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?
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Filed Under: converters, coupons, digital tv, prisons
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No Cable either?
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Um, weak enough to commit a crime, and stupid enough to get caught?
Yeah, I thought so.
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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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The bigger picture....
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Re: The bigger picture....
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Re: The bigger picture....
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.
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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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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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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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Kill the poor, then we won't have to deal with them.
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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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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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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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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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Make them work for it
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.
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let's just
I wonder what the corrections officers will be watching!!
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I got 2 of the coupons
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Re: I got 2 of the coupons
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?!
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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.
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Psychology:
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...
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the prisons can afford it
they are just looking for a handout, just like every other govt subsidized profit center.
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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?
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?
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Re: A few points
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.
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Re: A few points
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.
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Re: A few points
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.
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Re: A few points
Mostly because the FCC threatened fines if stations did not do a better job of informing the public of the changeover.
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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.
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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...
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Stop blowing tax money on dumb shit!
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On a related note ...
Oh, and one more thing ... commenter number 19, wrong site.
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Not guilty
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.
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Re: Not guilty
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TV = rehabilitation, who knew ;P ?!?
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.
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Obama can fix it
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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.
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Losers!
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For fucks sake...
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DTV
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Digital TV for Prisoners
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.
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Duh
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.
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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?
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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).
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Cox cable ads
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Not Just Prisons
So Grandma gets to watch the snow all summer long.
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