Pornography should not be made available to them. If they are suffering because of it, that's their consequence for committing the crime. Prison should not be a pleasant place. If it means no magazines for them masturbate with, then that's too bad. And if they have a problem with not having porn, I'd send them a one-word telegram: "Bummer."
- age 17, Michigan
Both male and female prisoners should! My brother is in a Texas prison — and from what he tells me in his letters, masturbation is practically prohibited, and conjugal visits are very rare. Imagine having to sneak a few strokes while avoiding being seen by a guard and punished! I also believe sex offenders should have access to porn. Although they are in prison, their sex drive isn't put on hold. Porn could possibly help curtail the urges to rape or sexually harm another prisoner. I say let the prisoners have the porn and get their jollies!. It won't hurt me, and it certainly will help improve morale.
- age 38, Florida
Yes, but they should not be allowed to masturbate, and should have to wear handcuffs so they won't. I'm a Republican and this is my way of being tough on crime! If the hoods find out terminal horniness awaits them in jail, our crime rate will drop to almost nothing.
- age 44, New Jersey
Prisoners shouldn't have anything. It's called *punishment.* Next you'll want us to pay for their college education so they can sue us for not giving them these things!
- age 17, Kentucky
No, especially if they raped someone. I don't even think that they should be allowed to take showers together. If they raped someone their penis should be *cut off.*
- age 17, Tennessee
I don't believe pornography is a necessity, and prison should provide only the necessities of physical (and sexual) survival. But I *do* think it would ultimately be better for the world if we viewed prisons as a place to help heal our fellow man emotionally and psychologically, and not merely as a place of punishment. Pornography may be a pleasantry to some, but it is not truly a healing tool for their problems.
- age 37, New York
Yes, each individual should have the same rights, unless if they have misused something like a gun. There is no possible way to misuse mass-produced pornography.
- age 18, Wisconsin
If anything they should be castrated. America has gotten weak in its punishment. Prisoners live better than a lot of older retired adults that worked their whole life without stealing or killing. Off with their heads!
- age 36, California
Everyone needs a good porn magazine.
- age 18, Massachusetts
Only if I end up in prison should it ever be allowed.
- age 19, Canada
I do not believe they should. They committed a crime against society, so why allow them to have more than the basic rights of food, water, and shelter?
- age 15, Nevada
No, pornography is not an entitlement for anyone.
- age 36, Utah
Yes, because it helps relieve the sexual desires they may be feeling inside. If a violent criminal were in prison for a long time with only male company, he might be so desperate for sex that he would resort to rape or such when he gets free.
- age 16, United Kingdom
All prisoners should be allowed pornography, except sex offenders — they should be able to read only "Martha Stewart Living."
- age 15, Florida
No. Prison is not meant to be fun in any way. Why should prisoners get porno if it's *prison*?
- age 18, Michigan
If prisoners can't have pornography, what's next? Prisoners can't have soap?
- age 22, Ontario
Prison should be a hell hole. It's too nice as it is. If you commit a crime, you go to a bad place as punishment. Not only should there be no porn, there should be no luxury at all! No soft beds, no free education, no nice food. They shouldn't even be allowed harmonicas to play the blues. Boy, would I hate to live there — not much time in the bathrooms to masturbate.
- age 15, Canada
It depends on the crime. If it was a sex crime, I don't think pornography can help. I think a murderer should not be allowed pornography. But if someone stole a car, why not?
- age 16, Texas
No — when an offender is caught, they give up all rights and privileges. This includes pornography. They should have thought about all of this before they wanted to break the law. Being a law abiding citizen includes the perks of being able to have pornography.
- age 16, Iowa
Of course! Prisoners are normal human beings, too. If they can't relieve their sexual urges with the aid of pornography, how will they do it then? The consequences of banning pornography in prisons might have other, more serious effects.
- age 18, Norway
No! If they want porn then they can look at their cellmates in the showers.
- age 15, Louisiana
I think tasteful pornography (and yes, there are varying stages, as any true aficionado knows) like "Playboy" is fine. Violent pornography should not be allowed, however.
- age 19, California
Yes, they should have pornography so long as they are over 18 years old! They are still people with sexual needs.
- age 15, United Kingdom
Think of it this way: Give them a little porn and they're going to masturbate. Keep it from them and they're going to masturbate less and rape more.
- age 16, Canada
No! It encourages them either to be repeat offenders of sexual crimes, if they should be released, or it encourages victimization of each other in the prisons through sodomy. Think about it! If all you've got to read is pornographic material and you have a cellmate of the same sex, there's bound to be problems.
- age 24, Oklahoma
I can't see why not. What really is it going to hurt? And, what if some guys can only get off by having stimulants? Why, then all of their masturbation fun is gone. That would be cruelty. I'd never wish that on someone.
- age 15, Maine (female)
No! Prisoners are already coddled too much as it is. They're in prison because they committed crimes. They get all the sex they want anyhow.
- age 40, California
Prisoners should be entitled to almost every right that other citizens are! The right to freedom of expression and freedom of speech is certainly included in that. Sex, especially if it does not involve or bother anyone but the prisoner, should be fully allowed. Pornography should not be regulated any differently than a criminology book — different strokes for different folks!
- age 15, Pennsylvania
Absolutely — they will masturbate anyway. Allowing them to have porn may encourage them to masturbate more, be more relaxed (I know I am after a good orgasm), and be less likely to get into other difficulties. A lot of guys use porn to help set the mood, so why not prisoners? You can't take everything away from them.
- age 63, New Jersey
They should not have any rights that relate to pleasure. Prison is supposed to reform, and prisoners have too many special rights already. They are allowed to smoke, have access to computers and television, and they get drugs! What incentive would they have to reform and straighten out to become law-abiding citizens? Prisoners rape other prisoners, and they have sex with guards as well. Prisoners are able to masturbate in their cells. Let them use their fantasies to get off. Why give them more access to the outside world? They gave up those rights when they became criminals and were sent to jail.
- age 27, Texas
Why not? Even though they are prisoners they shouldn't be denied access to literature, even though it is considered "pornography" by some. Most of these magazines do have some very informative articles in them. So what if these people are masturbating to them? If they didn't have these magazines, they would either be sexually harassing other inmates more, or masturbating to their memories. So what's the difference as long as the government does not provide them?
- age 38, Indiana
Hello! It's prison, a place you go to suffer for committing a crime. Pornography, like TV, is just another way for them to help ease their stay. Sure they're already in a no-sex environment, but if they hadn't screwed up in the first place they wouldn't be there at all — right?
- age 16, Oklahoma (female)
Should prisoners be allowed to masturbate?
- age 17, California
Well, prison is a punishment. Would it be so much more of a punishment to make them use their imagination? I think that's a good punishment.
- age 15, Washington
Prisoners should be able to have pornography in their cells. Everyone, including prisoners, needs relief of sexual tension sometimes. I think even minors should have the right to own their own pornography!
- age 16, Wisconsin
Prisoners in state prisons, or those convicted of hardcore crimes (murder, rape, assault), should not be allowed pornography in their cells. But those convicted of lesser crimes (crimes that haven't injured or killed anyone, such as perjury or tax fraud), or prisoners in minimum-security situations, should. A good rule might be: the worse the crime, the fewer the entertainment privileges.
- age 35, New York
They should be allowed to keep pornography. They are only denied the right of freedom of movement, not anything else. I think to deny them personal sexual pleasure from masturbation is cruel and unrealistic. They'll just find other ways of getting the sexual pleasure they seek.
- age 18, Canada (female)
Last time I looked, pornography was a privilege. I thought that in prison you're not supposed to have any privileges.
- age 19, Oklahoma
Definitely! They're not to be tortured, are they?
- age 18, Germany
Prison is no ride in the park, and some regulation does occur. If a girlfriend will buy it and bring it, pornography should be allowed. Then the "use" of that pornography becomes a question. Would prisons become like insane asylums with open masturbation visible at every cell gate?
- age 66, California
Prisoners are supposed to be apart from society because of the crime they committed. They should be completely cut off from the outside world and corrected from their illness. What's the use of going to prison if you know you're going to get free shelter, food, cable TV, and porn? This makes no sense in my opinion. What about sex offenders? Should we let them have porn in prison to let them continue enjoying what they did before they got there? I don't think so.
- age 17, Canada
Prisoners deserve *some* of the same rights as us. After all, our rights as U.S. citizens are inalienable. They should still be punished, but taking away pornography is too extreme.
- age 13, Michigan
I don't believe anyone should be allowed to have pornography. I have seen lives destroyed because of it. It distorts your view of both genders because most people don't have the bodies that are in these magazines. And, if they are in prison for some kind of sexual offense, pornography will only deepen the problem, not help to resolve it.
- age 16, Maryland
I personally believe everyone should have access to pornography. What's so evil and immoral about a nude body — or maybe two nude bodies? Let other people do what they like. It's not your decision what others do with their lives and bodies.
- age 15, Canada
Prisoners should not be allowed to have pornography — not to make it a "less pleasant environment" but because pornography makes women seem more like objects. To many criminals, particularly sex offenders, this could be reinforcement that might make them more dangerous. Likewise, they don't allow programs with violence or sex to be broadcast on closed-circuit prison television.
- age 20, Texas
These people are in jail to pay for crimes against fellow citizens. They deserve *no* advantages, *no* benefits, and *no* entertainment. I am sick of hearing how prisoners' rights are being violated by law officials. Prisoners have *no rights.* They set them aside when they committed the crime.
- age 17, Kentucky
Prison is supposed to be punishment. They shouldn't have TV, weightlifting facilities, books, porn, or anything else.
- age 17, California
Prisoners should not only be given pornography but condoms as well. Incarceration should not interfere with one of the most basic human instincts — sex. Prisoners should have access to these materials.
- age 24, Philippines
No. They have brains — they can use their imaginations.
- age 15, Massachusetts (female)
Yes, because sex is a natural, and maybe essential thing. Jails can't cut essential things, so they should have that right.
- age 17, Canada
No. Prison should not be a place where pleasure can be found. Second, the number of sex offenders who use pornography is staggeringly high. Why should we allow that to be perpetuated? Prison is meant for rehabilitation, but I'm the first to say it doesn't seem to work that well. Having access to pornography only complicates things and does not in any way help with that process. No, don't tell me masturbating will put a prisoner on the straight and narrow. If they want to masturbate, great, but they can do it without the pornography.
- age 24, Washington
Prisoners are in prison to be isolated from society, and to be miserable. I don't think they should even get to watch TV or listen to the radio.
- age 16, California
If sexuality is natural, then pornography should be allowed as much as they should be given the right to use toilets.
- age 13, Massachusetts
Yes, but only pornography that is strictly heterosexual and nonviolent.
- age 58, Texas
Let them have the magazines, but take away cable TV, the comfortable beds, and three squares a day. Make them all work at the farm for their food! There are many people who live in worse conditions than the folks who are in prison.
- age 27, Texas
This is absurd. Porn is a luxury, and taxpayers are paying for it (literally). This is as bad as letting them smoke in jail. They don't need it, and it makes prison a pleasurable place.
- age 15, New Jersey
The authors of the Constitution must have had this in mind when they banned "cruel and unusual punishment."
- age 18, Florida
No, let the fools rape each other and keep them away from the rest of humanity. They were put there for a reason, and the reason probably included some sort of sexual abuse or misuse.
- age 15, Maine
Being a strong believer in "The System," I believe prisoners should not be allowed to possess pornographic material. Although sex is considered a basic right, the prisoners are in prison to pay their debt to society. This includes the curbing of some rights. Ownership of pornographic materials does not serve to punish prisoners.
- age 14, New York
The prisons are already too extravagant with their recliners and their cable TV. Porn would be just another added pleasure, like getting all the luxuries of the outside world.
- age 15, Maine (female)
Why deprive them of it? Pornography might stop them from doing "it" to each other. It could stop the spread of AIDS and other problems arising in prison.
- age 17, Australia
I say life is too good for them as it is. Let's take it a step further by eliminating TVs, weightrooms, law libraries, and other niceties. While we're at it, cut out the air conditioning and heating, too. I'm tired of paying higher taxes just so those scum can have all the comforts of home.
- age 40, Pennsylvania
These people are not human. They ruin this country, yet we give them the same if not more rights than our country's lower class, not to mention better living conditions. We foot the bill for their food, and now you ask if you should buy them pornography as well? Why not just buy them underage prostitutes? Wait — just buy them drugs to satisfy them! Instead of wasting precious tax dollars on such things we should just give them lobotomies or electroshock therapy sessions.
- age 16, Ohio
To someone like me, the answer seems obvious — no. Then again, a person who has been in jail, or is in jail, will undoubtedly disagree. On the outside we are able to say prisoners don't deserve it — that they should lose all joys and pleasures if they're foolish enough to commit a crime that puts them in prison. But a former inmate will say something much different. So there really isn't one answer to this question.
- age 17, Connecticut