North Carolina’s Tablet Program Exploits Inmates With Overpriced and Limited Access

Derrick Walker writes how the tablet program in North Carolina prisons charges inmates high prices for poor-quality content and limited access to basic communication services.

Since the inception of the tablet program in the state of North Carolina, inmates have been paying exuberant prices for content and service that isn’t near what it could be and definitely not what it should be.

The Tablet Program and the Myth of “Free” Apps

Inmates are offered three different app bundles to choose from: 1) an $8 bundle which consists of “gold movies” (movies that have been released within the last 12–15 months) and some music and news; 2) a $10 bundle which consists of a meager selection of games, a sports app, a movie app that offers movies that are older than five years old, another much older movie app, a music app, and GTL texting; and 3) a $15 app that offers news, music, and your personal photos.

Within the past year, they also made available an app called ViaPath Free TV, but they make inmates pay three cents a minute just to access its content—so what’s free about the app? Over the past couple of weeks, they placed the app Pando back onto the tablets, but they limit use of the app for only one hour a day (for an app that’s supposed to be free).

Paying for Photos and Family Connection

Inmates are forced to pay in order to have access to their personal photos as well as texting (two services that are supposed to be free). In other states, inmates have free access to their personal photos as well as texting, yet the State of North Carolina forces its incarcerated to pay in order to have access to this content.

What happens to the inmates who never receive monetary funds from the outside? Simple. They’re unable to access their personal photos nor to keep in contact with their families. In essence, they’re penalized for being indigent and poor, but of course the State of North Carolina doesn’t care, especially as long as they’re able to make money from the inmate population for tablet service that isn’t up to national standards.

The inmate population is truly being syphoned from their money for tablet service that isn’t near what it should be. But that’s North Carolina for you!

Interested in reading more? Check out Prison Tablets Are the Best Thing to Happen in Decades