# Jailed felons can no longer enjoy satellite television...



## Darkman (Apr 16, 2002)

Jailed fellons can no longer enjoy satellite television

Sheriff cancels jail's satellite television

Associated Press

HAMILTON, Ohio - A sheriff who's been cracking down on what he sees as luxuries enjoyed by inmates has banned satellite television from the Butler County jail.

Sheriff Richard K. Jones pulled the plug Tuesday on the satellite stations, leaving only seven broadcast stations on TVs in the 900-inmate jail....

( Read the entire article at the following Source: http://satelink.net/2005/09/jailed-fellons-can-no-longer-enjoy-satellite-television/ )


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## Danny R (Jul 5, 2002)

Boy, I really hate those neighborhood associations that have such strict rules.


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## cdru (Dec 4, 2003)

From what I've heard, some people may favor jail over their current HOA...

By props for Sheriff Jones for pulling the coax. Incarceration should be for punitive reasons...satellite TV isn't a punitive. Well...if all you get is HSN and AuctionTV it may be.


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

Funny, we just added Dishnetwork last year at the state prison in Beaumont ,Texas. Tv can be used as a great tool to gain compliance from inmates on their behavior. Our Adseg inmates, the worst of the worst, and our Close custody , second to worst , don't get any tv at all. The minimum and most of our medium inmates get to watch tv all day from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm. Without tv to use as a reward or to take away as a punishment , all of the inmates have to do is fight or screw each other silly.:box: :cuttle: 


It is a great baby sitter.


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

Sorry to be tellin', but it's _'Felon'_, not "fellon". Were you 'gellin'' and not spellin'? 

Too bad the mis-spellin' is in the title where you can't correct it. :shrug:


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

> Too bad the mis-spellin' is in the title where you can't correct it.


 Some of us are more powerful than (not then) others.


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## Dang The Hung (May 8, 2005)

Back in my days of working as a deputy sheriff, when I was assigned jailer post we would turn on the TV's for the inmates. But all we had was OTA and we had a DVD hooked up to all the TV's that we would show a PG13 or less movie if they were really well behaved. We had to make sure that the movie we were showing wasn't overly violent or overly sexual in nature or we would have the problems that Mike D-CO5 was describing :box: :blackeye: :icon_hug: 

Mostly the inmates we housed were people awaiting trail and wasn't given or could afford to make bail. We did house a few pedophiles from the state prison because they kept getting crap beat out of them, so we had to house them for their own protection. atleast in the county lockup they got love from the homeys.

On a final note I think satellite TV is a little excessive and I think in the mind of some inmates it promotes their criminal behavior. They start to think that if they commit a crime, they will be sent to the county lockup where they will have free bed, free clothes, free food and most importantly free satellite TV. I have known quite a few regulars come in and out of the county jail and when it comes time to leave they are somewhat hesitant because they know once they hit the street they are gonna have to find a way to score some cash for food and shelter. Also those locked up on felony convictions ought to be spending their day remembering the atrocity they committed to their fellow man, not worrying about what is showing on primetime.


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## kb7oeb (Jun 16, 2004)

They still have tv just not pay tv


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## TNGTony (Mar 23, 2002)

Anyone in Hamiltucky should be able to pick up WDTN (NBC 2), WLWT (NBC 5), WHIO (CBS 7), WCPO (ABC 9), WKRC (CBS 12), WPTO (PBS 14), WPTD (PBS 16), WXIX (Fox 19), WKEF (ABC 22), WBDT (WB 26), WKOI (TBN 43), WCET (PBS 48), and WSTR (WB 64) with a pair or rabbit ears!

What? No UPN? Cruel and unusual punnishment!

See ya
Tony


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

TNGTony said:


> What? No UPN? Cruel and unusual punnishment!
> 
> See ya
> Tony


Actually... forcing them to watch ONLY UPN might be a worse punishment!


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Mike D-CO5 said:


> Funny, we just added Dishnetwork last year at the state prison in Beaumont ,Texas. Tv can be used as a great tool to gain compliance from inmates on their behavior. Our Adseg inmates, the worst of the worst, and our Close custody , second to worst , don't get any tv at all. The minimum and most of our medium inmates get to watch tv all day from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm. Without tv to use as a reward or to take away as a punishment , all of the inmates have to do is fight or screw each other silly.:box: :cuttle:
> 
> It is a great baby sitter.


Being devil's advocate... why do you have to "gain" a prisoner's compliance? I mean, they are in prison right... seems like they should have no choice but to obey the rules while there. They gave up those rights when they decided to commit crimes.

I know not all prisoners are created equals, lots of minor crimes or crimes of passion that aren't in the same category as habitual offenders... so I can see some need for flexibility and not treating all the same (the punishment should fit the crime after all).

But it does bother me when we have poor people and homeless people who aren't living as well as prisoners.


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## Danny R (Jul 5, 2002)

_why do you have to "gain" a prisoner's compliance? I mean, they are in prison right... seems like they should have no choice but to obey the rules while there. _

Because unruly, riotous prisoners are dangerous to each other and to the guards overseeing them, even when in a "controlled" situation such as a prison.

Its impossible to force absolute compliance to rules unless you lock each inmate in an individual cell all day every day.

And while some might say thats what we should be doing, there are some problems: a) we don't have that much room and b) its been tried before and insanity is often the result.


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## Darkman (Apr 16, 2002)

Nick said:


> Sorry to be tellin', but it's _'Felon'_, not "fellon". Were you 'gellin'' and not spellin'?
> 
> Too bad the mis-spellin' is in the title where you can't correct it. :shrug:


Pretty sure i just Copy/Pasted from the Source... :grin: :lol:


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

I will bet that they were a lot more complaint on wednesday nights because of Bingo TV.

Seriously I have no problemn with sat TV if that is the cost effective way to get TV here. Some amount of enterttainament probably does alleviate a lot of problems. the question is how mauch and at what cost.


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

They only get 6 Dishnetwork satellite channels as well as the local networks in Beaumont, Texas. So they get OTA; ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox , Dish; ESPN 1 , ESPN 2, Lifetime , TBS, TNT, USA. We used to have MTV, but the inmates would riot over a possible change of the channels when they were watching shows like MTV Raps. :box: 

As far as treating all inmates the same in prison, that is a naive attitude by outsiders who don't know what a prison is really like. All inmates are classified by thier behaivor INSIDE of prison not what they did outside of prison. The only exception is their work assignments . The ones who murder , or escaped from other prisons ,are not allowed to work outside of the prison walls without direct supervison under armed guards. This means that we can have the most assaultive inmates in close custody , outside working in the fields as long as they are under armed guards. 

The way the inmates get better custody levels , and more priviliges and better work assignments, is to act better in prison. Which means no more assaulting each other or officers or staff inside of the prison. Those who fail are placed in close custody or ad seg. 


Ad seg inmates are housed one inmate in a cell and remain in their cells 23 hours a day , 7 days a week, barring any doctor visits, and of course an hour a day for rec. These inmates often do go crazy. Most if not all of our inmates in a prison with close to 3000 inmates are on some kind of psych drugs to control their psychotic behavior. :icon_stup You ought to see it when the pill nurse comes onto the pod to give out their medications. She is armed to the teeth with pills. :eek2: 

Ota tv and satellite tv are allowed for the better behaved inmates and it is considered a reward for their good behavior. It does help in the control of the inmates behavior. When we lock down the prison because of shake down , punishment for a riot etc, the first thing they ALL lose besides their freedom inside of the prison , is TV. 

When we first opened the prison 13 years ago , even Close Custody and Seg had ota tv. They removed it about 6 or 7 years ago to make the inmates want to act better to get a better custody level so they could once again watch tv. Strangely enough it didn't make much difference for some . They even acted worse initially, because of their tv rights being revoked. But most inmates eventually do try to get better custody levels or they go crazy and end up in ad seg. :icon_stup 


A lot of people in the outside world think that we should deny all rights to inmates to punish them. We don't do that anymore . We warehouse inmates , usually for life with the more longterm sentences now. We have to have someway to control the inmate's behavior inside of the prison. Sat tv is one more tool we use in addition to recreation restriction, cell restriction and of course perscription drugs to control their individual behavior and make them more docile and compliant. IF only the public could see how the prison system is really like. It is nothing like what you see on tv shows and movies.:nono:


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## BFG (Jan 23, 2004)

hehe I loved the suggestion at the end suggesting the change the prison's name to Dish. That was classic


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

TNGTony said:


> What? No UPN? Cruel and unusual punnishment!


Just like E*'s LIL lineup in Cincinatti. They don't need no stinking UPN. 

JL


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

I know I don't know everything about prisons... and I know it is hard and innovative work to keep things running right, so I try not to cast direct aspersions on things I don't know.

Still... I keep coming back to how strange it seems to me that people who willfully commit crimes are locked up with room & board, cable/satellite TV, and square meals every day... then we have lots of poor and homeless people who do not have these same amenities.

Seems like we should be first taking care of our poor & homeless who aren't breaking laws... then the prisoners can get whatever is left after that. Sad, but true, I think some poor people actually want to get caught because they will live better in prison than outside.


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

HDMe said:


> Seems like we should be first taking care of our poor & homeless who aren't breaking laws... then the prisoners can get whatever is left after that. Sad, but true, I think some poor people actually want to get caught because they will live better in prison than outside.


You ever wonder why the recidivisim rate is so high for ex inmates? It is because they Do have it BETTER in prison. Many can't make it in the free world as they have become institutionalized over the years they are inside. Most aggravated sentences given down to inmates in Texas, require 3/4 of the sentence be served before they are eligible for parole. That means if you use a weapon when you commit a crime, you will get an aggravated sentence . Just imagine if you get a life sentence. You would have to serve 75 years before your eligible for parole.

They get 3 square meals a day + commissary privileges = to what you would be able to buy at a 7-11 convience store. ( All the junk food they want , new shoes, shorts, radios, fans, etc.) As long as someone in their family puts money on their books , they can get all they want up to $60.00 about twice a month. They get free medical , dental and even can go to college if they want. They can work in vocational trades like metal fab, auto mechanics, furniture making, etc. They don't make any money for it in Texas prisons like in the federal prison system. But they do get to stay busy. They get Tv as I have explained earlier, if their custody level is low and they have no history of assaults toward other inmates or staff. They get to go to chapel services for just about any faith they are including American Indian where they can smoke "sweet grass"; not pot. They don't have to be a real Indian either , just say they are.

You ought to see how many of those free world churches line up to feed the inmates and give them spiritual guidance and fellowship , like the Kairos program. My church has members who belong to this group and they raise a gift bag of hygeine items and cookies for every X-mas. They also come about every other month and feed them freeworld dinners made by church members as well as cookies and sweets. Not to mention Mike Barber and his ministries who like to do video remotes from prisons and entertain the inmates.

I asked my fellow Sunday School member who belonged to the Kairos why they don't devote their time to helping the homeless and the poor where they are really needed. He said that as long as one person is "saved" in Prison then it is all he cares about. IF you locked me in to a gym or a chapel and feed me free world food for most of the day and entertained me and comforted me and gave me all the attention I craved, I would say I was "saved" too.

I personaly think it is safer for the Karios in the prison than on the streets in bad areas of town where the poor and homeless are. They get to come to air conditioned chapels and work with state security officers helping them if anything goes wrong. They can leave when they want and feel like they "helped " someone who needed it. I think it is a cop out myself. The state more than provides for the inmates, especially if they are indigent . They have more rights in the prison system than the officers like myself.

They even have a grievance department that assists them when the inmates have any complaints. Counsel subs when they face disciplinaries from the officers, are there to assist the inmates like lawyers . I don't know of to many people in the free world that get all of this for free , do you?

The inmates do face a few drawbacks. They are often pursued by gang members from various factions that expect them to join or face being attacked or murdered. They often become the sexual partner of another bigger inmate whether they want to or not. Some are pimped out by the gangs they join to prove their loyalty. Some pay off their gambeling debts by prostituting themselves . This takes a long time to pay off in trade and many end up in the infirmary emergency room. Especially if they aren't that good at it. Good thing the state doesn't mind sending the inmates off of the prison by freeworld ambulance at $5,000 - $10,000 dollars a pop to a freeworld hospital. We send out transports about 3 - 4 times a day in addition to the regular chain buses twice a day , Mon - Fri.

They don't get to legally smoke any longer in prison as of 1995 and we took all their porno magazines away last June. Good thing they can still masturbate on female guards that work at the prison. They will often do this in the open , standing in the dayroom with their business out for the world to see, just to disrespect the female guards. With 75 % of the guards now female , they don't lack for any females to jack off on.

Anyway I think you get the picture. I won't bore ya'll anylonger with the morbid details of the Texas prison system . The inmates do have it better , overall in prison , then the homeless on the street. At least inmates who are psych or crazy in the prison, are given all the medication they need, including aids medications. A lot of homeless people and the poor are mentally and psychically in need of medication which they don't get.

So inconclusion inmates over all, do have it better in prison.


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## lee635 (Apr 17, 2002)

Gee Mike, I like how you describe "a few drawbacks", like being pursued and killed by gang members, and being raped, etc. In my book those are terrible things to have happen.

I've worked in a prison system as well and will state without reservation that prisoners do not have it better than those on the outside. Anyone who says different has never worked in a prison or is just playing the macho card for the "tough on crime crowd". Inmates constantly are at risk of being assaulted by other inmates. We would not allow our prison workers to use the general population bathrooms during work hours because so many were getting beat up in the bathrooms. At the least we sent them in pairs or threes for safety. I mostly worked with the guys who did programming, but also the license plate makers and so forth. They can't come and go, can't see family except on controlled visits, can't buy things except on certain days, and even then they rarely bought much as it would be taken by other inmates, sit in cells for hours/days during lock down. 

A couple of times an inmate worker would warn the staff that something was up so that we could stay out of harms way and alert the guards. It's not so black and white as you might think. We had an inmate worker basically risk his life to save a staff member's life from a gang assault once, they will surprise you sometimes. Now he has to stay in protective custody for the rest of his term to keep him away from the gangs. Of course, we've had the promising worker who just keeps screwing up too, or the guy who has an angry outburst, so I don't want to sound all pollyanna.

You've obviously never eaten prison food. It's pretty gross stuff, like school cafeteria leftovers, but much worse. You would only eat it if you were very hungry and had no other alternative.

As to the homeless issue, sorry I don't know many homeless people lining up to get into prison for a meal. They would rather stay outside as well. The meals at the shelter are much better than those on the inside......


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