Inmates might have to pay to keep the televisions on

Just how tough are things at South Carolina's prison system?

Corrections officials hope that the inmates will help pay for the digital converter boxes needed to keep televisions operational after mid-February.

Doing so will make their hard time a lot easier. ...

None of the televisions in the state's prisons is capable of receiving a digital signal, and after Feb. 16, that's the only signal that will be produced by television stations. A converter box will be required to modify that signal for old televisions.

The Corrections Department has applied for assistance from the federal government, which mandated the change to digital television.

Unfortunately, that reasonable request has been rebuffed.

So Corrections officials have asked guards to provide any spare discount coupons that are available to households from the federal government. The coupons, worth $40 each, can be obtained online.

And Corrections spokesman Josh Gelinas tells us that inmate representative councils can expect a request to contribute money — some $20 per box — to purchase the conversion kits. ...

The Department of Corrections is operating at bare bones — even worse, with a $14 million deficit. The inmate population has been feeling the pain as well, for example, with a very limited though nutritionally sufficient diet. ...

Keeping the prison televisions on is a lowcost way to ease the daily grind, both for those who are incarcerated and for those who guard them.

The (Charleston) Post and Courier