Convicted criminal and probably nutbag James Traficant has been barred from the art room at his prison, according to a CNN Radio podcast I was just listening to earlier today (I think it was the 3pm EST update). It seems Traficant had someone on the outside selling his paintings on the internets.
Now, I don't even remember what Traficant went to jail for, but I don't see how barring him from painting is right. Sure, jail is for punishment, but to jail a man's soul? That's wrong. And why can't prisoners make money for doing things in prison? Why not keep the money from the convicts until they get out of prison so they actually have some money waiting for them when they get out--unlike most released ex-cons who have to struggle to get back on their feet.
But seriously folks--just because someone committed a crime does not give us the right to take away their so-called "God-given" right to the freedom of speech. Fine, take away his right to make money on his paintings, but for crying out loud, don't bar him from painting, period.
OH yeah, just checked [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Traficant|Traficant's entry] at Wikipedia.org and it turns out he was convicted of bribery, racketeering and generally being a dickhead to his staffers.
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