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August 17, 2008
How will prisons handle TV switch?
How will prisons handle TV switch?
The end of analog broadcasts in February raises issues for Ohio prison officials, 50,000 inmates.
By Tom Beyerlein
Staff Writer
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Dayton Daily News
TV or not TV? That may be the question facing thousands of Ohio prison inmates as America converts to digital television in February.
Starting Feb. 17, analog TV broadcasts will cease and Americans will need cable or satellite service, a digital TV or a special converter box for analog TVs. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction is studying how to make the switch work for the state's 50,000 inmates.
"Everyday citizens can just get a box and attach it to a TV. We have to think about costs and how we can get access to appropriate stations for the inmates," said department spokeswoman Andrea Carson.
When it comes to TV viewing, the cons are the pros: Convicts average six hours a day bathed in the unearthly glow of the cathode ray tube, about two hours more than the typical American. Carson said the toughest inmates, who spend more time in their cells, average eight hours. Inmates are allowed to watch TV except during work and school hours, mealtimes and recreation periods.
"There are some things on television that are educational," Carson said, and "it adds to their social adjustment. It keeps them in tune with current events. There's more going on in their world than what's going on in the prison environment."
TV viewing also is a "management tool" that prevents prisoners from being idle, she said.
Nobody knows how many TVs are in Ohio's 32 prisons, but officials estimate that only 30 percent to 50 percent of them are digital-ready. Inmates can buy 13-inch digital TVs from prison commissaries for $177, but many longer-term inmates have analog-only sets. TVs can't be sent in from outside.
In most newer Ohio prisons, including the two in Dayton, a central feeder system provides local stations but "no premium channels," Carson said. Older prisons, including Lebanon Correctional Institution, have no central systems.
Prison officials are studying whether they can use a single device to convert an entire prison's feeder system to digital. If not, inmates with analog TVs may have to buy converter boxes at commissaries. Carson said the prison system also may pay for converters using proceeds from prison vendors and commissary sales, not taxpayer money.
Dayton Correctional Institution Warden Lawrence Mack said he's still awaiting competitive bids that will determine how much the boxes will cost here. In the outside world, boxes cost about $60, but through an act of Congress each household can get up to two government-sponsored coupons for $40 off each box.
Prisoners don't qualify for the coupons because they don't live in a "household," said Bart Forbes, spokesman for the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Forbes' agency encourages people to give one of their coupons to their relatives behind bars. "What you can't do is sell them — that's illegal. But you can give them away."
Carson said Ohio prison officials, who tightly control what items can be sent into prison, would have to adopt a policy before such gifts would be permitted.
"This is still a work in progress," she said.
http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/08/17/ddn081708prison.html
Posted by lois at August 17, 2008 10:42 PM