Subject: General prison questions-terminology
There are computer labs for inmates to use but they are not connected to the internet. Some inmates gain access to the internet through smuggled smart phones but they are dangerous to be caught with them. Many do acquire them and almost all get thrown in the SHU and then shipped to a higher custody facility.
Subject: Release questions
In federal, he will do 85% of the 60 months or 51 months. If he is qualified, they might offer him RDAP. This is a nine-month residential drug and alcohol program that reduces the sentence by 12 months (with an automatic six months of halfway house).
Subject: Send inmate mail
When your inmate writes back, they send their reply letter to InmateAid's Florida address, which is printed on every envelope you send them. Once that letter arrives at InmateAid, it gets scanned and uploaded to your account as a PDF.
You will receive an email notification letting you know there is a letter waiting in your account. Log in, go to your dashboard, and the scanned letter will be there for you to read and download. You do not have to...
Read moreSubject: Bail & bond questions
A no-bond designation means the system has flagged her as someone who should not be released before a judge reviews the case in person. It is not necessarily permanent, but it does mean she is going to stay in custody until at least the arraignment or first appearance hearing.
At that hearing, a judge will review the circumstances and decide. Depending on the charge, her criminal history, and the arguments made by her attorney, the judge can do one of three...
Read moreSubject: Prison discipline
Absolutely, and it is one of the more straightforward paths to the hole that exists in any correctional facility.
Guards are there to maintain order, and an inmate verbally assaulting a staff member is a direct challenge to that order. It does not matter whether the words were said in anger, frustration, or as a heat of the moment reaction. Disrespecting or threatening a corrections officer is a serious disciplinary infraction at every facility, and the standard response is removal from...
Read moreSubject: Sentencing questions
If he is in federal prison, he will do 85% of his sentence or 71.4 months on 84 months total, unless he takes RDAP and gets a year off of that. If he is in state prison, depending where, he might be eligible for parole which could drastically reduce the seven years. The Judgment and Commitment Order signed by the judge will give you insight as to what exactly are the stipulations of the sentence and if parole is even...
Read moreSubject: Survive prison
The honest answer comes from someone who has been there, and it is yes without qualification. The depression that sets in during incarceration is not the kind that announces itself dramatically. It is a slow, grinding weight that accumulates through the relentless passage of time in an environment that offers almost no stimulation, no privacy, and no control over anything that matters.
The distortion of time is one of the most disorienting aspects. On the outside, a busy day can feel...
Read moreSubject: Relationship issues
I've actually seen inmates have sex with their loved one in the visitation room of a federal prison camp. The security is not in your face and the visits are the best they can be, seated on picnic tables so getting close easy. If you risk doing so and get caught or someone snitches on your (like in this case), the visits will end forever and the inmate will spend months in the SHU before they transfer him to a higher...
Read moreSubject: Marriage in prison
Not gonna happen with a few months left until release. With that short of a time, why on earth would you want this special day done in the visiting room of a federal prison? Surely you can see that a nicely planned wedding outside of the prison walls would be a better memory.


