A Chattanooga organization is seeking donations to help the chaplain at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville buy televisions for 30 model prisoners.
Tim Dempsey, chief executive officer of Chattanooga Endeavors, an organization that tries to help restore offenders to productive roles in society, said the TVs ward off boredom and provide a link to the outside world.
“This is for inmates who really don’t have any resources in the community,” he said. “Mostly, the prisoners around Tennessee can scrape together enough personal resources that they can purchase a television set. These people are pretty desperate. They don’t have family or friends that can afford the $150 to make the purchase.”
Mr. Dempsey said the 30 — some of them death row inmates — have had “no write-ups for the past 12 months” and are cooperating with administrators. However, some may be stuck in high-security accommodations even though they’re appropriate for lower security ones.
Often in the high-security situations, the prisoners remain in a cell 23 hours a day and have one hour out for recreation, Mr. Dempsey said. Otherwise, they have no institutional assignments, have closely controlled movements, limited interaction with other inmates and highly restricted visitations, if they have any.
They normally are allowed to have two books at a time, plus a Bible, Mr. Dempsey said, but in many cases they don’t have proper lighting to read.
He said he didn’t know whether any of the inmates had ties to Southeast Tennessee.
Calls to Jerry H. Welborn, the chaplain at the prison who is coordinating the purchase, were not returned.
George Eiland, 63, a Chattanoogan who served more than 26 years in state and federal prisons, said an inmate needs “something to occupy his mind and keep up with what’s going on in the world.”
He said he read books while serving his time, but he said many inmates can’t read.
Similarly, Ronnie Rogers, 64, a Chattanoogan who served 43 years behind bars, said he watched the news whenever he could and spent a lot of time reading. “I tried my best to keep up with what was happening around me,” he said in a news release.
Mr. Eiland and Mr. Dempsey said they can understand some people resenting prisoners getting TVs.
GET INVOLVEDTo contribute to the television project through Chattanooga Endeavors, visit the organization’s Web site at http://chattanoogaendeavors.com/donate.
“I think there are a lot of people who would have a negative reaction to it because they don’t think it’s an appropriate way to serve time in prison,” Mr. Dempsey said.
Watching television provides a socializing dimension for inmates that is not easy to replicate any other way inside prison. Research shows it is an effective way to keep inmates connected to their communities, he said.
Mr. Dempsey said the TVs must be purchased by the Department of Correction.
The sets are clear-bodied so guards can detect contraband. They are akin to “something you might have (had) 15 years ago and put on the counter of your kitchen,” he said.