Why Is This A Good Idea? California To Intall Condom Machines In A State Prison
I must be missing something here.
California, ever the leader in innovative ideas, has decided that installing condom machines in their prisons is the right thing to do:
VACAVILLE, Calif.—A controversial new pilot program providing free condoms for prison inmates is in its final planning stages.
The Solano State Prison is installing 10 condom distribution machines that will be stocked with 1,200 condoms a week.
The hope is that the condoms will limit the spread of sexually transmitted diseases among inmates.
“We know risk behavior is being reduced,” said Mary Sylla of the Center for Health Justice. “We will eventually be reducing HIV infections by this measure.”
We all know how socially responsible and concerned our prison inmates are about the welfare and health of their sexual partners when they, er, persuade them to participate in intimate shower contact, don’t we?
Aside from that, I wonder if it occurred to anyone that this sort of gives the nod to what is already illegal behavior. Would an inmate who was caught engaging in - presumably consensual - sex now be able to argue that, hey, they made the condoms available so it must be all right, right?
Is there something in the water out there that makes people lose all sense of perspective? Having sex in prison is against the law. Hey! Here’s a novel idea: If you want to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases in your prisons, how about controlling the behavior of your inmates?
That would probably work better than providing them the tools with which to play house, don’t you think?
Just a thought.
