I believe yoga should be shared with all people, including those in prisons by yogis and yoginis. It is our responsibility to 
serve our greater community.
I do not support the use of tax dollars to support federally or state run programs. Our solution to social problems should be activism. Americans tend to prefer to throw money at problems and pass the responsibility on the government. We need to take on these challenges within our communities, we can manage our resources much better than the federal government.
—Jennifer
No person convicted of violent crimes should get a privilege such as yoga (or any other privilage for that matter). Drug offenders should be the exception. As a yoga teacher, I would gladly provide lessons to any convict AFTER his or her sentence has ended.
—Paul
The role of prison always ends in preventing and reducing crime and evil in society. It is true that prison is designed to be a punishment, however think about that the vast majority of prisoners will someday be free. I think yoga can help individuals who made mistakes in their lifes to have a deeper point of view, because a big share of the evil in the world is a matter of wrong philosphy, of misunderstanding of basic concepts such as happiness, love and understanding of the universe surrounding us. So my opinion is positive, it can help achieve the goal for which prisons were built.
—Dominick
I am a victim of several crimes (horrible ones) and I would STILL want to support tax dollars to fund yoga in prisons. While I hate crime and believe those who commit it should go to prison, I also believe that people should be forgiven. It took me time to forgive most and I’m still working on the last one, but maybe, just maybe some who commit crime will change. In any case, am I not human too? Am I also not capable of crime? It’s all a choice. Who are we to judge?
—Ari
Yoga is a path to connection to the best in ourselves and to a better understanding of our connection to all others. These are gifts and values we should share with all who are willing to study this path. Those in prison are as deserving as anyone else and we all will benefit from their spread inside as well as outside of prison. Ideally prison can be a time for growth rather than a time for further alienation and isolation from human compassion.
—Lynn
I think we need to look at what a prison’r role is in our society. It is unreasonable to think that they are permanent storage facilities for our unwanted members. The vast majority of convicts will eventually be released (some much sooner than anyone would like). So maybe if we focus on making prisons the site of rehabilitation, education and personal growth at least some percentage of our soon-to-be parolled neighbors will have a chance to participate in a productive way in our society. Yoga and the often associated spiritual and personal growth,is a powerful tool for self-improvement. It may be a long shot but what is the alternative? Giving up and waiting for their next criminal act so we can send them back? Where is the wisdom and compassion in that cycle?
