EFF: Hundreds of S. Carolina Prisoners Sent To Solitary For Social Media Use

According to the EFF's Deep LInks, Through a request under South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act, EFF found that, over the last three years, prison officials have brought more than 400 hundred disciplinary cases for "social networking" — almost always for using Facebook. The offenses come with heavy penalties, such as years in solitary confinement and deprivation of virtually all privileges, including visitation and telephone access. In 16 cases, inmates were sentenced to more than a decade in what’s called disciplinary detention, with at least one inmate receiving more than 37 years in isolation. ... The sentences are so long because SCDC issues a separate Level 1 violation for each day that an inmate accesses a social network. An inmate who posts five status updates over five days, would receive five separate Level 1 violations, while an inmate who posted 100 updates in one day would receive only one. In other words, if a South Carolina inmate caused a riot, took three hostages, murdered them, stole their clothes, and then escaped, he could still wind up with fewer Level 1 offenses than an inmate who updated Facebook every day for two weeks.

Comments

Unequal application of the law

[Anonymous Coward]

When can we start punishing non-inmates for this offense?

Re:Unequal application of the law

[unixisc]

When can we start punishing non-inmates for this offense?

EFF may back these prisoners using FaceBook. But if RMS, who is a major backer of EFF, had his way, then the prisoners are being made to do exactly what he wants everybody to do - avoid FaceBook. Had EFF checked w/ RMS, he'd have told them that this is a good thing.

The proper solution to this would be to sentence SC prisoners to deal only w/ GNU Social. Which is GNU's AGPL3 licensed social networking site. Prison officials should provide them computers that can only access that, and maybe eliminate browsers from the computers being used. Heck, let's provide all prisoners w/ Libre-Linux computers running only GPL3 software, and then tell them that that's all they're allowed to use.

After all, they are prisoners for a reason. };-)

When did facebook become a right?

[damn_registrars]

I don't see why inmates need access to it at all. They can find plenty of other ways to not be productive.

Re:When did facebook become a right?

[ShaunC]

Then Facebook access would be monitored like phone calls.

We're talking about the Land of the Free, here. Facebook access is already monitored like phone calls. You don't even have to be in prison.

Re:Why is this a big deal?

[nospam007]

"How is communicating on Facebook different than making phone calls or sending letters to the outside world?"

Ads for prison clothing.

Pelican Bay status updates

[Tailhook]

4:30PM: wrapping shank handle
6:00PM: meat balls cold noodles
1:00AM: hooked sum smokes from the line
1:01AM: i hate menthol
2:24PM: finished shank! check teh pic itz bad ass
4:01PM: lawyer sez my appeal isup next week. coolz
7:10PM: sharpen shank. it was sharp but lolz
9:00AM: powdered eggs again
1:15PM: emilio took the shank :( :( :( :( fucking hate that puta
6:05PM: meat balls rice