States that Forbid Penpals

I sent my first letters to 4 pals. 3 on DR and one lifer, and I got replies from them all.Basically I think it depends on how much time you have to write as to how many pals you can take on. Four is enough for me, I can be writing everynight for a few hours a night, but I enjoy it and I love to receive the letters back.
Also, I think Florida is one of the states that does not allow penpals from sites, I'm not sure but someone will have the info for you.
Happy writing,
sam from the Uk

Hi dirtyredstone,
Welcome to WAP.
I don't know if you will find a lot of "experts", on that topic in here. But, we do hear a lot of rumors.
We hear that the state of Florida has passed such a law. But whether or not it is enforcable remains to be seen. Apparrently the ACLU believes not. There is some conjecture that even though it may not be legal, it may be enforced by those who feel a sense of power and authority and want to exercise it. The old Barney Fife syndrome.

Oops! Danged laptop transmitted before I was ready to go.
The state of Texas apparently also had a similar rule, but it may not have been state wide and was limited to just a few prisons where the local authorities decided to take the law into their own hands.
My PP tells me that such a rule was declared unconstitutional, just a few years ago, by the Texas courts.
Those are about the only two places that I have seen discussed on this forum. But that is not to say that there aren't others, either pending or gone.
Good luck with your report.

welcome dirtyredstone,

I know that they get dificulties in Florida, but don't know of any other states. Have not received any complaints by other pp's.

Whish you goodluck here, and a lot of writing fun.

Micky - Belgium

Hi dirtyredstone!! The only one I know of is Flordia! Good luck and glad you joined us!
Cindy

Add Alabama to your list. If you find a PP to write to, just do not mention penpal or website, etc., or they will return your mail. They are trying to ban PPs.

I have a pp in Alabama and didn't have any problems even when I mentioned this site...

As far as I know, there are no states with LAWS banning inmates from seeking Pen Pals via the Internet....however there have been a number of states that included in their ammnded DOC rules governing inmates a prohibition on Internet ads for Pen Pals.

The original three were Michigan...where there was a huge organized money scam within two women's prisons and the women were using Pen Pal Internet sites to get men to write them and then send them money...the spin-offs from Michigan were Texas,California and Florida. There may have been others that I am not aware of.

XRay is correct. The Courts in Texas ruled the TDOC rule as unconstitutional so they dropped enforcement as did California.

For a long time Florida did not enforce its rule either, but recently they have started again, even though the FDOC is aware that such rules have been set aside as unconstitutional. They will just keep enforcing it until someone drags them into court.

The Supreme Court ruling I have read...and I am not sure whether it was the Texas Court or the US court...essentially says that a DOC cannot simply wake up one morning and set in place new rules because they feel like...especially one that impacts any persons outside the prison....but most notably does not relate directly to the safety, security and good order of the prison for both staff and inmates. Therefore the rule prohibiting internet pen pal ads are unconsitutional because they do not relate to the functioning of the prison.

If someone is 'played'through the mail by an inmate then they have recourse through existing law and law enforcement.

Tom