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Oregon Politician Visits Prison, Proposes Porn Ban
Oregon state representative Greg Smith is up for reelection, and thus looking for a way to win over voters. So why not drop in on an Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC) facility and engage in some tough-on-crime prisoner-bashing? That’s likely to get some votes, especially from members of the prison guard union.
So Smith paid a visit to the Two Rivers Correctional Institution (TRCI), where staff members apparently regaled him with appalling stories of prisoners receiving sexually explicit magazines such as Playboy.
“It took me by surprise,” said Smith. “Prisoners should be focused on rehabilitation rather than on personal gratification.” Of course he failed to recognize that the type of sexually explicit material allowed in ODOC facilities does not undermine rehabilitation, or that it is hard for prisoners to “focus on rehabilitation” when the ODOC spends only a small part of its budget on rehabilitative programs. He also might not have realized that publications like Playboy contain more than smutty pictures.
Still, Rep. Smith left TRCI ready to draft legislation imposing a sweeping ban on all sexual materials in Oregon’s prison system, never mind the fact that prison officials have acknowledged that such publications do not cause problems.
“There really hasn’t been any situations that you could tie directly to an inmate’s possession of sexual content,” said Jeanine Hohn, ODOC’s Communications Manager.
Professor Richard Tewksbury of the University of Louisville, who conducted a survey in Kentucky’s prison system, found only about 5 percent of prisoners received publications such as Playboy, and concluded that no systemic problems were caused by soft porn. In fact, “there are positive benefits to having this material available,” Tewksbury stated. “It can be a stress reliever.”
Although the ODOC has not yet seen Rep. Smith’s porn ban proposal, which according to a March 16, 2010 press release will be introduced during the 2011 regular legislative session, prison officials warned it may cause more problems than it fixes.
Surprisingly, The Oregonian’s editorial board quickly criticized Smith’s plan. “In our view, legislators should have a keen interest in doing four things: 1) Reducing prison costs; 2) Boosting rehabilitation and thereby reducing recidivism; 3) Keeping the public safe; and 4) Keeping prisoners and prison guards safe,” the newspaper wrote. “Whatever legislators can do to help prison managers control a population and a situation fraught with tension, difficulty and danger, legislators should do.”
However, lawmakers “should be wary of micromanaging and meddling. Smith has picked out an area to focus on that actually doesn’t need his help,” The Oregonian noted.
“Although prison rules on sexual material stop short of a complete ban, prison managers say the rules are working very well.”
“Removing this material from our prison[s] will better enable the Department of Corrections to maintain a safe environment for officers and inmates,” Smith countered.
Although proposed budget cuts call for the release of almost 1,000 ODOC prisoners and the closure of three state prisons, evidently the most pressing issue for Rep. Smith – and his reelection campaign – is preventing prisoners from receiving Playboy.
Source: The Oregonian
So Smith paid a visit to the Two Rivers Correctional Institution (TRCI), where staff members apparently regaled him with appalling stories of prisoners receiving sexually explicit magazines such as Playboy.
“It took me by surprise,” said Smith. “Prisoners should be focused on rehabilitation rather than on personal gratification.” Of course he failed to recognize that the type of sexually explicit material allowed in ODOC facilities does not undermine rehabilitation, or that it is hard for prisoners to “focus on rehabilitation” when the ODOC spends only a small part of its budget on rehabilitative programs. He also might not have realized that publications like Playboy contain more than smutty pictures.
Still, Rep. Smith left TRCI ready to draft legislation imposing a sweeping ban on all sexual materials in Oregon’s prison system, never mind the fact that prison officials have acknowledged that such publications do not cause problems.
“There really hasn’t been any situations that you could tie directly to an inmate’s possession of sexual content,” said Jeanine Hohn, ODOC’s Communications Manager.
Professor Richard Tewksbury of the University of Louisville, who conducted a survey in Kentucky’s prison system, found only about 5 percent of prisoners received publications such as Playboy, and concluded that no systemic problems were caused by soft porn. In fact, “there are positive benefits to having this material available,” Tewksbury stated. “It can be a stress reliever.”
Although the ODOC has not yet seen Rep. Smith’s porn ban proposal, which according to a March 16, 2010 press release will be introduced during the 2011 regular legislative session, prison officials warned it may cause more problems than it fixes.
Surprisingly, The Oregonian’s editorial board quickly criticized Smith’s plan. “In our view, legislators should have a keen interest in doing four things: 1) Reducing prison costs; 2) Boosting rehabilitation and thereby reducing recidivism; 3) Keeping the public safe; and 4) Keeping prisoners and prison guards safe,” the newspaper wrote. “Whatever legislators can do to help prison managers control a population and a situation fraught with tension, difficulty and danger, legislators should do.”
However, lawmakers “should be wary of micromanaging and meddling. Smith has picked out an area to focus on that actually doesn’t need his help,” The Oregonian noted.
“Although prison rules on sexual material stop short of a complete ban, prison managers say the rules are working very well.”
“Removing this material from our prison[s] will better enable the Department of Corrections to maintain a safe environment for officers and inmates,” Smith countered.
Although proposed budget cuts call for the release of almost 1,000 ODOC prisoners and the closure of three state prisons, evidently the most pressing issue for Rep. Smith – and his reelection campaign – is preventing prisoners from receiving Playboy.
Source: The Oregonian
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