Recently there has been controversy related to a prisoner's right to free speech, specifically to blog. Inmates currently share their thoughts and perspectives through regular mail to sympathetic individuals willing to post their material via website. The California Department of Corrections stated that as long as they're not 'revictimizing' society, that they don't have the right to interfere with their freedom to communicate. Some of the victim's families seem to feel otherwise.

What is punishment and is it mostly an illusion? Aren't inmates in prison to keep "society" safe? How do we define punishment and does it really allow a victim's family closure to their mourning and loss? Perhaps punishment may only be curative for a family if there are limits and does not become a socially accepted outlet for melancholia.