NEWS

September 10, 2007
E-mail a good tool for inmates

Justified or not, people complain about prison inmates having access to weight rooms and cable television. And now we suspect some are grumbling about the Iowa Department of Corrections' consideration of a plan to allow inmates to communicate with the "outside" via e-mail.

E-mail isn't a luxury. It's is such a common form of communication that most of us take it for granted. It is how the 21century communicates.

When it comes to prisons, e-mail makes a lot of sense.

Computer software can scan messages to help ensure inmates aren't plotting a drug deal or escape, perhaps even more effectively than paper letters can be reviewed now. E-mail is cheaper than prison phone calls, which can cost from $4.90 to $7.50 for a 20-minute call within Iowa. Most important, Iowans should support e-mail for prisoners as a way to encourage communication with their loved ones and friends.

It might inspire inmates to do the cleanest time they can and get back home. It might foster ties they need to better function when they are released. After all, most of them will, in fact, re-enter society.

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