Inmates Receive Years in Solitary Confinement for Making Rap Video

Guess this is just more material for them to rap about.

Seven inmates in a South Carolina prison recently received their punishment for making a rap video in a jail cell back in 2014. The group posted the video on popular video sharing site World Star Hip Hop where it quickly went viral.

The Kershaw Correctional Institution punished the men severely, to the point where some are questioning if the amount of days in solitary confinement is necessary. Together, the men will be serving over 7,000 days in solitary confinement. That equals to almost 20 years! Each inmate will serve an average of 1,000 days in solitary confinement.

During the sentencing, investigators actually used the footage on World Star Hip Hop as evidence against the inmates. Not only would the inmates be punished with solitary confinement, inmates also lost their privileges to phone time, canteen use and visiting hours.

Dave Maass, an investigative researcher for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, believes that the inmates were punished so severely because the prison was "embarrassed."

"It's embarrassing for them that it happened, because it makes them look like they have no control, but on the whole, South Carolina becomes the poster child for abuse of solitary confinement."

The video shows the inmates beatboxing and rapping with the chorus "I'm On Fire" over and over again. Inmates were also throwing up gang signs in the video. The video has been viewed over a million times and lasts about six minutes.

A spokesperson for the SCDC told Buzzfeed says that the punishment does indeed fit the crime. He also felt it was necessary to mention that the inmates in the video were all serving time for armed robbery, burglary and voluntary manslaughter.

Shouldn't the real issue be then how did these violent offenders get a cell phone and on the internet while behind bars? Seems like the SCDC needs some time alone to think about how can prevent this from happening again.