Unintended Consequences

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Switch To Digital TV Has Prisons Concerned About 'Peacekeeper'
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The big switch to digital TV has prison officials scrambling
to keep one of the most important peacekeeping tools in prisons
across the nation: broadcast television.

When the nation's broadcasters make the switch from analog
to digital signals Feb. 17, televisions that are not hooked up to cable,
satellite or a converter box will be reduced to static.

While TV might seem like an undeserved luxury for inmates,
prison officials and inmates say the tube does more than fill
year after year of idle hours - it provides a sense of normalcy
and is a bargaining chip that encourages good behavior,
reports the Associated Press.

The TV industry has spent months preparing consumers
for the switch, running ads and offering government-funded
coupons that can be redeemed for the converter boxes needed
to display the digital signal on older TVs. But officials worry that
prisoners may be left to stare at blank screens because they don't
qualify for the $40 coupons. "They won't give us the switches,
we called them," said South Carolina Corrections Department
Director Jon Ozmint. "We asked them for the coupons and they said
they're only available for households.

I said, 'We're the big house.' But they didn't buy it."
Ozmint said state money won't be used to buy the
undetermined number of converters South Carolina needs
to keep its TVs running. Officials in many states haven't figured
out how many converter boxes will be needed - and what the exact cost will be.

Inmates will undoubtedly raise the funds for the cost as they do with many
other things.

Before you decide that "they" don't need television, remember that 95% of the
inmates will return to society. Adjustment will be assisted by knowledge of the
current world and television provides that knowledge. Prison officials have the
final word over what programs may be seen.

I have wondered to myself how many households for whom every penny counts
are going to be adversely affected by this conversion. This is just another example
of the unintended consequences of legislation.