OUR VIEW: Free tablets for prisoners a lame idea

State Sen. Joseph Griffo, R-Rome, brings up some good points regarding a plan by the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to provide tablets to the approximately 51,000 inmates at correctional facilities throughout the state.

The DOCCS needs to answer those questions and clarify some of the points Griffo raises before handing out the tablets that will allow inmates to email, listen to music and read e-books, amongst other things.

The tablets will be provided by a company called JPay, a Florida company that already has two contracts with the state — one for $8.8 million for inmate kiosks and related services, and another is for the supervision of fees collection and accounting system for parolees. That contract is reportedly for more than $216,000.

Griffo is a little concerned about that and in a letter to state DOCCS Acting Commissioner Anthony Annucci, asks: “I believe it is important to learn what role, if any, these previous contracts may have played in making the decision to provide these tablets.”

We wonder about that, too. And so should you.

DOCCS and JPay are trying to peddle this under the guise of providing educational resources to “bored” inmates and also as a means by which they can stay in touch with family. State taxpayers won’t pay for the tablets; nor will the state make any money from them, although JPay stands to make a good buck off the inmates — more likely, their families — because the company will collect fees when the inmates use email, transfer money or purchase products.

A report last week in the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle noted that JPay has been criticized for charging exorbitant fees for electronic money transfers to prisoners. The D&C reported that a 2014 investigative report by the Center for Public Integrity revealed the company was charging 35 to 45 percent to transfer money in some cases. It also found that families of hundreds of thousands of U.S. inmates had no way to send money to incarcerated loved ones without paying high fees to private companies including JPay. After the investigation, JPay decreased or eliminated some of its fees and added a free deposit option in certain states.

There are other legitimate concerns regarding the tablet handout. For instance, while inmates won’t be able to access the internet with the tablets, they will have email capabilities. Griffo points out that given the resourcefulness of inmates, it will be critical for the DOCSS to put safeguards in place to be sure the equipment is not abused.

“If inmates are to have tablets, it is imperative that the tablets are, and should always be, monitored by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision or another entity to make sure this technology isn’t being misused or mishandled,” Griffo told Annucci. “My concern is that these devices could make it easier to order and/or bring contraband into the state’s prisons, make it easier to order hits on other inmates and could make it easier to coordinate uprisings within facilities. This could greatly impact the safety of the personnel working within these facilities.”

Frankly, we think handing out tablets free of charge to people who have broken all kinds of laws is a pretty lame idea. If JPay wants to invest in the future, why not make the tablets available to those who haven’t broken the law and cannot afford such luxuries? Like children in poor school districts.

“If we can provide this technology for free to inmates, it would be better for the state to provide the same to students in schools and colleges throughout the state,” Griffo stated. “I feel that it is imperative that we examine ways that we can help schools, libraries and other organizations receive the same treatment.”

We most certainly should.