Prisoners get too many privileges?

I was watching Oz... And I began reading articles on their dietary nourishment (whether they do eat canned beans and bread)... I found that once you enter prison you'll be entitled to:

Free Satellite TV (every single cell has one of these), 3 Square meals a day healthy with the exception of Dessert (choclate pudding), a weight room, free medical care and free college courses...Ofcourse library included...

Isn't that a bit much?

I agree with Bob that depending on the correctional institution they are for the most part, as he says, a "cesspool of humanity and nothing less than a warehouse of flesh". It's not always a cake-walk and their privileges don't always suffice for their living conditions or treatment while incarcerated. I'm talking about the violence (whether that's general or gang-related), rape, trafficing, possible police brutality, as well as other unlawful and immoral behavior. That doesn't sound at all like a life of luxury to me. Especially if you fear dropping the soap while in the shower and have to watch your backside!

However, I do believe prisoners should be working for their privileges in prison in regards to meals, extracurricular activities, internet use, tv, library access, etc. just like a majority of society does. Has anyone heard about what Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona has done in Maricopa Country? I'd received an email about him and his work and wonder what everyone else thinks about that, provided you've heard about it. Several things that stand out for me in that email was that the prison cells/uniforms were pink and that inmates had to work at the animal shelters tending to the animals. For that, they received 28 cents, but most would work for free just so that they could get out of their cells for a day. If anyone's interested I can see about copying and pasting what the email read.

"...I don't want my tax dollars going to help fund a dang thing for a child molester or something along those lines."

^ There's no need to worry Britt. All the luxuries and tax dollars in the world couldn't keep a child molester comfortable in the pen. Remember, some of those inmates have families outside of prison too. I don't know if you know anything about Peter Whitmore or not, he's well-known throughout Canada and especially in my hometown, but both his lawyer and himself practically begged officials to not reveal his identity or reasons for being in prison to other inmates. Why? Because even they don't like child molesters. If they knew who he was or what he did, he'd be a dead man.

I think if it was that great you would see more people wanting to go there, I think these privileges are very limited and usually have to be earned...even in the program that I work in with incarcerated teens, they have to earn all privileges and they are never allowed on a computer. If prisons are really about rehabilitation then education is beneficial.

Many people don' t know the benefits of going to prison, if everyone did, most likely the lower class people that don't even get the things prisoners do, may want to. Education is beneficial, but most of the time playing video games is not. The prisoners who are better behaved than others may get more privileges, but even the ones who are not better behaved still get more privileges than they should.

I don't agree with our current prison system, as I think the focus should be more on rehabilitation for inmates and making more programs accessible for those after they leave prison, that way, the rate of committing another crime may decrease. I believe there needs to be a push for more education as well as an in-depth evaluation of the racial motives that may have already added bias to a case.

I think, to those people who say prisoners have too many luxuries or privileges, you're completely missing the point. How many of those incarcerated are actually violent, criminal, not just pawns used by the justice system? When you think about this "war on marijuana", how many African Americans are locked up for their involvement with this drug. The prison system feeds off of that.

I just received my copy of "The New Jim Crow" which was temporarily banned in New Jersey prisons (oh, the irony). It looks like a few weeks ago, the state decided to reverse their prohibition of it. I've been anticipating reading it, as it discusses, in the author's words, that "mass incarceration was not at its core a system of crime prevention but instead “a system of racial and social control.”

That begs the question. How are those incarcerated being treated? You will often hear people debate whether or not they have rights, but if certain laws were built from a system of racism and oppression, in what ways is the justice system benefiting from locking people up?

Some articles and data to consider:

http://theweek.com/articles/651722/americas-prison-system-inhumane-heres-why

https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2017.html