In a recent piece for Protean magazine entitled “The American Prison System’s War on Reading,†Alex Skopic writes, “Across the United States, the agencies responsible for mass imprisonment are trying to severely limit incarcerated people’s access to the written word—an alarming trend, and one that bears closer examination.†From outright banning books and letting prison libraries fall into decay to the intrusion of for-profit electronic reading services that inmates have to pay for, the assault on prisoners’ ability to read books while incarcerated is one of many calculated cruelties that make the US carceral system so inhumane.
In this episode of Rattling the Bars, TRNN Executive Producer Eddie Conway speaks with Skopic about the American prison system’s war on reading and its deep (and racist) historical roots. Alex Skopic is a freelance writer from Springville, Pennsylvania. His work has appeared in Anthracite Unite, Current Affairs, and Vastarien: A Literary Journal, among other places.
Read the transcript of this interview: https://therealnews.com/why-us-prisons-dont-want-prisoners-to-read

Pre-Production/Studio/Post Production: Cameron Granadino
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** (Disclaimer: This video content is intended for educational and informational purposes only) **
If the guards bring in the contraband maybe they can work on banning prison guards in prisons.
I just was hired to be a prison librarian.
Why is this system called CORRECTIONS if we can Correct people’s thinking, behavior and self esteem if we can’t do it through books?
Contraband hidden in the books? Have none of these 💩 stains ever heard of an x-ray machine ffs? 🤦â€â™€ï¸
But if they find that an inmate has any level of reading proficiency aren't they supposed to just trade them off to another "plantation"? 🙄
To anyone reading this, please pleeeease tell me I don't have to explain the metaphor or the basis of it.
It's crazy though that sex offenders can get playboy, ect.
CAPATALIZING ON MISERY, is inhumane and evil, cruel and unusual treatment!
this is sadistic and sick!
This is a great video. As someone who buys books for prisoners off the "Approved" list from Amazon, the prices are high as compared to small and local book stores. As an avid reader I couldn't imagine life without books. This is ridiculous in 2022 this is happening. Profit over people should be the motto of the Prison Industry. R.
I hear so many people saying the system is broken. What they are failing to see is that the system is operating within the corrupt laws that are in place for it. It isnt broken, it was created to target the poor, and by default it targets the minority communities because they are predominately the poorest communities. Thy have a huge bag of tricks to accomplish all of this and they create the laws to support it specifically. They will make excuses such as, getting books in prison cult be a way to get drugs in prison, etc. In many prisons they are now opening and copying legal mail and not giving the prisoner the original meaning that they are opening it out of the presence of the prisoner, which is completely unconstitutional and this is well settled law. But they are allowed to get away with it b making a general and vague statement of some “problem†to show a vague penological interest. The ONLY way to change it is to CHANGE THE LAWS which none of the politicians (either party wants to do) plus take away qualified immunity as well and make real consequences.
Books saved me!
America doesn't want people to read books. They want people do be uneducated worker capitalists
Yep our prison system needs to be cleaned up yeah they need to be educated that is more out there in this world than doing crimes and you're keeping the people from learning the truth out here by taking the books away from them and letting them re-educate themselves you know why they're in the prison system maybe that come up being good people but they don't want that they want prisoners to come back so they can keep the jail cell. Now they're going out there getting civilian people that did no crimes whatsoever in her life and feeling most jails yeah you got a lot of cases out there were people can't defend themselves rush through the legal system with no way out they don't have anybody on the outside like me I have no family ain't nobody can help me get out of jail or get things you know what I mean get my stuff straightened out basically they could come and get me right now and do whatever they want and there's nothing I can do about it because I can't read right or defend myself that's what the legal system is counting on you got a lot of people in jail that shouldn't be there all the way back to Martin Luther King days looking out all the prisoners here lately I've been letting out of jail and never did a crime in their life and they end up spending 20 or 30 years in prison for something they never did because our justice system is too busy trying to fill up the jail instead of defending the people that should be defended and if you get yourself a public defender I hate to tell you this but he works for the judge he's not there for you and what I seen in the court system is there in the judge's Chambers District Attorney's and the lawyers discussing the cases before they even see the people oh they already I listen to it one day when they left the door open I was getting married and the discharge was talking to the other lawyers in the district attorney What charges they were going to present to each people and what charges they were going to do on each person before they even saw the person in the courtroom so the judge was already convicting these people but never even listened to their side of the story
We need civilian people in the prisons as well because the simple fact is the people inside the prison are being instructed and programmed to go back out on the street and do the exact same thing they're not educating or not teaching these people how to survive outside the system they're not educating anybody in jail basically is tripping all their rights away so when they come back out on the street they don't have anything to look forward to of course they're going to repeat the offense because they don't have any other training yeah we got a problem with a prison systems not teaching people trades not teaching on education not allowing them to go to school and by the way I can't read a right anyhow but I believe in libraries and education while you're in jail because how else you going to improve yourself if you don't get the right training yeah these institutions of turning into prison pretty soon they're going to turn the state into a prison that's what it is now you know you can't walk out of your house without being harassed shot killed or maimed you know this is this is the police officers doing this so where can you go to be safe and there is nowhere to be safe anymore that's reason why you need to go out and buy a gun even the cops you can't trust them either do soon as kill you is picking up their lunch from school yeah these police are also going after your children now because they're easy targets let's get them into prison system we we got empty beds we need to make some money yeah we have a problem with the justice system in this world me on thinking about coming to Canadian citizen cuz the police are getting too crazy in America they're out there buying more guns and tanks and everything else for the police department but what have they done for the civilian population out there have they done anything to help get help children or teenagers in a better life and they take all the money and spend it on themselves you know what I mean just like all the money they took out of people's cars and claimed it as their own yeah we need to take some of that drug money and make some stuff for the children in the future here you know these cops are just making more and more criminals they're not doing anything to stop it
That's bs. I did 3 1/2 yrs. There are so many books. The problem is dudes don't wanna read. You can order books on Amazon.
Prisoners are allowed to go to college in prison, so must be allowed to read. One prisoners served 15 years and got 3 degrees. They hate when a prisoner learns the law by reading it.
It's slavery by any other name.
Well I use to read about a book every two days. Which made my time go by faster. The thing was they give shitty books that are either romantic or sexual or they are police detective books nothing some sci Fi. But for the most part the books where just not good reading material. The self help books where minimal and outdated for the most part if you worked on the self help book part of things layed it out. Things would go missing. I'm sure the jails and institutions are used by psychologist and behavioral researchers to see what certain atmospheres produce in certain population.why not? Fair game. Take the books away from people charge by the minute you have another Monopoly. It's all about making money anyway they can. The tablet company and the jail will make a percentage of the sales. What people need to do is nut up and do the time solo. don't give any of your family's hard earned money to the institutions. You get three hot meals which is enough. Work a hustle. Cut hair draw on postcards give people work out advice lay out plans for thinking ahead for people that don't want to end up institutionalized.
Don't know if it's changed but in Washington state the prison states library system were interconnected. If you wanted a book it was across the state. State used get you that book.
This is a shame, the United Snakes don't want nobody to read but they call it corrections. They are using prisons as modern day plantations
Im interested, is there laws books in prison or jail?