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| California prisoners can't receive e-mail |
| By ZDNet News |
| Published: 02/19/2001 |
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Aaron Collins was looking for a few good pen pals. So he bought an online classified ad, complete with his picture, that described him as an 'intelligent, educated and caring person' who's 'not afraid to shed a tear.' He wanted to correspond with Christian women who were caring and nonjudgmental, and he offered to help writers who wanted to talk to someone 'experienced in gangs, drugs, violence and prison culture.' But Collins--an inmate at maximum security Pelican Bay prison in California--won't be getting any e-mail back. A state appeals court has ruled that inmates can't receive e-mail in any form, even if the material is printed out and sent to them via the postal service. In a case that questioned whether Internet material should be treated the same as other content sent by mail to inmates, the court sided with prison officials who warned that an influx of inmate e-mail could lead to overworked mailrooms and security breaches. Prisoner rights advocates are lambasting the decision, saying prohibitions on Internet content are arbitrary and wrong. Under the ruling, material from a magazine Web site would be barred while identical content in the form of a page torn from the magazine would be allowed. And while all Web material could be barred under the ruling, state prison officials said they don't plan to go that far. A spokesman for the California Department of Corrections, said people on pre-approved correspondence lists-such as inmates' relatives--can continue to send Web material. The case involving Collins started in 1998, when the warden at Pelican Bay in Crescent City, Calif., issued a ban on 'Internet-related materials.' Prison officials warned that e-mail posed a special threat, particularly because it's easy to disguise a sender's identity and because problems such as spam, or junk mail, could overwhelm mailroom workers. Collins challenged the ban. A lower court overturned it, saying e-mail should be treated the same as any other type of mail. The warden appealed, and last week, the First District Court of Appeals in California sided with prison officials. The judges cited the high volume of e-mail, sender anonymity and fears that Internet material could hide criminal communications. Some jails already ban Internet content, including institutions in New York, Florida and several in California. Collins' case is believed to be the first suit to challenge the ban. |
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