No dragons allowed
January 26, 2010 3 Comments
But you can stay in your dungeon.
This is a ridiculous ruling. It’s limiting imagination, and removing an outlet for people in prison. I’m not one of those people who think prisoner’s should have a lot of the amenities they do have (cable TV for starters), but I accept that people in prison need some type of outlet to keep them from going nuts. If letting them read books distracts them, I don’t see how you can single out one group of them. Unless an inmate is asking for the latest copy of, “Escaping from Jail for Dummies”, I don’t think we have anything to worry about. “Rationally related” my ass.
About Shadow
If anything, they might be able to restrict a few inmates from this provided they were showing obvious psychological signs, but to ban it from the entire system? It’s a fantasy game…
Not like they’re going to turn their portable hole inside-out and pass through the dungeon walls or anything. That’s just preposterous.
Sorry, I disagree. Not because I think it fosters “escape fantasies” or anything of the like, but because they are prisoners. To hell with them. The guy bludgeoned and stabbed someone to death, I don’t feel sorry for the guy. That he can not play D&D while on my taxpayer money is more than fine with me.
I totally get your point, and even agree in prinicple. They did terrible things, and shouldn’t be having any fun. That said, prisoner’s need something to keep them, well, sedate for lack of a better term. Drugging every inmate to keep them docile would be “cruel and unusual” but also probably VERY expensive. Letting them play D&D seems like a fairly inexpensive, and high yield solution. I put it in the same catagory as them having access to books and exercise equipment. If the penal system were to put into practice the removal of all form of entertainment/energy outlet, and just leave inmates in their cells, and out in the yard, the chaos and riots that would eventually happen would be catastrophic.
One of the biggest problems I have with this is the seemingly indescriminate singling out of one entertainment outlet. To be truly equitable, the court needs to look at all the leisure activities that inmates have at their disposal and apply the same level of judgement on them.