My mother happened to have a stopover in NL on her way to Norway, so I went to see her. My brother called her American cell phone from his American prison at 7 am his time; I had assumed I wouldn’t hear his voice for many years yet. I broke down crying in a Rotterdam public cafeteria.

And I got very angry because not only is he not allowed hardcover books!, not only is he not allowed books in languages other than English!, but he’s not even allowed books in English for the purpose of learning other languages, because prisoners might learn to communicate in 🈲secret codes🈲 if you let them study the original languages of their holy texts (he is very Christian and wanted books on Greek and Hebrew) or a language that will help them get a job when they get out

He said the only exception is that it’s possible to get a book in Spanish IF it comes with an English copy of the same book that the guards can check for seditious content

Honestly, my brother has almost no chance of holding a real job ever again anyways because the American system turns a prison sentence of any length for any reason into a lifetime stamp of unemployability

The Dutch system sounds, IMO as someone who hasn’t been to prison, better: when you want to hire someone, you send their name and the job description to the government and ask if they are aware of a reason they shouldn’t work that specific job.

For example, if you were convicted of fraud, they’ll say “don’t hire” to a job with direct access to big money. If you hurt children, they’ll say “don’t hire” to a daycare job. But the reason for the warning is not disclosed, and there must be a clear link between the past behavior and the job role to issue any warning.