Prison Reforms Should Bring E-Mail Access to All Prisoners

By · Monday, February 9th, 2009

Recidivism rates for prisoners in the United States exceeds 60 percent. That number ought to appall all Americans. Many factors contribute to the reasons so many people fail upon their release from confinement. I know because I have been locked inside prisons of every security level since 1987. During those 21-plus years, I have made a commitment to study these institutions from an ethnographic perspective. In other words, I’ve studied prisons in the same ways that those anthropologists study apes by living as apes in the jungle. I’ve been studying and writing about prisons from the inside.

One lesson I have learned by listening to other prisoners is that many return to society without the skills necessary to make it. Besides a paucity of skills, they also lack community resources. Years in prison has separated people from support networks. They return to communities as total strangers, incapable of understanding basic technology that is a prerequisite for many types of employment. Providing access for prisoners to use e-mail services would help.

Our evolving world requires individuals to have a basic understanding of modern communication tools. When I began serving my sentence, neither e-mail nor the Internet existed for most Americans. Today, even my eight-year-old nephew knows how to use the service. Like most all long-term prisoners, I will be at a significant disadvantage in society for many reasons. My ongoing lack of access to modern technology while in prison represents but one of the hurdles that I must overcome.

Prison reforms ought to bring our prison system into the 21st century. Staff members ought to encourage inmates to build and nurture ties with those in society through the use of modern technology. Some federal prisons currently offer a system that allows inmates to send e-mail messages to a selected group of correspondents. By 2011, the BOP suggests that all federal prisons will have e-mail capacity. Although I am a federal prisoner, I am confined in a privately managed prison camp located in Taft, California. The warden at this prison told me that the Taft Camp would not provide inmate access to e-mail accounts.

By providing inmates access to e-mail, administrators would facilitate every prisoner’s ability to nurture ties with society. With the hyper speed at which society moves today, few people take the time necessary to engage in written correspondence. Yet checking e-mail messages is an activity that most people cannot live without. Since prison rules limit access to telephone and visiting, e-mail service would help inmates stay connected to family and friends. Those connections lead to stronger networks of support. With stronger networks of support, more prisoners would leave these boundaries with the resources they need to overcome the obstacles awaiting their release.

In my article I Am Blessed, I describe some of the ways that a strong network of support has helped my adjustment to long-term imprisonment. With access to e-mail, I could prepare much more effectively. I am hopeful that prison reforms will make such access possible.

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8 Responses to “Prison Reforms Should Bring E-Mail Access to All Prisoners”

  1. Mel says:
    February 10, 2009 at 11:43 am

    2/10/09
    Mr. Santos:
    In your article entitled ” Prison Reforms Should Bring E-Mail Access to All Prisoners” you mention how important it is for prisoners to maintain ties with society and how this may help with the overwhelming recidivism rates in the US. You also describe how using modern technology like E-Mail encourages prisoners to keep those networks strong while learning important traits that are needed in the work force today.
    I agree with you that it is important for prisoners to have a support system while serving their sentences and education is beneficial while in and after prison, however, I still have several questions on how that technology should be accessible to all prisoners.
    My question to you is do you think access to E-Mail should be granted to inmates who show no intentions of changing their lives and continue to have strong ties with gangs and criminal activity outside of prison walls. Do you think that giving E-mail access to these prisoners can pose a potential danger to society?
    I want to thank you for taking the time to inform me and many others on the issues facing our correctional system. I enjoy reading your book “Inside” and the articles posted on this blog.
    Mel Lopez

  2. Michael Santos says:
    February 10, 2009 at 12:33 pm

    Hi Mel,
    Thanks for writing. I’ve mailed your comments/questions to Michael and will post his reply to you as soon as I receive it back.
    Carole Santos

  3. J. Michaelsen says:
    February 17, 2009 at 8:16 am

    February 17, 2008
    Mr. Santos:
    In your recent article entitled “Prison Reforms Should Bring E-Mail Access to All Prisoners,” you state that allowing e-mail access to inmates would help them to stay connected with family and friends and allow for a stronger network of support. As well, Mr. Santos, you mention that an understanding of basic technology is necessary for many types of jobs, and most prisoners lack any knowledge of technology and the internet. To be more prepared, you express that providing inmates with e-mail access would be a helpful resource when they are released back into the community.
    While I agree that most inmates do not have the necessary skills to return to society and succeed, how would giving prisoners access to only e-mail give them the skills for a career? Also, I believe it is imperative that prisoners remain in close contact with family members because that keeps many prisoners out of trouble. However, Mr. Santos, how do you believe that the privilege to e-mail will not be widely abused by inmates such as gang members?
    I truly appreciate you taking the time out of your day to aid in my understanding of corrections. All of your articles are well written, and I enjoy reading your thoughts on what should be done to better our correctional system!
    J. Michaelsen

  4. Roberto Gabino says:
    February 19, 2009 at 3:28 pm

    Mr. Santos this is Roberto Gabino an undergrad student from California State University Long Beach. I read some of your articles and there is one in particular that got my attention. The article that got my attention is title “Prison Reforms Should Bring E-mail Access to All Prisoners. On your article you express your concern about the necessity of basic technological skills that are not being provided to prisoners.
    Would you agree that such service would provide leaders of organize crime, the opportunity to continue directing criminal activity from inside the prison? And if such service was provided which prisoners would you exclude from receiving such service?

  5. david nop says:
    March 13, 2009 at 2:29 pm

    Mr. Santos:

    In your article “Prison Reforms Should Bring E-Mail Access to All Prisoners,” you started many insightful facts about what goes on in prison. Some facts are how inmates will leave prison without the neccessarty skills to make it, they would be incapable of understanding basic technology that is prerequisite for many types of employment, and email services would help inmates stay connected to friends and family.

    I agree that inmates would leave without neccessary skills to make it in a new technology world, but how would communication skills assist inmates? Because technology is a large daily component in everyday American lives. Communication skills is a great asset to have, but how about other computer and technology understanding such as microsoft office?

    Moreover, I agree that email is a great method to connect with family and friends, but how about gang members? Leaders of a gang could email to other gang members ways to distribute money or drug or even make hits while they sit in their prison cell.

    Thank you,
    david

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