BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- A VH1 show featuring rock bands behind prison bars has some local people livid that hardened criminals are being given a forum on national television.
A rock band out of Greaterford Prison, Dark Mischief, is one of the bands being featured on VH1's "Music Behind Bars."
Dark Mischief members include convicted killers and rapists from Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester and Northampton counties.
Backup singer Chris Bissey killed Mary Orlando's daughter at Lehigh University's lookout point in 1995. Orlando wants to stop the VH1 show.
"I don't think they should get rewarded by going on TV. That's telling the kids go out and murder somebody, go to prison and you'll be on TV and be able to play in a band. It bothers me. I just can't see that," Orlando said.
Another Greaterford Prison inmate who was videotaped for the documentary was Weldon Brown. However, he may not make the final cut for the show. Brown robbed and killed 25-year-old Tommy Dunleavy in the Winfield neighborhood of Philadelphia on Halloween night in 1987.
Dunleavy's mother said Wednesday that whatever Brown does for rehab during his life in prison should not be used for entertainment on television.
"I think that we have to stop this because it's sending a message out that you can murder somebody and then you go to prison and then you get a rock 'n roll band and then you get to be on television," Dunleavy said.
Bethlehem, Pa.'s, state Rep. T.J. Rooney has come to the aid of murder victims' families. He has gotten a bill passed in the Pennsylvania state house that would urge VH1 to give up its profits from "Music Behind Bars."
"If they really have any sensitivity or any compassion toward the victims of these crimes, then they'll donate the ad revenue to the Pennsylvania Office of the Victim Advocate.
The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections said in a statement that they never intended to cause grief for families. They said that the program never glorifies the inmates.
VH1 representatives said the program shows the brutality behind bars and the power of music.
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