Bergen County Jail, New Jersey, Provides Laptops for Legal Research

New Jersey?s Bergen County Jail is entering the 21st century with a revolutionary plan by Sheriff Leo McGuire to provide prisoners with laptop computers to do legal research while in the jail.

The 80 laptops?stripped down durable mini-PCs?were purchased with $100,000 of income from prisoner commissary purchases. The computers will apparently not have access to the internet and will be used only for legal research.

Under the program the laptops will be delivered to prisoners who request them for allotted periods of time.

The laptops will offer an alternative to the jail?s crowded law library?and, according to McGuire, will enhance jail security. McGuire said there is a potential risk every time a cell door is opened at the jail, and delivering laptops to the prisoners reduces that risk.

Source: northjersey.com