"Free" Tablets Are Costing Prison Inmates a Fortune

Wayne Snitzky was 18 years old when he was sentenced to prison for murdering a girl four years his junior. It was 1995, beepers were the height of personal technology, and the most sophisticated video game he had played was "Leisure Suit Larry," a 2D adult-themed computer game that followed the sexual exploits of the sleazy main character. During the 23 years he has been locked up in Ohio's Marion Correctional Institute, Snitzky has been on the periphery of technology's rapid evolution. While he was able to maintain some of his computer skills through a work program with a nonprofit, where he now teaches other inmates basic tech skills such as composing emails and using a word processor, Snitzky's access to communication was limited. But in the early 2000s, inmates at Marion got their first taste of email--though a far different version than the one most users know.