Governor bans video games from prisons, page 1

Missouri Governor Matt Blunt banned video games from the state's prisons Monday, a month after a newspaper reported some of Missouri's most violent inmates were allowed to play games simulating murders, carjackings and the killings of police officers.

www.cnn.com
Blunt, a Republican who took office two weeks ago, called video games "a luxury that inmates should not be allowed to enjoy."

"Our penitentiaries are punitive institutions where those who have committed crimes against society are sent to pay for their actions. They are not meant to be arcades," Blunt said in a statement.

The ban applies to all video games -- violent or not. Blunt said state tax dollars -- as well as employees' time -- should not be spent determining which video games are violent.

In prison, inmates should "pick up skills and abilities that will allow them to go back out into society and be productive citizens," Blunt said. "Playing video games doesn't have anything to do with either of those objectives."

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I like it! Let them read books or learn a craft or trade, something that they could use later in life, if they ever get a second chance, just as the Governor said.

[edit on 29-3-2005 by Spectre]