๐ Prisons Are Banning Books That Teach Prisoners How to Code
Oregon prisons have banned dozens of books about technology and programming, like 'Microsoft Excel 2016 for Dummies,' citing security reasons. The state isn't alone.
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โNot only do we have to think about classic prison escape and riot efforts like digging holes, jumping fences and starting fires, modernity requires that we also protect our prisons and the public against data system breaches and malware,โ DOC spokesperson Jennifer Black said in an emailed statement. โIt is a Balancing Act we are actively trying to achieve.โ
This is laughably ignorant.
Latest comments (38)
youre lucky youre not in the UK where we can put you IN prison for reading one (or is it for watching TV i forget)
Lets not teach programming at schools also since it introduces kids to computers, internet and ways how to hack the world around them. Lets not do that and dumb down just because we have a system and the system doesnt like our kids to be smart.
Corporate Boss: Hey how can we solve this issue we have with those peasants trying to hack us?
Thinker: We can improve our network security boss. We can integrate an SIEM, IDS, better firewalls, teach our people to detect spammy emails ...
Corporate Boss: Ahh, that seems like a lot of work. After all, i dont want my workers to be smarter and to know more then me. So what if, we can cut them from the internet?
Thinker: But boss, it is their right to learn and improve, so ...
Corporate Boss: Their right, who said they had rights.
Yeah thats where we are.
I'm going to get flamed for this. I know I will get hated. But in the interest of fairness, I'm going to say it anyway.
The situation is more complicated than it seems.
While I was in seminary studying to be a Catholic priest (I left without being ordained), I had a field work assignment in Maryland's maximum security prison in Hagerstown. The men in there were not in there for drug related crimes except maybe for trafficking on an large scale. Most were in there for pretty shocking crimes. You don't get a triple life sentence for pot. Many had barely avoided the death sentence. Don't get me wrong.
I mostly liked the inmates I worked with. They were mostly OK for purposes of my weekly interaction. They liked the activities we provided as well as the chance to get out of their cells. Some were easy conversationalists. Mostly they shared my dark sense of humor.
Maryland leads the US in reducing prison population. It dropped by almost 10% in 2017.
baltimoresun.com/politics/bs-md-pr...
I may be mistaken, but I don't think Maryland has for-profit prisons. Only about 1/2 the states do. Another thing often misunderstood is that while there are serious problems in our justice system and for-profit prisons are obviously problematic, only a small percentage of inmates actually live in for-profit prisons. I think it's something like 5% nationwide.
Now even though I liked a lot of the inmates that I worked with and they treated me very respectfully as a religious worker and a source of 'time out' of their cells, they could be very devious. They frequently asked me to make phone calls or carry out letters and packages for them. I couldn't do any of these things without committing a felony and, given the security measures, certainly getting caught. These attempts were silly and came from childish minds. But many of the prisoners were not so dumb. Additionally, fights, riots, and escape attempts happened. I never witnessed an act of violence during my six months there, but on a few occasions, when we arrived to work, we were turned back because the prison was on lockdown. Because of the nature of the criminals, security was a paramount concern and security flaws absolutely put the guards' lives at risk.
This was in 2006, but their computer classes did not have internet access. I don't know whether they do now. While I think it would be sad for a prisoner to be blocked from an avenue of learning, I can understand a state deciding it didn't have the resources to get into a cybersecurity arms race with a few thousand very devious and very bored guys with tons of time on their hands, some of whom are much more intelligent than might be supposed.
It may be an incorrect policy, but if Maryland's department of corrections should adopt it, I think it would be safe to say it was not for some nefarious reasons.
I think generally that when dealing with situations that are very foreign to our own experience, the best policy is to hear folks out rather than make assumptions.
This is such a sad news. If you believe in second chance, and welcome folks who are currently serving time to re-enter workforce, I encourage you to donate to Un-loop.
un-loop.org/
Had an opportunity to invite them to speak at CascadiaJS last year. Their mission and stories really moved me. I hope more organizations were doing things like this.
High demand for them in the field of former journalism.
But what will they do with incoming prisoners who already know programming?
Already summarized in this sentence Ben.
I'm speachless after reading this.
This seems like a violation of their rights. What about prisoners who already know Microsoft Excel?
You could compare this to during slavery how slaves were deprived the rights to be educated, because the slave owners were afraid they would revolt. I don't like this. It's a white vs black, rich vs poor, conservative or socialist, Christian or slave...
This is an extremely cruel situation. Everyone has the right to learn anything they want.
"Oregon prisons have banned dozens of books about technology and programming, like 'Microsoft Excel 2016 for Dummies,' citing security reasons. The state isn't alone."
If your staff is so dumb to open spreadsheet that may contain macros, you already failed at the so called "security".
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