Only in Gavin Newsom’s California could death row inmates be given free high-tech tablets, paid for by taxpayers, only to turn them into personal pornography machines.

The governor who shuttered executions and converted San Quentin into a “therapeutic” campus has managed to extend his vision of “humanity” to the worst criminals in the system.

While Newsom boasts of “digital equity” and “rehabilitation,” his prison tablet program is rapidly devolving into a taxpayer-funded peep show behind bars.

The governor approved a contract exceeding 189 million dollars to furnish digital tablets to every prisoner across the state at no cost to inmates.

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The supposed purpose was to provide educational content and family communication tools.

The devices, distributed to almost all of California’s 90,000 prisoners, were touted as the future of rehabilitation technology.

The stated intentions unravel quickly once you hear what inmates are actually watching.

City Journal’s investigation uncovered that convicted murderers and rapists are using their taxpayer-provided gadgets to watch pornography, exchange explicit photos, and even engage in grooming minors.

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Former corrections officials have blown the whistle that the system is barely monitored and absurdly easy to exploit.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation insists these tablets are “tightly controlled education tools.”

Officials point to access to the Bible and virtual classrooms as signs the programs reduce recidivism.

Yet the inmates themselves tell quite another story.

One death row prisoner described the devices bluntly as personal sex machines, adding that California’s condemned criminals are “horny” and that the tablets are their preferred outlet.

Robert Maury, the so-called “Tipster Killer” who terrorized women in the 1980s, now enjoys porn screenings on his issued tablet at a Stockton facility.

Maury admitted that he received nude pictures, including a topless photo from a 22-year-old European student, while also flirting and “sharing stories.”

He even revealed how the video chat functions can become remote viewing sessions where people outside the prison broadcast pornography for inmates to watch.

Serial killer Samuel Amador described similar antics, explaining how prisoners circulate thirty-second pornographic video clips through their tablets, seamlessly switching between explicit clips and family videos.

He laughed about how easy it is to dodge the filters and detection software, saying, “They try to prevent us, but we get around their bullshit.”

Inmate Jamar Tucker, convicted of killing three men, detailed how he still receives video clips of women dancing provocatively.

These violations of supposed content restrictions are routine, as even officers sometimes overlook or miss the activity due to the huge volume of communications monitored daily.

Perhaps most disturbing is the case of convicted child molester Nathaniel Ray Diaz, who allegedly used his prison tablet to reach the same 12-year-old girl he victimized.

Prosecutors claim he manipulated her into sending sexually explicit photos through an accomplice and kept her engaged for hours each day through video and chat.

Investigators say Diaz made thousands of calls, violating court orders and committing new crimes from behind bars using a device financed by the state.

Douglas Eckenrod, a former deputy director of parole operations, had raised alarms during early discussions about the tablet expansion.

He warned that the supposed benefits of “digital equity” would instead enable new forms of sexual exploitation.

His concerns were brushed aside. Now he says there is no possible way to track what inmates are doing on nearly 90,000 tablets statewide, predicting widespread possession of child pornography and ongoing grooming of minors.

According to Eckenrod, “We created a pathway for them to reach out and groom folks.

There are going to be victims that did not need to have been victims because of these decisions.”

In other words, the state’s drive for social experiments is facilitating new abuse of innocent people.

After growing backlash, California officials recently tried to tighten content restrictions by formally banning lewd messages, sexual behavior on video calls, and obscene imagery.

Inmates, however, told reporters that it has not slowed them down. The new restrictions are already being sidestepped by prisoners familiar with modern internet workarounds.

One killer even joked that anyone grew up with the internet knows “there is always a way around the system.”

Despite these revelations, Newsom is pressing forward with his grand plan to “reimagine” California’s prison system.

San Quentin is being refitted to feature art studios, classrooms, and even a podcast center rather than cell blocks for the condemned.

The new contract for tablets includes years of extensions that could push costs well past 300 million dollars, all while at least one Democratic lawmaker demands that prison communications become free of charge.

The result is a grim glimpse into California’s misplaced priorities. While ordinary families face soaring costs and crumbling infrastructure, the state is investing massive resources in digital comfort for murderers, rapists, and child predators.

Newsom’s notion of equity has turned rehabilitation into indulgence, where the worst of the worst lounge behind bars with government-supported pornography.

California taxpayers are funding luxury for killers, not justice for victims.

The experiment that claimed to bring humanity to prisons has instead exposed the moral blindness of a state government that confuses sympathy with recklessness.

It is the ultimate symbol of Newsom’s leadership: flashy, idealistic, and completely detached from reality.

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