Newsom slammed as California death row inmates

California Gov. Gavin Newsom was slammed over his makes an attempt to overhaul the state’s large prison system, which incorporates giving inmates devices that permit them to watch pornography.

Newsom positioned a moratorium on all executions, transferred condemned prisoners to amenities across the state, and dismantled San Quenton State Prison’s notorious death row.

As half of the transformation to flip the prison system into a Nordic-style rehabilitation program, the Newsom administration authorised a $189 million contract to present new digital tablets — generic, flat-screen devices in a plastic shell — to every inmate in the state, at “no cost” to them.

The administration portrayed the hassle as a step toward “digital equity” for “justice-impacted” people. The prisoners might, in concept, use the devices to contact their households, watch “educational” content, and be taught new technology.

However, the taxpayer-funded devices have also been used for inmates to watch graphic content. Several death row inmates told the New York Post that inmates in the state system have used their devices to watch porn and have express inappropriate conversations.

Some prisoners, according to a former high-ranking California corrections official, have used their tablets to groom minors.

While the state claimed that it regulated express content, the inmates told the outlet that customers can simply evade detection.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said the tablets have been “tightly controlled education tools” that offered inmates with “access to the Bible, education, and reentry resources that actually reduce crime.”

However, inmates like Robert Maury shared a different story. In the Nineteen Eighties, Maury was a serial killer and rapist who strangled three ladies and raped a fourth before he was caught by police.

Now, Maury spends his days at a state prison in Stockton, California, where he watches porn on his digital pill. Maury told the Post that inmates can obtain “nude pictures” and watch pornography through their devices.

In his case, he claims to have obtained a topless photograph from a 22-year-old German psychology pupil who was “hoping that I would share my story with her for her class project.” After the scholar despatched the photograph, Maury claims that he “flirted” with her for “a while.”

Maury said that another manner inmates can watch porn is through the video chat utility. He explained that an inmate can call somebody on the surface, and that individual can “put porn on their TV,” permitting the inmate to “watch with them.”

Maury said he is never explicitly requested anybody to show him porn in this method, but when it occurs, he “just say[s]” cool and thanks.”

Samuel Amador, another serial killer who was sentenced to death, shared a similar experience. He told the outlet that inmates watch porn and have inappropriate conversations on their tablets. The videos are delivered in “30-second clips.”

Amador created a rotation on his tablet between explicit and wholesome content. “I watch porn an[d] short clips of my household at the Beach,” he said.

Sometimes, guards will find lewd messages, but Amador said the restrictions are generally easy to evade. “[W]e get around their bulls—,” he said.

The potential for abuse is glaring as inmates, including child predators, can communicate with members of the public through their tablets, with seemingly no age restrictions. Nathaniel Ray Diaz, who was convicted of committing sex crimes against a 12-year-old girl, allegedly used a prison-issued tablet to contact and exploit his victim from inside Avenal State Prison.

Diaz allegedly told the girl to send him inappropriately explicit images, which he received through a co-conspirator. Prosecutors alleged that Diaz made “1000’s of calls” to the girl, violating a no-contact order and committing additional sex crimes. He is currently in custody awaiting trial.

Douglas Eckenrod, former deputy director of California’s adult parole operations, said that cases like Diaz are just the tip of the iceberg. He said there is no way to monitor the nearly 90,000 inmates in the state prison system who have access to the devices.

Last month, state officials attempted to tighten restriction on the tablets, but death row inmates told the Post that prisoners can easily bypass these restrictions. Newsom offered no sign that he would reverse course on the free tablet program.

The new vendor contract allows for four one-year extensions, which could push the total cost to $315 million. Eckenrod, who anticipated that the “digital equity” initiative would take a dark turn, believes California opened the floodgates to abuse.

“We created a pathway for them to attain out and groom people,” he said. “There are going to be victims that didn’t need to have been victims because of these choices.”