Lawmaker introduces
bill banning inmates from social media
by
Joseph Ernest March 27, 2011
Newscast
Media-- A South Carolin
lawmaker doesn’t think inmates should be allowed to use social networking sites
while in prison, and is introducing a bill to make sure inmates do not have
access to social networking Web sites.
"This bill would
be the first bill of such in the whole country that would be a crime for any
inmate while in prison to set up social media as a means of communications. If
a person gets caught, he or she would have a lot of time added to what they’ve
been given. It also carries a fine," said state Rep. Wendell Gilliard, a
Democrat from Charleston who is proposing the law.
Some
victims and victims' families have complained
that the inmates are using popular social networking sites to stalk, harass and
threaten them.
"Stalkers,
batterers, gang members live to intimidate, harass and terrorize their victim,
that's what they do," says Veronica Swain Kunz, CEO with the South Carolina
Victim Assistance Network. "Anybody on Facebook can reach out and send a
message to anybody that they want to, and it could be a really terrorizing
thing for them."
However, the proposed bill has already met resistance. The
ACLU calls it a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech in the
Constitution. Ashleigh Merchant, a criminal defense attorney in Atlanta, agrees
saying that any move to restrict free speech in any form for anybody is wrong.
"A
lot of times, this is an only outlet for an inmate. If a son or daughter is in
prison, their family wants to have an outlet, sort of keep family members up to
date on what's going on with that inmates life – that's still a member of that
family," she says.
Rep. Gilliard
said the Republican leadership in the South Carolina State House supports his
bill and he hopes that it will come up for a vote as early as next week.
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