I might not get hacker news in prison, but I would probably get some books that I would enjoy even more. Prison can be really bad, but on average I think it is far better than death.
I agree that prison is better then death, but I do not think being in prison is like being in comfortable room happily reading books whole day.
You are subject to prison rules and have to live in society of other prisoners and guards. You can loose your reading privileges for some petty reason and I'm not sure how big prison library is. It is not like they would be determined to make you happy or at least leave you alone - the atmosphere can get very poisonous.
Most people that have been in prison do not report about it as about pleasant places where they learned a lot from books. They usually report it being very bad place and learning some street smarts (which I would happily pass).
I would agree with you. I've heard plenty of people say the death penalty would be preferred over life in prison, but I'll bet when faced with that choice, most people would choose life. It's just how we're wired.
Dunno about in the US, but at least here in the UK the Government has stopped allowing people to send prisoners books full stop as part of their campaign to get tough on prisoners.
The government's argument is that prisoners can still use prison libraries or buy books from approved suppliers using their earnings from work tasks. However, libraries are often very limited in the choice they offer, access can be arbitrarily restricted, and their earnings (average £9.60 in 2008 [1]) are likely to be insufficient for book purchases after paying for more essential items.
I agree that this is cruel. It's part of an effort by the government to make prison appear tougher to appeal to its core (right-wing) supporters.
