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How to become a pen pal to a prisoner?
billwill
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hey all, pretty simple question. Have any of you done this before? How? Know any good services?
I've done some searching, but I really want to write to the people who are "forgotten", and they wouldn't be on the pen pal websites, I assume. Plus, two of the websites I saw required me to pay money. Can I call a prison and will they set something up or do I have to go through one of these websites?
I've done some searching, but I really want to write to the people who are "forgotten", and they wouldn't be on the pen pal websites, I assume. Plus, two of the websites I saw required me to pay money. Can I call a prison and will they set something up or do I have to go through one of these websites?
I hate you and you hate me.
billwill on
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I can't help you with your write to criminals thing though, you should call a prison though, I'm sure they'll know how this is done.
unfortunately it seems like every last one of them is just looking to get laid.
I found this one particularly funny though.
http://www.prisonpenpals.com/1430214.html
She's into Metallica, in for murder and doesn't care what you look like. Sounds like a great catch to me!
That being said, do you really want to give such a person your address and lots of personal information? I sure wouldn't. My mom works in a prison teaching literature and history, and even the guys she likes are really, really bad guys. Like, raped a woman and stabbed her 50 times bad. The ones that have been forgotten by family or friends have usually been forgotten for good reason.
The suggestion to do something with the elderly instead is a good one. Volunteer at a nursing home or something. There's lots of people who have been forgotten or ignored by family simply for the crime of being old, rather than stabbing someone in the neck or running a meth lab.
I remember her, she ran over a woman 4 years ago after blacking out and running a stop sign.
She is due to be released in july on parole!
So if you're looking for a prison pen pal this is probably the best you will find.
The fetishizing of prisoners is weird; there's a lot of people who enjoy writing and becoming the "girlfriend" to a prisoner or whatever. so when you're seeing pay sites I think it's that dynamic going on. Witness all the serial killers who get fan mail, for instance.
The other thing to watch out for are groups that are ministries first and foremost and just want you to spam jesus to someone. A lot of prison support groups and orgs are going to be religious but they shouldn't all be. I would thinking googling for those groups would be an excellent starting point. Runningman has a good point about that you don't know who you're writing, or how or if they are going to change behaviors that got them into prison in the first place. Given that, I don't think i'd use my return address to someone, either. I'd want to use a PO box or the address of an assistance org.
http://www.prisonpenpals.com/0997518.html
He's looking for a girlfriend...hmm let's see what he was convicted of... Oh...assault, kidnapping and sexual abuse. Nice.
These people seem much more worthy of our attention than old people or sick kids.
The funny thing is I already volunteer at a hospice (visit a few times a week) and a few nursing homes, plus at a children's hospital once a month (we put on plays for them).
And yes, many of you seem to forget that prison is, or is supposed to be, about rehabilitation. Knowing someone in the outside world still gives a shit about you means a lot, I would guess.
There's some general advice on it here: http://www.prisonerlife.com/tips.cfm and it seems to avoid the odd fetish-quasi dating site feel of prisonpenpals.
Well, shut my mouth and call me a bitch. I sincerely apologise.
All I can say is be careful giving them your address. Maybe use a P.O box or some other service so it can't be traced to you.
wait. how is that murder?
manslaughter is more likely.
although I read that in some states you can be convicted of murder if someone dies during any crime you commit.
Well she also did some stuff like run away from the law and was going through drug rehabilitation, but it seems like she has gotten better now. Either way she has killed someone, still a human being though. There was some uproar back then saying that if she was black her sentence would have been much harsher.
Best bet is just to ask her, it would be interesting to read.
Recklessness/depraved indifference can get you murder instead of manslaughter. Some states push for murder charges when drunk driving/dui/dwi results in a death.
The death during crimes = murder thing only applies to felonies.
OT: My friend says she writes to some prisoner so next time I see her I'll ask her how she started writing to him/her (she hasnt been very specific about it, could be because I dont entirely believe her...)