When did hard time turn into game time?

Apologies for the lack of material this past week. Don’t worry, you’ll get your fill of U.S. election talk, media bashing, and general cynicism in due course.

You can chalk up my absence to nothing more than, er, research. I wasn’t here online because I was somewhere a bit scarier: jail. No, no, no…don’t worry about me. Everything is ok. I was only VISITING jail. I wasn’t there to visit any friends or family. Honest. It was strictly for business (I know what you’re thinking, and no, I’m not talking about Monopoly here. I really did have some business at a jail).

Details aside, my experience has got me thinking about a few things. First, how scary jail really is. I can’t imagine such a life of confinement and solitude... and violence, forgot to mention violence. These men are no strangers to violence and aggression – my Holmesian skills tipped me off to this -- and the thought of living life in constant fear for one’s safety, which I’m quite certain is a relentless threat while incarcerated, no doubt exceeds the physical punishment of confinement.

That led me to think about what society deems acceptable punishment. Clearly, I’m scared shitless of jail, but I’m your typical white, middle-class geek, so that should come as no surprise. I’m not the one supposed to be scared. Criminals are the ones supposed to be scared.

So is it a good message to send to the dark underworld of society if some convicted criminals serving time own a Sony Playstation? That’s right, you heard me, I said Playstation. Don’t believe me? Well, it’s true. TV’s, stereos, video game systems…they’re all in our jails. What’s more, they’re in our jail cells.

How can this be? Why should, for argument’s sake, a convicted auto thief be entitled to test his occupational skills playing Grand Theft Auto? Aren’t we simply reinforcing criminal behaviour? Even worse, could we be rewarding injustice?

Valid questions, no doubt. But let me first explain the circumstances behind this rhetorical enquiry, after which, please, feel free to have your say (I’m not just asking Adam to think about this, I want you to join the discussion by clicking on the comments link at the end of this post).

Here’s a quick backgrounder: According to Canadian law, prisoner’s have the right to keep certain personal belongings with them during their time in jail, and in particular cases, in their cells. In addition, you should know that inmates are allowed to earn income during incarceration. Depending on the type of work performed and various other considerations, an inmate earns a daily wage of roughly $5 a day or higher. These wages are intended to help prisoners land on their feet if and when they return to civilized society.

So, technically, there's nothing stopping an inmate from buying a personal video game system to help kill the time. And why not? Does time in jail invariably mean time without anything from normal society? Should we really take everything away from the convicted? What about lifers who have no “liberation day” to save for? On the other hand, can it not be argued that some of these criminals have taken so much from society -- and I can't help but think of murderers -- that they deserve to live life without anything?

I can see that you are shaking in anticipation of my take on this issue. But I’d rather switch things up a bit. In the wake of the democratic (or republican, you choose) events of the past few days, I give you, our loyal audience, the floor. I'll check back in later to finish my thoughts, but for the time being, the conch is now yours.

posted by G E @ 9:14 p.m.