By Gemma Simpson, 5 January 2007 15:20
NEWS
The silicon.com virtual post-bag was brimming with Reader Comments this week following a report on plans to give prisoners email access to keep in touch with their families.
The notion of jail-email was heralded as "a ridiculous suggestion" and "truly appalling" by some, with readers claiming prisons are turning into "holiday camps".
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Many readers were concerned about the cost of letting offenders log on. Chris Goodman from Fareham noted: "Who pays for this privilege to be given to those who have offended against society? Simple - those who have been the victims."
Some suggested the money being spent to provide email access to prisoners should be put towards building more jails but Matt, a web developer from Staffordshire, came up with a more extreme solution. He wrote: "Bring back hanging! That'd sort out the overcrowding problem!"
Going back to the email debate, some silicon.com readers saw the positives. Mike Poole, a developer from Edinburgh, said: "About time too. Surely emails are easier to monitor than snail mail which I imagine they can send and receive anyway."
Rod, from London, pointed out email is "a privilege that can easily be withdrawn" and if a prisoner can be kept in touch with family members it might stop them reoffending.
But as Paul Shrimpton pointed out: "Would you trust anyone with a '.con' email address?"
Comments
There are 2 comments. Join the discussion
1. A law abiding taxpayer
Wasn't email for prisoners mooted as part of an April Fools joke story in 2003?
Prison is hardly a punishment is it?
Can't we offshore incarceration?
Let's face it the biggest disincentive for gatting a criminal record is that it may hamper the ability to emigrate to certain countries, except it seems, Britain.
2. zakala
With the ever increasing price of postage, surely the tax payer could save money by allowing prisoners to email home rather than using snail mail.
Lets not forget as well that not everyone in prison has been convicted, many people, who may be found not guilty, are in prison on remand.
The root of this debate is that we don't all hold the same views on prison - is it punishment, confinement for everyone elses safety, rehabilitation or a bit of all three. Those that lean to the former will always see any priviledges beyond a bare cell as "being soft" and a waste of tax payers money.
Those that see prison as an opportunity to rehabilitate may feel that it leads to less isolation and institutionalisation.