Comment by mdasen

I think there are two issues here: why aren't they allowed and why shouldn't they be allowed.

Some prisoners certainly shouldn't be allowed to access the internet. If you're in organized crime, being able to access the internet would give you an effective way of continuing your control from behind prison walls. Many prisoners might use the internet to continue attacks on people, albeit virtual. Does this apply to all prisoners? No. Should it apply to Hans Reiser? Maybe, I don't know enough to comment on that, his relationship with his kids, etc.

The US prison system is also often punitive beyond necessary which answers why they aren't allowed internet access in most circumstances. I think if you ask most Americans about prison, they'll say that people are raped and beaten in prison. Many Americans even seem to think those are appropriate accessory punishments to imprisonment. The news reported that Reiser was beaten in prison: https://web.archive.org/web/20090609172728/http://www.kcbs.c....

Should some prisoners be allowed more internet access? I'll leave that for others as my lunch is over.