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VA Ban on Prison Book Program Prompts Protests

By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

A Title Wave of Controversy Va. Ban on Prison Book Program Prompts Protests By Maria Glod Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, September 10, 2009 A Virginia inmate studying for his GED asked for a dictionary, explaining that "there's a lot of words I just don't know." A criminal serving his 18th year wanted Christian fiction and Stephen King books. And a 61-year-old woman behind bars requested a how-to book on crocheting and a book of Bible commentary. The three inmates are among thousands who have received books from the Quest Institute, a Charlottesville-based nonprofit group that has filled such requests for two decades. But the group's popular Books Behind Bars program might have become a victim of its success. Virginia prison officials banned the program last month, saying that the security risks are too great and that it creates too much work for busy corrections officers...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog on September 10, 2009 (boomark / email).