Report on prisoners using Facebook prompts S.C. lawmaker to act
State prisoners would face criminal penalties for using Facebook behind bars under a proposed bill that also would target accomplices who aid them in illicit online activity.State Rep. Wendell Gilliard, D-Charleston, is the primary sponsor of legislation that would make it illegal for inmates to belong to social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Those who violate the law or help an inmate secure an account on one of these sites would face 30 days in jail and/or a $500 fine, under the proposal.
Gilliard said he was moved to actafter reading recent Post and Courier Watchdog accounts of at least a half-dozen state inmates using social media sites to get around prison rules and communicate with folks on the outside. Officials worry prisoners will use this technology to taunt victims and carry on criminal activities from behind prison walls.
"This is an embarrassment to South Carolina that no lawmaker should tolerate," said Gilliard, whose bill has a dozen co-sponsors. "These inmates can use this to put people's lives in danger. We need to put a stop to this immediately."
Some inmates use people on the outside to help them set up online accounts and post messages. Others use cell phones and smart phones that are smuggled into state prisons. Some 2,000 phones were seized in South Carolina prisons alone last year.
Facebook pulled down five inmate profiles in response to previous Watchdog inquiries. On Monday, three more prisoner profiles were yanked from the website after readers alerted Watchdog to their presence.
Robert Warren, 31, is serving a 30-year sentence at Lieber Correctional Institution for his role in a 1998 murder in Berkeley County. Warren was one of four men who unleashed a barrage of gunfire at a Sangaree apartment complex, killing a 23-year-old bystander.
Warren looks grim in his official inmate photo, but he was all smiles on his Faceboo
Some inmates use people on the outside to help them set up online accounts and post messages. Others use cell phones and smart phones that are smuggled into state prisons. Some 2,000 phones were seized in South Carolina prisons alone last year.
Facebook pulled down five inmate profiles in response to previous Watchdog inquiries. On Monday, three more prisoner profiles were yanked from the website after readers alerted Watchdog to their presence.
Robert Warren, 31, is serving a 30-year sentence at Lieber Correctional Institution for his role in a 1998 murder in Berkeley County. Warren was one of four men who unleashed a barrage of gunfire at a Sangaree apartment complex, killing a 23-year-old bystander.
Warren looks grim in his official inmate photo, but he was all smiles on his Faceboo
Read more: http://www.heraldonline.com/2011/02/08/2816654/report-on-prisoners-using-facebook.html#ixzz1DNLgPSLV
