Prisoners’ families should be allowed to order them books, John J. Lennon writes in his piece for The Guardian, as long as they don’t promote violence or radical ideologies. Current restrictions are self-defeating.
EXCERPT
Here’s the thing. Restrictive policies didn’t deter me from smuggling drugs and doing drugs. Opportunity did. In 2010, at Attica, I joined a creative writing workshop and then a privately funded college program. Today, I’m in Sing Sing, working on my bachelor’s. Although my mother has been unable to send me books, she has been able to order periodicals, which are delivered with regular mail after they are searched for contraband. (Perfume folds that could hide saboxone films are cut out.) Reading so much solid writing has helped build my own skills. I began publishing articles. I became a journalist.
Even though few send drugs, I understand the concerns with packages coming from home. Still, why should our families, many of whom struggle financially, have to shop from obscure companies with overpriced products? What about Whole Foods and Amazon? It belies the principles of our market system. I just heard corrections will soon issue all New York state prisoners tablets — smart move because we will now receive letters and periodicals digitally. Still, our families should be allowed to order us books — old ones, new ones, hardcovers, softcovers, so long as the content doesn’t promote violence or radical ideologies.
Read the full piece in The Guardian.