’ll be before you commit some crime and get locked up yourself.
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Twat.
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Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just kill them? No prisons to build, no guardians to hire, no money wasted.
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people like u are a bigger problem than prisoners
Make them work for it
Dont well-behaved prisoners have the opportunity to work inside the prison for .50 an hour or something?
So if the prisoners want to keep watching tv, they have to put in a solid month’s worth of work. Sounds like good incentive to me. Why give them a coupon? just make them pay full price. It is more of a reward for good behavior and hard work.
Re: Make them work for it
Not in some states (e.g. Texas). The 13th amendment abolishing slavery specifically excluded prisoners.
Interesting debate… I mean, should our tax dollars really be given to those in prison? I mean yes it keeps the peace but is that the tax payers concern really? Hmm interesting.
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I think it would be the tax payers concern that any “cost” to the tax payer as a result of these riots will be far greater than the cost of a box
let's just
poke out their eyes and let them listen to radio.
I wonder what the corrections officers will be watching!!
I got 2 of the coupons
and it did no good. The retailers couldn’t or wouldn’t keep them in stock. My cards expired without use, so my TV’s will die too.
Re: I got 2 of the coupons
1. Some stores are able to order and ship them to you them if they are out. You should have shopped around.
2. You can always buy the box outright. You don’t NEED a coupon to buy a box.
3. They expire NINETY DAYS after they are issued. Why did you wait so long?!
Many prisoners do work and watching TV is an end of the day ritual for them just as it is for those of us on the outside. There are also sick prisoners who can’t even leave their cells or medical wards.
So what is the reasoning behind the government refusing to provide the converter coupons to prisoners? I personally think the whole program was a stupid idea to begin with, but there’s no valid reason to exclude an entire class of people, except for government bureaucracy at work.
Psychology:
From what I hear you prisoner lovers saying it’s this:
When you sit your children in front of the TV and call them for dinner and then sit them back in front of the TV until bedtime… you’re training them how to be model prisoners.
In essence, you’re offended because prisoners have the same lifestyle as your kids and that makes you feel guilty.
Shocking why we’re overcrowding…
the prisons can afford it
the prison industry is a big business. more and more people get sent there for more and more stupid things, so it’s also a growing industry.
they are just looking for a handout, just like every other govt subsidized profit center.
A few points
1) According to the ads I’m seeing on TV, we need to be preparing for this TV-doomsday apocalypse NOW!!!! Yes, NOW. The WB is even running a countdown timer to the day when TV as we know it ENDS!!! Prepare yourselves now! Don’t get caught without a TV signal!
Oh, wait, only people who use an antenna will be affected? And what percentage of the TV audience is this? If it’s less than 10%, why the **** are stations running ads and countdown timers with more than six months until this switch over?
2) While I agree the TV’s can be good babysitters, whether the viewer is a toddler, a couch-potato, or a prisoner, aren’t inmates in jail to be punished?
Or are you telling me that someone who’s convicted of multiple murders can get free cable TV? Then why not give them 10 channels of HBO and ESPN because that will “pacify” them as well.
If TV is that important, then I would vote to give them the “good for you” channels like Discovery, History, and the Learning Channel. What are they watching on basic TV- Jerry Springer, American Idol, and other “rot your brain” shows?
3) To all the people who scream about the cost of switching over: be glad you don’t live in England where they have to pay a YEARLY, yes YEARLY “TV license”. I think the rates are around $200 US. So, I think a one-time $40 fee isn’t so bad.
Though the main issue goes back to my first point: who still uses an antenna to watch TV?
Re: A few points
2) While I agree the TV’s can be good babysitters, whether the viewer is a toddler, a couch-potato, or a prisoner, aren’t inmates in jail to be punished?
Or are you telling me that someone who’s convicted of multiple murders can get free cable TV? Then why not give them 10 channels of HBO and ESPN because that will “pacify” them as well.
If TV is that important, then I would vote to give them the “good for you” channels like Discovery, History, and the Learning Channel. What are they watching on basic TV- Jerry Springer, American Idol, and other “rot your brain” shows?
most people in prisons aren’t nearly as bad as you are making them out to be. our Prisons use TV as part of a reward system. if the inmate behaves, they get an hour or so of TV after their other duties/chores.
and despite common belief the prisons are not there just to punish people who commit crimes, the job of prisons is to try and rehabilitate and reintegrate the inmates into normal society, give them the skills they need to be contributing members so they don’t have a reason to commit crimes.
Re: A few points
“Though the main issue goes back to my first point: who still uses an antenna to watch TV?”
TONS of people use antennas to watch TV. While many families have cable, sometimes it is a better idea to buy a airwave TV upstairs instead of spending $200 on splitters and quality coax cables. Plus a fair number of people have TVs in the garage, in their cabin, RV, or as backup.
“If it’s less than 10%, why the **** are stations running ads and countdown timers with more than six months until this switch over?”
Maybe because 10% is incorrect.
Re: A few points
Though the main issue goes back to my first point: who still uses an antenna to watch TV?
My family does. Cable TV was the first thing we cut back on when we hit hard times, and where we live, there is no over-the-air signal available, so what my children have to watch is thirteen channels of snow. However, our area has high-speed DSL available for $20 a month, and my kids watch TV on the computer, rent movies from Netflix or check DVDs out from the library. We are not suffering in the least without cable TV or antenna service, and in fact, I even forgot to cash in our two converter-box coupons before they expired.
Re: A few points
Oh, wait, only people who use an antenna will be affected? And what percentage of the TV audience is this? If it’s less than 10%, why the **** are stations running ads and countdown timers with more than six months until this switch over?
Mostly because the FCC threatened fines if stations did not do a better job of informing the public of the changeover.
People shouldnt even HAVE TV in prisons. They should be locked in a 8 by 8 foot room with no windows and left to rot until their time is up.
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that does nothing to rehabilitate the inmate and will only to everything to perpetuate the cycle. despite what mass media would have you believe, most inmates are not hardened crooks, they are in there for some white-collar or one-time offense, there are even people who have been innocently convicted in our jails right now and there is no reason to treat every inmate as a mass murderer.
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Like mentioned before…not everyone in prison is a “bad” person. Prisons have become a big business and so locking people up for whatever reason no matter how stupid the “crime” may be. Prisoners are still human beings and should be treated as such. Locking them up in an 8 by 8 with no windows and left there to rot until their time is up is not a form of rehabilitation. Also, prisoners are not weak and stupid either. Yes, they may have done something illegal and got caught, but legality is a fine line that is easily crossed…just ask any politician (good luck on getting a straight answer though). I’ve worked and met quite a few ex-prisoners and they are some rather bright individuals. Should the prisons be subsidized for the converter boxes? No, they earn enough to pay for them themselves. They may have to go without the warden getting as fat a bonus, but as in any business…if you want it to run smoothly you may need to make a sacrifice every once in a while.
I will agree that there are certain people that do deserve to be locked up indefinitely due to the severity of their crimes. This is only my personal opinion of course which I am entitled to just as you are to your own opinions. So do not take this as a flame to you or anyone. Crimes I believe deserve the treatment you speak of are those that have (intentionally) harmed a child…either sexually or physically, murderers who had no remorse for their victim(s), and that is really about all I can think about that would deserve such drastic treatment, but then again that is what the death penalty is for. People locked up for “white collar” crimes and non-violent offenders should not be treated in the same manner since they are two completely different types of criminals.
As for the overcrowding issue. That is due thanks to prisons becoming privatized and people making big bucks off of it. The “war” on drugs is another reason since I personally know of 4 guys that do not deserve to be locked up, but they were busted with a lot of marijuana and were charged with distribution for selling to a cop. My friends never hurt anyone. All they did was sell bud and nothing else. There were no weapons, no hard drugs, and a lot of the people they were selling to were sick. Yet, they didn’t have a hotshot attorney since they were not big pushers. They had jobs, but needed a little extra income (who doesn’t) and this was one way to make a quick buck without hurting anyone. If anyone out there knows anything about drugs then you know that weed is THE safest “drug”. I know people are still blinded by the government propaganda shoveled to them for the last 71 years, but do your own research and you will see that it does not deserve to be outlawed, and could actually help the country by once again becoming the #1 cash crop (yes, there are MANY more uses than just smoking). For those wondering…yes I am a smoker. I have a good job, pay my bills on time, take care of my family, and do actually leave my house. I smoke on a daily basis for medicinal purposes (anxiety, depression, multiple body pains, and I am also bipolar). I used to have to take 7 pills 3 times a day, but they started to make me even more sick. My doctor “secretly” suggested cannabis and I had smoked when I was younger, but had stopped. Since picking it back up I am able to live my life normally, happy, and pain-free (most of the time), but in fear of being arrested for doing something that helps me. I always tell people that know me “In Cali I’m a patient, but here in TX I’m a criminal”. The law needs to change so people such as myself can be free and live in peace without the worry of persecution or prosecution 🙂 I also do not see a problem with recreational use either since it is safer than alcohol or cigarettes.
1. Forced Labor.
2. Feed them barely enough calories to do the labor.
3. Prisoners will be too tired to do anything at night.
Oh wait… that’s what China does…
much of what conservative types view as “luxuries” in Prisons, cigarettes, TV’s etc are actually pressure relief valves which benefits not only prisoners but especially correctional Officers. Of course it makes you soun d more manlly to boast, “we shouldn’t coddle these lowlifes, how about the victims, etc” but the same people don’t have to deal with inmates day in and day out.
You guys say F the prisoners, don’t pay for their TV boxes. Well I say F you all, if you take a tax-payer ‘donated’ tv ‘coupon’.
Stop blowing tax money on dumb shit!
On a related note ...
A significant percentage of those incarcerated are actually not guilty and did not in fact commit a crime. They were nabbed by the police and charged by a system that would rather offer a plea bargain than investigate a crime because then they can close the case. It is sad that these people were told the plea bargain was a good choice compared to defending themslves.
Oh, and one more thing … commenter number 19, wrong site.
Not guilty
everyone in prison is innocent #35… just ask them.
To Johnny (#15)… poking out their eyes would certainly eliminate the need for TV boxes. It may curtail some crime.
Of all the posts… that makes the most sense.
Re: Not guilty
Poking out their eyes…and then yourself being guilty of a prison-punishable crime. How you’d regret that..
TV = rehabilitation, who knew ;P ?!?
Gotta love this country, crybaby prison officials blubbering how their jobs are going to be harder. Hey, I know the concept of rehabilitation is really only theater for the chuckleheaded masses. But this may be an opportunity to actually try to rehabilitate prisoners, there things called books, or maybe teach them meditation or Tai-chi.
I mean really what’s on TV besides propaganda and poorly created entertainment, anyway. I’m sure if the force medicated the prisons like the do most children in public school they be more manageable too. Heh, give the enough and you can just lie to them about the converter box and they probably won’t notice.
Obama can fix it
I’m sure Obama can fix it.
I bet you’d just love to be the one doing the poking too, wouldn’t you? Heck, you could even make a video of the process and put it on YouTube for all your friends to watch. Oh wait, YOUR friends will probably all have their eyes poked out. So forget the video, just have fun poking.
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Kill the poor, then we won’t have to deal with them.
the middle class needs to be careful of that kind of thinking.
the rich feed on the poor (cigarettes, gasoline, credit, alchohol, gambling, legal fees, overdraft fees, collections) if the poor go away then the rich will start preying on you.
you need the poor, they are easy for the real predators to eat which takes the attention away from you.
Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just kill them? No prisons to build, no guardians to hire, no money wasted.
you can’t kill them, that would be cruel. the current system of keeping them alive but ruining their lives is much more profitable.
They should have thought about that before they committed crimes. LET THE CRIMINALS PAY FOR THEIR OWN DAMN CONVERTER BOXES, If tax payers pay, They should serve bread and water to save money.
Losers!
For fucks sake...
Watever happened to an inmates debt to society? I wasn’t aware of the fact that we’re indebted to them. Pretty sure it’s the other way around.
DTV
The government shouldn’t be using tax payer money to subsidize ANYBODY’S TV watching habits.
So, what is the best converter ?
Digital TV for Prisoners
It is unfortuante that this conversion was not well thought out as to the effects of all persons involved and the consequences which will result in an adverse cause and effect in the prison system. Prisons are people too.
What would be the issue if the families of prisoners donated $40 on the prisoners books or a special designated fund toward the cost of the box(s)to help defray some of the overall cost. The institution should have a record of what prisoners has personal televisions and how many community televisions are in the insitution.
I think something like this suggestion should be considered. The insitutions need to go to the government with a possible solution. The bottom line, the insitutions will deal with the consequences of prisioners not having a constuctive outlet as both the prisoner and guards continue do time together.
Duh
And what about the guards ? Who buys them a converter box ?
What are they suppose to do all day – watch the prisoners ?
Holy smokes … the guards have to have something to do while they recharge their tazers and polish their nightsticks.
Prison reform is a completely different issue, as is pot legalization. Sometimes you folks go off in thread jacking rants that are hard to take seriously.
And the profanity is getting disturbing as well. I was always pleased to read the different viewpoints as long as they were striving to present an argument, but now they are turning into foul mouthed attempts to Uni-Brow the argument to cave man status (no offense intended to the actual cave men).
Prisons have budgets, and the converter boxes should be bought from that budget. Where did the T.V. come from?
Here’s a novel concept (note the dripping sarcasm) why not have a sponsor buy a new Tv that will accept the new signals and hang an Ad off of it?
Isn’t that the American way?
“Mostly because the FCC threatened fines if stations did not do a better job of informing the public of the changeover.”
I think ever since the FCC decided that the Mattel-Mars Bar Choco-bot hour counted as childrens educational programming, nobody has worried about fines from them for anything other then “dirty words” and “breast shots” (apparently these are terribly dangerous things to chidlren).
Cox cable ads
My cable company, Cox, has ads out now that are like “The transition is coming, the end is nigh. Repent your sins. Oh, wait, you’re watching this on cable, you’re good. Never mind, ignore all the DTV FUD. You’ll still be able to watch TV after Feb ’09.”
Not Just Prisons
They are not the only ones. “Assisted Living” facilities where each person has her/his own apartment & furnishings do not qualify either.
So Grandma gets to watch the snow all summer long.
Lets go to jail and see what it is like