Prisons' New Challenge - Going Digital

Prisons Scrambling To Make Digital TV Transition As February Switch From Analog Looms

(AP)  The big switch to digital TV has prison officials scrambling to keep one of the most important peacekeeping tools in prisons across the nation - broadcast television.

When the nation's broadcasters make the switch from analog to digital signals next Feb. 17, televisions that aren't hooked up to cable, satellite or a converter box will be reduced to static. While TV might seem like an undeserved luxury for inmates, prison officials and inmates say the tube does more than fill year after year of idle hours - it provides a sense of normalcy and is a bargaining chip that encourages good behavior.

The TV industry has spent months preparing consumers for the switch, running ads and offering government-funded coupons that can be redeemed for the converter boxes needed to display the digital signal on older TVs. But officials worry that prisoners may be left to stare at blank screens because they don't qualify for the $40 coupons.

"They won't give us the switches, we called them," said South Carolina Corrections Department Director Jon Ozmint. "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."

Ozmint said state money won't be used to buy the undetermined number of converters South Carolina needs to keep its TVs running in common areas. Officials in many states haven't figured out exactly how many converter boxes will be needed - and what the exact cost will be.

In North Carolina, 699 televisions in 26 of the state's 78 prison facilities get over-the-air broadcast TV. For instance, one prison in Taylorsville has 40 over-the-air TVs, Department of Corrections spokesman Keith Acree said.

The agency is trying to determine whether multiple televisions can be hooked up to a single converter box, or if each TV will need a converter box, he said.

In Florida, corrections department spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said officials are asking for donations for the digital boxes and could buy the converters themselves.

But that's something that may need legislators' approval because Florida law bars spending money on perks like cable TV for inmates. "It's important because it's an inmate idleness issue," Plessinger said. "(We're) concerned about inmates acting up if they're bored."

Plessinger, Ozmint and others - including those who have served time - see television more as necessity than perk. Norris Henderson, who spent 27 years in Louisiana's Angola prison, said it's a myth that inmates idle away the day watching soap operas and game shows.

"If anything has a priority, it's the news," Henderson said.

Where inmates watch TV, and for how long, depends on the state and prison. Some inmates watch television in communal day rooms, while other prisons let inmates have small TVs in their cells.

Checo Yancy, who spent 20 years in Angola, said TVs rarely are turned on when inmates are working - but there are exceptions. On Sept. 11, 2001, inmates watched in horror as the aftermath of the terror attacks on New York and Washington unfolded.

"Inmates were just as heartbroken as people on the outside," said Yancy, who now helps run the Louisiana chapter of Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants. "I saw guys cry that particular day because it was a tragedy."

Dr. Terry Kupers, a psychiatrist and prison expert at The Wright Institute, a psychology school in Berkeley, Calif., said there is clear evidence that TV privileges can positively affect prisoners. At Indiana's Wabash Valley super-maximum security prison, he said, far fewer behavior problems were reported among inmates in isolation after they were given small televisions and prison officials spent more time talking with them.

"You don't want to be managing prisoners who have nothing to lose," Kupers said.

In Alabama, prisons don't have access to cable or satellite and wardens began studying the issue in August, said prison agency spokesman Brian Corbett. Officials are counting how many converter boxes are needed and plan to round up the federal coupons for the gear, Corbett said.

While prisons can't seek the coupons directly, nothing prevents people from passing them along to others, said Bart Forbes, a spokesman for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons receives cable TV service, so officials don't anticipate any interruptions, spokeswoman Felicia Ponce said. Federal inmates are allowed limited viewing in common rooms with some restrictions - for instance, they can't watch R-rated movies.

In Pennsylvania, inmates received notices telling them they'd have to pay for converter boxes for the TVs they are allowed to keep in their cells or hook up to prison cable systems, state corrections spokeswoman Susan McNaughton said.

[gatofeo]

I don''t have a problem with TV in prison.
Prisoners should have some kind of privileges that can be taken away as punishment.
TV keeps the prisoners calm and entertained. If prisoners get bored, they fight, either with other inmates or a guard.
Then someone gets hurt and guess who pays for it all? YOU! The taxpayer.
Few people realize that a prisoner''s medical bills are paid by the jailer (city, county, state or federal).
I''ve known of criminals who had a bad tooth that purposely committed a minor crime, then fought with cops, so they''d get jailed. Once jailed, they asked for a dentist.
A week later they''re out with a fixed tooth - laughing.
So anything that keeps prisoners from fighting is good.
Another thing: Many people think that prisoners can read. A significant portion can''t. Most criminals are the botom rung of society, without skills or the most basic educational skills. That''s why they became criminals, because they''re too stupid or unskilled to make it in the real world.
Many others are just plain lazy, what I call the "MTV generation" that thinks flashy cars, girls, new clothes, drugs and alcohol are deserved. So, they commit crimes to get the things that MTV and the hip-hop/rap cultures tell them.
I agree. Give prisoners books. But make sure they can read them. And if they can''t, get prisoners who CAN read to help them.
And if they refuse, take away their TV privileges.
See how quickly they come around!

[barbaram99]

I like digital TV.I read Sarah''s say just fine..Some of us are mot great in in spelling or grammar. The prosoms will deal with the change. Before I saw Digital TV,I said what''s the different..I installed an ext. TV card on computer and it has both formats..Analog TV is awful...Sorry but true. They will have to do something in their TV format, I don''t have answers..I am not much of a TV watcher.

[beehive21-2009]

Hope this helps you understand,not all prisoners are watching TV.TV helps with feeling there is life after prison ,football,Basketball ,etc.helps relive tension.The other inmates are working,taking classes,while others are in the underworld,Drug,Gaming,liquor,intimidation,misery.Let the people have there escape while surrounded in a very hostile environment.

[bob5ford]

If you did the crime you should do the time - without TV. What ever happened to chain gangs anyway?? We need to bring them back regardless of what the ACLU likes!!!

[avigil2]

I love my TV (and no, I refuse to kill it!) but these prisoners needs to better themselves by spending more time in their library or as someone else pointed out, taking classes to educate themselves to become productive members of society.

[hwrd69]

Sarah, it is "their" not "there"

[sarahj624]

I feel that inmates DO need something to pass the idle time, not just TV, it should be mandatory for them to read several books a week, take several classes a week, like math, english, some kind of class that explains to them the results of there actions, and some sorta trade/skill.. and definitely WORK, whether in the prison or in a work release program. As if they were out in the real world. This should be mandatory in all prisons and prisoners no matter there offense.. The only way to change there views and actions is to educate them and give them an opportunity to do better when they do get out, if that''s ever possible. However, with the TVs there should be time restrictions and penalties for abuse of their privileges.. I think Pennsylvania has it right, by making the inmates pay for the converter boxes off there books or by working..

[oneworldusa]

Prisoners can have books for entertainment. Free college education? NO!

[sistatee-2009]

Will the womens'' prisons get digital broomsticks, or keep the old wooden ones?

[blackyowe]

They should keep running reruns of the Waltons and Little House on the Prairie. It might calm the bast-tards down. Maybe Happy Days and Leave it to Beaver too!

[pirmin3]

Why does this bunch of society''s worst get anything digital??? They should be out working in the prison factories instead of watching the tube.