aliceBB Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 This caught my attention this week: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26726864 In a nutshell, prisoners are no longer allowed to receive books from outside prison; they can borrow from the prison library but the range is limited. Any prisoner studying for an FE/HE course or specialist interest is stuffed, basically. A former prison officer stated on Radio 4 that the new rules had been brought in to control the 'endemic' abuse of parcels sent into jails for prisoners. I can think of several ways in which security could be maintained whilst still allowing prisoners to receive books from outside. Why can't the prison authorities think of them, too? It seems desperately short-sighted to deprive inmates of the one thing which has to be a force for good in their lives. Shame on the government for insisting on the ban. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moosey Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 Hidden messages from the outside that could prejudice a case? Posted from Sheffieldforum.co.uk App for Android Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricgem2002 Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 or pages of the books soaked with drugs to be retrieved later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gimp27 Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 or drugs under the stamp or impregnated in the pages?? If inmates want special reference books for study, the prison will organize it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzijlstra Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 they can borrow from the prison library but the range is limited. Any prisoner studying for an FE/HE course or specialist interest is stuffed, basically. The range isn't that limited, if the prison has a proper library (with a trained librarian) they will be able to get books from the British Library as well as from the Public Library network. What it is though, is expensive and tedious. I don't see how they can implement this rule without massive investment in prison libraries across the board, presumably not something they are considering although I will admit not knowing the details. I can understand why they implement the rule and I think we live in an era where there are ways around the issue (digital - provide prisoners with the ability to borrow e-readers with a collection preloaded on it for example). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marx Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 Prisons are already full of drugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxman Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 Tory Minister just trying to act tough and be seen as being tough on crime. Too lackwicked to realise that books are a form of education and education may lead to less re-offending. Either that or they're just being aholes for the sake of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happ Hazzard Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 Maybe they should have done more reading before they turned to a life of crime? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Clowning Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 You can cut a square out of the center pages and stick a file in it ---------- Post added 30-03-2014 at 00:25 ---------- That and they don't want the prisoners to be more literate than the guards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leather man Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 Hidden messages from the outside that could prejudice a case? Posted from Sheffieldforum.co.uk App for Android or pages of the books soaked with drugs to be retrieved later These two are a couple of the best reasons in my opinion. Books should however be made available from the prison for anything they may need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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