The Silenced Reformatory
I have recently taken up corresponding to a number of acquaintances of mine, who have ended up in jail. In doing so, I have found just how onerous it is to deliver a letter to an inmate and just how little sense the “rules” make.
There is no email in jail. No SMS texting. No Facebook chat. No quick “❤” or “thinking of you!” Nothing.
Inmates are essentially cut off from the outside world and left in the 70s, forced to use pay phones and snail mail. Envelopes, stamps, and phone time are not free. These all come at exorbitant costs. (Prison Culture, 2011) I won’t even touch on missing a scheduled visitation time at a prison six hours away because of a snowstorm.
My first mistake was not knowing that stamps may not be used. Either metered mail or pre-stamped envelopes must be used. This came as a shock to me: Stamped envelopes, normal, regular old stamped envelopes, are not permitted.
Metered mail requires mailing from the Post Office, which doesn’t sound like a big deal until you realize that Post Office is sometimes slow and always requires a special trip.
Pre-stamped envelopes are better, but still cost significantly more per letter. They start at 85 cents each on Amazon. (Amazon, 2017) Imagine spending a dollar to send an email. How many emails would you send?
Overcoming those hurdles, I’ve learned the hard way just how many items are considered contraband. Pictured: The list of “contraband” items at the Greene County Jail in Xenia, Ohio.
Post offices process passports, and other items in addition to post and parcels.
Note “paper” and “books” which has been used to refuse letters outright.
I left a water ring on a six page letter once that was rejected as an “unknown substance on letter”.
Anymore, I send photocopies or typed letters (another trip to the library to print).
Other times, I’ve gotten letters back simply stating that an inmate is not permitted to receive mail for whatever reason. No holding the mail for whenever they may get out of solitary or the arbitrary silence that has been imposed.
“Send it back!” says the warden, “Do not let the imprisoned know his plight is known!”
It’s my understanding that in the Greene County Jail that when letters are rejected, the inmates are taunted by being told “You had a letter, but we sent it back.”
Pictured: A rejected letter that I received while writing this article. This letter was returned a week later. I could literally drive to the jail in ten minutes.
Rejected mail seems to be sent back the next Monday after it is read.
Oh, did I mention that all letters are read by the guards? Forget privacy. I also get letters back for the wrong form of address. Every jail and prison seems to have a different format.
These boundaries and arbitrary standards serve only to impose a blockade between the incarcerated and those outside. These boundaries strangle attempts to stay in contact with loved ones, to relate to their friends, and to grow closer to anyone except their fellow inmates.
Ever wonder why recidivism is so high (almost 50%)? (Zoukis, 2016) Or why prison is called “con college”? It’s because the only people inmates are able to interact with is other inmates. And what do inmates have to talk about? The crimes for which they have been incarcerated.
But you know what? You can help with the break the endless silence. Odds are, with 2.2 million people incarnated in the United States, you know someone or know someone who knows someone imprisoned. Maybe its an acquaintance, maybe it’s an old high school buddy. Find their information and write to them.
You can buy the inmate a book if you so choose (and the jail permits it), but be sure to buy it from the bookstore and have it sent to the prisoner from the bookstore. I typically send mine from Amazon or buy a bunch of used books at a bookstore with instructions for the bookstore to send the books to the inmate.
It means a lot to a prisoner to get a letter.
It means someone cares. Someone knows who you are. It makes a prisoner’s heart light to receive mail. A letter is a little gift, but it means so much.
Please consider writing a prisoner. Here are a few good resources for finding people to write to:
PrisonPro, Sending Books, Letters, and Photos to an Inmate: Important rules you need to know:
WikiHow, How to Write a Letter to a Prison Inmate:
WriteAPrisoner.com:
Black and Pink: Find an LGBTQ Prisoner Pen-Pal Today!
Bulletinman: Shot and jailed for revealing corruption. Please write him.
Other political prisoners in the United States:
References
Amazon. (2017, April 4). 20 Forever Stamps Stamped Envelopes - #10 Security Self Seal Envelopes (4-1/8 x 9-1/2 Inch) Stamp Design May Vary. Retrieved from Amazon
Banerji, S. (2017, April 5). How to Blur Something on Paint. Retrieved from Techwalla.com: https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-to-blur-something-on-paint
Prison Culture. (2011, July 18). Prisoners Pay More: The Commissary Boondoggle. Retrieved from USPrisonCulture.com: http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/2011/07/18/prisoners-pay-more-the-commissary-boondoggle/
Zoukis, C. (2016, March 25). Report Documents U.S. Recidivism Rates for Federal Prisoners. Retrieved from The Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christopher-zoukis/report-documents-us-recid_b_9542312.html
Don’t forget: The NSA reads all letters, listens to all calls, and surveys all communication in our open-air prison.
(Article submitted Anonymously)