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Prison Program Aims To Turn Criminals Into Coders

Posted by Soulskill on from the hello-walls dept.

Press2ToContinue writes with news that San Quentin, a notorious California prison, has started a program to teach a class of inmates to write code. The first class will last for six months, and the inmates are learning about programming for eight hours a day. The hope is to give them the skills to find a good job after they leave prison, which in turn would reduce their chances of recidivism. Since the state's Dept. of Corrections prohibits internet access, the class only "pretends" to be online — they can't use internet-based resources, and nobody on the outside can see or use the software they create. One of the class's backers said, 'Almost every week there's epiphanies. And most of the guys in here, they've never touched a computer before. They are progressing beyond our expectations."

3 of 305 comments (clear)

  1. Of course! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That's what we need more of! Computer-savvy criminals!

    1. Re:Of course! by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Not if the government is the one suing, because it's in the interest of society as a whole to make it possible for former criminals to actually be rehabilitated and contribute to the system.

      Considering that 40% of the adult American working-age population have criminal records, many of them for completely stupid and banal offenses, do you really want to make it so impossible for someone to be honest that they have to return to crime just to eat?

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    2. Re:Of course! by NormalVisual · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There is only one reason to hire a criminal, and that is planning to do something criminal.

      Well, there's also the situation where the ex-con is actually good at what he does. Back in 2010 I did some contract work for a large and established company (big/old enough to have a pre-ARIN /16 netblock), and I shared a cubicle with a guy that had a third-degree felony battery conviction after putting a guy in the hospital during a bar fight years earlier, and happened to be a wicked sharp Java coder with great customer interaction skills. Even with the clearly disclosed felony on his record, he was eventually extended quite a nice offer to go onboard as a permanent employee.

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