What It’s Like to Get Online After 25 Years in Prison

http://www.dailydot.com/opinion/santos-getting-online-after-25-years-prison/

by astaire • 13 years ago

136 96 13 years ago

dailydot.com

adaml_6232• 13 years ago

Interesting but is it only me who can't find the author's name or a link to his blog?

adaml_6232• 13 years ago

Probably this is a more appropriate article as it hasn't just stolen someone's content.

http://www.dailydot.com/opinion/santos-getting-online-after-...

His name is Michael Santos and he did 25 years for running drugs.

notimetorelax• 13 years ago

Can we ask the mods to change the link to the one you provided?

mattsfrey• 13 years ago

That's tragic, I assumed to get 25 years he must have killed somebody

jbrooksuk3• 13 years ago

I've read about this guy before and what continues to puzzle me is how well versed his Internet terminology is. Things like "amazed me to see how the search engine indexed so much" just doesn't make sense, this guy was already aware of what indexing is and yet never used a computer inside prison?

It also seems that he built up an entire online presence before he'd stepped out of prison, the way it reads.

dasil003• 13 years ago

I imagine he did it the way we all did in the 70s and 80s: by digesting every shred of information from available print publications.

jbrooksuk3• 13 years ago

I guess there is that, it explains how he knew about Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn and also what an Apple iPhone + Safari is.

legitsource• 13 years ago

That phrasing makes me think someone explained internet search engines like a card catalog at a library.

vacri2• 13 years ago

He also has access to TV and movies.

jacquesm5• 13 years ago

Presumably the reason why inmates don't have unfettered access to the internet is to make sure they're not running some empire from behind bars but at the same time in this day and age this sounds like exceptionally cruel punishment.

If there is one thing that would help an ex-convict to re-integrate into society it would be to be able to read about what is going on in the outside world and to be able to self-educate so they can hit the ground running. After all if you leave jail without marketable skills chances of falling back into crime are higher which eventually serves nobody, least of all society.

davidiach• 13 years ago

Most workplaces block certain websites anyway so I don't see why they could not do the same thing for inmates. Maybe they shouldn't be using Tor, but I don't see why Wikipedia is a problem.

MichaelApproved3• 13 years ago

It is ridiculous how some dangerous inmates manage to communicate with the outside world and continue to commit crimes through their network. By allowing them to use Wikipedia, they can leave coded messages as orders for fellow gang members. This happens with traditional mail and you can bet it'll be more wide spread with Internet access.

I believe prisoners need the ability to learn and improve themselves while in prison but the problem is much more complicated than ban tor and allow Wikipedia.

Nux3• 13 years ago

ZOMG! We should totally make a petition to allow inmates to use the internet. How they manage without Facebook & Twitter is beyond me!

jacquesm5• 13 years ago

Yes, let's make everything ridiculous, that way we can shout down any meaningful debate on whatever subject you don't agree with.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_prisons

Ygg23• 13 years ago

Yes! We should treat them like to rotten criminals they are! Throw them in the hole and toss away the key. That way they will never return[1]!

Oh, wait, that doesn't work. Perhaps treating them like normal human beings instead proves more effective[2].

[1]http://bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=17 [2]http://www3.unil.ch/wpmu/space/publications/recidivism-studi...

jtheory2• 13 years ago

Have you never tried teaching yourself a new skill using online resources?

Assuming you have (hasn't everyone, nowadays? Even just looking up recipes counts...) -- now think about how you'd pick up the same info, without the internet. While in prison.

Obviously there are technical hurdles, but damn -- I really want motivated, supervised prisoners to be able to learn new skills while they're behind bars.

Because I really want them to be able to earn a living & lead a normal life when they get out.

If they can't, what happens then?

GilbertErik• 13 years ago

I know that HN likes to solve problems, but I don't think spending time debating the best mechanism to provide internet access to a population that many of us don't understand is worthwhile.

How about someone spend some time learning about best ways to rehabilitate criminals and whether internet access should be a part of that? (I'm poking fun that most of us have science, engineering, design backgrounds instead of Criminal Justice degrees).

It's easy to armchair quarterback a two sentence solution, but I doubt anyone leaving comments is going to change career paths into 'Correctional Facility IT'.

saraid2162• 13 years ago

> armchair quarterback a two sentence solution

This is the most succinct description of 60% of HN comments I've seen, I think.

vijayr• 13 years ago

I recently had the opportunity to talk to a few ex-prisoners about basics of websites, digital marketing etc (they are starting businesses). While their digital knowledge is not much, their street smartness and "real" world knowledge is unbelievable - I'd never ever have a tenth of their smartness.

It would be nice if they had internet access (perhaps in some restricted way)

carlyle45457• 13 years ago

My first startup actually landed me in CA state prison. (Read about my prison sentence and my new project here: http://comebackasap.com/burn_the_boats/ )

Though I "only" served a year, the one thing I missed more than anything --including family, friends, and the touch of a woman-- was internet access. (I love my family, friends, and lady friends but a year away from them wasn't so bad. Fortunately I have no kids.)

I'd literally have dreams about the internet. One dream I remember in particular was winning an imaginary "Inmate of the Month" contest. My prize was an hour of unfettered access to the internet. It was absolute bliss checking my email, Google Voice, Hacker News, etc.) I remember that dream with vivid clarity to this day. It may seem innocuous, but to me it illustrates how we've become so accustomed to an information-driven existence.

While in prison I'd seen numerous sports trivia arguments that resulted in all-out brawls that could've easily been resolved with a 5 second Google search. (Dudes were getting sent to the SHU for as many as 6 months because of a fight that stemmed from an argument over which team Kobe Bryant scored 81 points against. Insane.)

So you may ask, "Why not ask the C.O.'s to look it up on their phones?" It's true, some CO's would do it for us. Others would tell us flat-out "no". But then you have to worry about the dk CO's that would pretend to look it up, then give us faulty information just to stoke the flames of discord amongst us inmates. (I've seen this happen multiple times.)

As you can imagine, there is a lot of storytelling (read: lying) that goes on in prison. Imagine not being able to call a guy out on his nonsense with a couple swipes of the screen. "Oh you're in prison for moving 100 kilos of cocaine? Says here you were convicted for felony DUI." An extreme example but you get the point. In the free world, people simply can't get away with BS when each of us is walking around with miniature super-computers in our pockets.

"Cruel punishment" indeed.

handelaar• 13 years ago

> Read about my prison sentence and my new project here

Tip: In the UK, operating a fund which hedges against criminal proceedings (colloquially, a 'bust fund') is a severe criminal offence in its own right.

Do reassure me that you've made very sure nobody where you are is likely to prosecute you a second time :)

mahyarm• 13 years ago

So from what I understand from your story, if you hired the proper lawyers and put in the proper legal structure to properly protect yourself in the first place, you wouldn't of been sent to prison?

Jesus

lambersley• 13 years ago

Interesting idea. What would the premiums be based on? Were you able to find insurers willing to back this business model?

downandout• 13 years ago

Presumably the reason why inmates don't have unfettered access to the internet is to make sure they're not running some empire from behind bars

This is the argument that jailers use, but it really doesn't hold water. The vast majority of prisoners pose no threat to the public, online or in person. Preventing Internet access is nothing more than a way to increase recidivism, which keeps prison guard union dues flowing. This is why various correctional officer unions are constantly lobbying for ever more harsh criminal laws and mandatory sentencing schemes - often for victimless crimes. This strategy has worked; the US incarceration rate is the highest in the world - even higher than countries we think of as crazy that tie criminal laws to religious beliefs. Countless lives have been needlessly destroyed, and countless children have grown up without fathers, so that prison and jail guards can have make their $20/hr.

Some form of Internet should be allowed in correctional facilities. Since entire college courses are readily available for free online, you would think it would be a top priority to grant access to them. However, reform simply isn't the goal of the people that have the power to make these decisions. By enabling prisoners to better themselves, they would literally be working themselves out of a job.

friendly_chap• 13 years ago

I have utmost respect for this guy, after spending 25 years in prison he still has such a positive outlook, thinking about how he can utilize the internet to his advantage.

It teaches us something about not giving up our future even if the present is less than stellar. Startups are hard, but imagine if you would have to wait 25 years to realize your ideas...

As cliché as it is, never give up!

jacquesm5• 13 years ago

25 years is an enormous amount of time. Think of the cost to society to lock up people for the bigger part of their productive life.

davidw• 13 years ago

As a purely hypothetical argument, there's a net benefit to society if someone's productive efforts go into stealing from or otherwise harming other people. How many people fall into that category versus how many can be reformed or otherwise kept from causing harm is something I don't have facts about and is probably another debate for another site.

TomAnthony• 13 years ago

Author is Michael Santos:

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_G._Santos Website: http://michaelsantos.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelgsantos More: http://about.me/michael.santos

He did a degree, began a doctorate and wrote 7 books whilst in prison, and seems he hit the ground running when he got out. Good for him.

D9u2• 13 years ago

Arguably, the internet did exist in 1987, although not the same as the net we know today.

http://www.nethistory.info/History%20of%20the%20Internet/ori...

Kudos to Mr Santos for his efforts at turning a new leaf in life, and I've also noticed that attention spans have decreased over the past few decades.

marquis• 13 years ago

Cache: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:kE6JIjZ...

coldtea2• 13 years ago

telnet eee.fwed.dww 25

mail from: your_worst_nightmare@hell.com

rcpt to: claris@isp.com

I'm coming for you bitch. You know who.

coldtea2• 13 years ago

If you're keeping score, I got from +3 to -4 (current) for this one.

It's supposed to be a telnet SMTP session, using a fake email, and to mimic the standard cliche plot of Hollywood movies, with the convict returning to seek his revenge.

Not meant as misogynistic or anything (the "bitch" is written "in character").

raldi• 13 years ago

Why did you post a link to a site which stole the content, stripped the author's name, mangled the text by repeating some of it twice, and omitted an extremely interesting video?

Moderators, please update the link so it points to the original source:

http://www.dailydot.com/opinion/santos-getting-online-after-...

jschuur• 13 years ago

Presumably the duplication of the pull quotes and lack of the video comes from copy & pasting from the original web page (for whatever reason).

If you're curious (and not that it matters for his story), the author, Michael G. Santos, initially received a 45 year sentence for 'a scheme to distribute cocaine':

http://www.quora.com/Michael-Santos-4 http://about.me/michael.santos

Lifescape• 13 years ago

Thank you, came here to ask who the author was and why their name wasn't included.

jrochkind13• 13 years ago

Why is the author's name not attached to the article? Anyone know who wrote this?

josephb• 13 years ago

Original article here:

http://www.dailydot.com/opinion/santos-getting-online-after-...

cheez• 13 years ago

> On the day (of my release) that my wife, Carole

Wow

richardlblair2• 13 years ago

Because you were locked up for so long I'll go easy on you.

Use a font size bigger than 13px... seriously. You're lucky I wanted to know what you had to say. Normally I'd just close the tab and never look back.

treerock• 13 years ago

He says on hackerNews with it's 9pt text and 8pt headings.

richardlblair2• 13 years ago

You clearly missed the fact that i said px, and not pt.

I also find it hilarious that I get down voted on this of all things. Too funny.

What It’s Like to Get Online After 25 Years in Prison

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