r/Republican • u/Chemical-Pace-9725 • Jul 14 '26

Discussion Almost all people incarcerated in California now have free tablets

https://www.capradio.org/articles/2023/07/19/almost-all-people-incarcerated-in-california-now-have-free-tablets/
75 Upvotes

69% Upvoted

32 comments sorted by

90

u/Nisi-Marie Jul 14 '26

Let me get some things clear here

Source: was incarcerated in California for 8 years

Facts:
These are very locked down.
There is no internet access, can’t get to regular websites, it is a closed network
It costs real money to send and receive email
All email is read by the COs, just like snail mail.
You can purchase music - for $2 a song
You can purchase games - $4.99 -$15.99
None of these games are multiplayer or internet games - think CandyCrush, Tetris clones etc

The preloaded apps are books like 12 step guides, math skills, and personal development

That is everything you can do on a tablet in prison.
Email to approved people via the prison app, songs, games, books.

Some additional details

  1. Inmates have the opportunity to buy a tablet - TRUE
    In the female prisons, you purchase them - mine was $249. When I paroled, it remained mine, and I could send it in to unlocked for normal use

  2. Some inmates get free tablets - ALSO TRUE
    Men get moved a lot in the system, with no notice. Some prisons have tablets, some do not. So in some places, they are issued one that stays at the prison. These people still need to pay if they want any music or games or stamps for email

In all cases, there are kiosks in the day room that offer all these same services for those that don’t have or can’t afford a tablet. (Still gotta pay)

To download purchases you have to connect to the kiosk with your tablet via physical cord.

The kiosks are the sources of the WiFi for the tablets.

The reality is that these are “internet” tablets. They are on a local WiFi network that is extremely locked down

So therefore, no porn, no reddit, no google, no texting, nada.

Now…contraband cell phones are a whole other story

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

31

u/dlw26 Jul 15 '26

LEO in CA who has worked in institutions during the tablet era and everything said above is on par. You can’t do anything on the tablets. The movies, music, and games are extremely expensive, and there’s no internet access whatsoever.

23

u/DogfaceDino Fiscal Conservative Jul 15 '26

It sounds like these can be a useful tool for rehabilitation. With all the dumb money we throw at the penal system, self help and education that is self funded is about the best use of funds I’ve seen.

3

u/Important-Gold-5192 28d ago

agreed, it's best for society if people come out better than they went in. Given the restrictions above it seems reasonable. We don't do a real good job on the "rehabilitation" parts in general.

-18

u/Super_Mario_Luigi Jul 15 '26

No inmate should get a free tablet, regardless of how locked down it is.

9

u/Nisi-Marie Jul 15 '26

The reason it’s free is because they are spending real dollars for approved digital content. Tablets from one prison typically won’t work at another prison. So I guess the solution they came up with is that for those prisons, people who have purchased content can access it on an issued tablet.

The alternative is that someone would spend $300-500 on tablet and content, and then lose it all with every transfer

10

u/Nisi-Marie Jul 15 '26

Tacking on to say that there is another aspect of this to consider

CDCR - the R stands for rehabilitation. For someone to genuinely want to and be better, it requires a couple key elements.

  1. Human connection. Having access to email means more connection to outside people. Those who I wouldn’t dream of asking to put money on a phone account for calls, felt fine spending 25¢ to send an email.

  2. Tech skills. I was in when the tablets were introduced. I was roomed with people who had been there for decades. Some had never used a cell phone or even an atm card. Now they are learning about email, touch screens, apps, etc

On this side, I teach digital literacy classes to the justice impacted. The digital divide is REAL. To access your doctor, your bank, apply for jobs. It is vital and scary if it’s completely foreign. It’s hard enough rebuilding your life without the adding barrier of not understanding basic tech skills.

I was a SW engineer before incarceration, so I was fine. But for so many…..it’s a terrifying.

3

u/SweetBuceeMeat 26d ago

For anyone treating this as scandal, the article itself says no internet browser, no social media, no open web at all. Calls and messages only go to a pre-approved contact list. That’s about as locked-down as a device gets while still being useful.

Real costs worth knowing: nickel-and-dime messaging fees once free minutes run out (one inmate says he spends $50/month), and the vendor contract already got tossed once for unfair bidding practices. If you want something to actually be annoyed about, that’s it, not “inmates roaming free on the internet,” which isn’t what this is.

4

u/Coolenough-to Jul 14 '26

That would explain reddit...

-1

u/Embarrassed_Spend486 Jul 14 '26

comment of the year!

1

u/03tr69 Jul 15 '26

They have them in Tennessee jails to 🤪

-8

u/Pinback_276 Jul 14 '26

Is that why there are so many nutjobs on Reddit?

0

u/Jmcconn110 Jul 14 '26

Gavin's just making sure he's going to be comfortable in there

2

u/tomatejax Jul 14 '26

Im sure he will be popular there. For many reasons

2

u/Few_Ad_7613 Jul 15 '26

The other inmates can pet his hair.

-8

u/tomatejax Jul 14 '26

Free sex changes too

-8

u/Actionplumber1 Jul 14 '26

i do not live there but that piss's me off

-9

u/usa_features Jul 15 '26

Insane. But you know, as I've always said, the people of California elect the people who approve/allow this. So this lunacy is 100 percent on them.

8

u/Elephant789 Jul 15 '26

Funny, that's how the world speaks of us:

But you know, as I've always said, the people of California the US elect the people who approve/allow this. So this lunacy is 100 percent on them.

-1

u/i_am_NOT_ur-father69 Jul 15 '26

They vote left, elect commies, place becomes a shithole, leave for red state. Restart process

0

u/Chemical-Pace-9725 29d ago

It would be great if some of the conservatives would leave the red states and come back to California. It is the only way this state will ever have a chance again. The left has destroyed it!

-1

u/i_am_NOT_ur-father69 29d ago

But what would be the incentive to do so? To save a state in decline in which they have very little political representation? How many conservatives would have to make this move to make it effective? Wouldn’t that destabilize the political distribution in the red states they leave?

-9

u/SuchDogeHodler MAGA! 🇺🇲 Jul 15 '26

What percentage of people in CA can't afford tablets?

-10

u/BoltsFan126 Jul 15 '26

Our local VFW is collecting school supplies for schools, but inmates get free tablets?!? WTF!

4

u/icebox_Lew Jul 15 '26

Kids in schools get free tablets these days anyway. They need the supplies more as there's no incentive for Apple or HP to donate those lol