SC inmates punished with decades of solitary confinement for accessing Facebook

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Apparently, in the South Carolina prison system, accessing Facebook is a serious offense — as serious as murder, rape or taking a hostage.

At least, that’s the message being sent after the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) made “Creating and/or Assisting With A Social Networking Site” a Level 1 offense, a category usually reserved for the most violent violations of prison conduct policies.

Now inmates are having charges brought against them for wanting to remain in touch with loved ones and keep up on current events via social media. Some have asked their families to access their accounts for them, while others have gone on the Internet themselves through contraband cell phones (possession of which is yet another Level 1 offense).

Through a request under South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act, it has now been discovered that, over the last three years, prison officials have brought more than 400 disciplinary cases for “social networking.” In these incidents, using Facebook is almost always the culprit.

SCDC issues a separate Level 1 violation for each day that an inmate accesses a social network, so the charges often come with heavy penalties, such as years (at times, even decades) in solitary confinement and deprivation of virtually all privileges, including visitation.

Since the policy was implemented in 2012, SCDC has brought 432 disciplinary cases against 397 inmates, with more than 40 inmates receiving more than two years in solitary confinement [PDF].

Here are some of the most severe social media punishments EFF has seen:

• In October 2013, Tyheem Henry received 13,680 days (37.5 years) in disciplinary detention and lost 27,360 day (74 years) worth of telephone, visitation, and canteen privileges, and 69 days of good time—all for 38 posts on Facebook. 
• In June 2014, Walter Brown received 12,600 days (34.5 years) in disciplinary detention and lost 25,200 days (69 years) in telephone, visitation, and canteen privileges, and 875 days (2.4 years) of good time—all for 35 posts on Facebook.
• In May 2014, Jonathan McClain received 9,000 days (24.6 years) in disciplinary detention and lost 18,000 days (49 years) in telephone, visitation, and canteen privileges, and 30 days of good time—all for 25 posts on Facebook.

The average punishment length for a “social networking” case is 512 days — and all this comes at a price. South Carolina tax payers are shelling out an extra $842,000 just to keep inmates behind bars— for posting on Facebook.

In addition to the potential legal and financial issues these practices may raise, they’ve created some extra legwork for Facebook as well. As of February 3, 2015, the site has processed 512 “deactivation requests” from South Carolina corrections officers.

Grio fam, do you think SCDC’s strict social media policies make sense, or is this a waste of taxpayer money?