My friend RJ asked me to find him more penpals. Of course prison is a lonely place. I shouldn't be the only person who writes to him but he suggested giving his adress to some female inmates that I write to. Umm... I'm pretty sure that's against the rules, right? Is that illegal? Or is it just against the rules of the prison? Do different prisons have different rules?
Is there something I can do to help him (other than forking out $60 for a new WAP profile for him?)
Listen to my podcast "Friends in Prison" on IHeartRadio, Pocketcasts and many other podcast platforms. We'll discuss this topic and many other things realted to having penpals in prison.
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It gets worse. Bending the rules (or being unaware of certain laws) that stand in the way of one’s objectives does crop up from time to time, so you need to be alert, or do your homework. Recently, one of my buds asked me to help him with something that, it turns out, is a felony in all 50 states. He was unaware of this until I told him and said, “Dude, maybe you’ve been hanging around criminals for too long.” Cue the side-splitting laughter on his end afterwards, but it got the point across.
I'm surprised he would ask me and that they people who screen his mail would even let that letter come through. I have another penpal who is so careful, so focused on his release that I thought all my penpals would be just as cautious.
I wrote RJ and told him I could try to find him more penpals but not someone else who is incarcerated. I wonder what other rules/laws he is unaware of.
Inmate to Inmate communication through a third-party is a NO NO.. And a punishable crime in most instances. If you really want to see he gets additional pen pals, why not just post his info here in the state he's in asking if anyone would like to write him. Tread lightly, cause that is definitely a danger zone!
Umm yeah you might wanna be careful. If you pass info about one inmate to another, like their crimes and stuff, then its an offense and you could get 3 years yourself for it, if they wanted to get weird about things
Generally, it’s against the rules, though you’d want to check the policy documents for the jurisdiction in question to confirm. And if such communication is constructive of something illegal (drug deals, extortion, and so on), it can or will carry criminal penalties for the facilitator. The general exception to this is for co-defendants on the same case who are housed in different facilities, though both wardens must sign-off on it first.
Re: helping prisoners get pen pals, there are some freebie places out there in internet land, but IMHO, none can hold a candle to this place. Good luck!