Comer, Gill, Burchett Investigate California’s Taxpayer-Funded Prisoner Digital Tablet Program

Recent reporting exposes how prisoners have used tablets to sexually exploit women and minors

WASHINGTON-House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), Task Force on Defending Constitutional Rights and Exposing Institutional Abuses Chairman Brandon Gill (R-Texas), and Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency Chairman Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) today opened an investigation into California's prisoner digital table program and the state's administration of federal funds. Recent reporting by the City Journal exposes how some prisoners are exploiting these state-issued tablets to sexually exploit women and minors from their jail cells. In a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom, the lawmakers request documents and communications to inform the Committee's oversight of federal criminal rehabilitation funding and whether federal funds were used to fund the state's prisoner digital tablet program.

"The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is conducting oversight of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's (CDCR) prisoner digital tablet program and the administration of federal grant funds by the California Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC)," wrote the lawmakers. "Recent reporting indicates that California's prison inmates are exploiting these state-issued tablets to access and distribute pornographic content. Even worse, reports indicate that some inmates have used these tablets to sexually exploit women and minors from their prison cells. These shocking revelations about prisoner tablet use call into question the federal funds and grants given to California for the specific purpose of reducing crime and rehabilitating criminals, just as California's prisoner tablet program reportedly achieves the exact opposite purpose. The Committee requests documents and communications to inform its oversight of federal funds given to California through the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Affairs."

According to reports, digital tablets were distributed to nearly all California prisoners by mid-2023. While the prisoner tablet program seems to have been funded primarily through CDCR California state funds, the federal government sends millions of federal tax dollars to California annually through various grant programs intended for criminal rehabilitation, crime prevention, or state and local law enforcement or court support. In 2023, Nathaniel Diaz was convicted of sexual crimes against a 12-year-old girl, who, with his state-issued prison tablet, began sexually messaging and exploiting her. Recently, Governor Newsom dismissed claims of inmate abuse of the prisoner tablet program despite growing concerns the program is not properly monitored to prevent sexual exploitation of women and minors.

"The Committee is concerned that California's programs may be using taxpayer funds to perpetuate sexual violence," continued the lawmakers. "It is highly concerning, though not surprising, that convicted criminals found various ways around the safety controls on the tablet program, engaged in criminal behavior via the tablets, and consumed, sent, and received child sexual abuse material."

Read the letter to Governor Gavin Newsom here.