The rules around photos and magazines sent to inmates are set by the facility rather than by InmateAid, and those rules vary considerably from one institution to another. Understanding both what the facility allows and what InmateAid can process helps set the right expectations. On the magazines, most correctional facilities draw a clear line at full nudity. Publications that contain explicit nudity are rejected at the mailroom across virtually every federal and state facility in the country. Some facilities
Read moreNo big deal, it'll be over before you know it.
Read moreReading is the great escape. Concentrating on things you can control, not worry about things you can't - it is where the focus must lie. Inmates need to get into a routine which will make their time go by smoothly. They need to make a goal list of things to accomplish with all of this time on their hands, to not just waste it playing cards and bullshitting. If they are inclined, anyone can come out better than when they
Read moreThere is nothing a parent can do to protect their child from doing stupid things. No matter how much you try and shield them from wrongdoing, you can't be there all the time. The best you can do is teach them, love them and show them by example the way to steer clear of the pitfalls that exist.
Read moreCamp placement is not something families can request directly from the outside. The assignment process runs through the Bureau of Prisons classification system for federal inmates or the state department of corrections equivalent and it is driven by the inmate's individual profile rather than family preference. The classification system uses a point scoring model that evaluates several factors to determine custody level. Sentence length is one of the most significant. Shorter sentences generally produce lower point totals which favor
Read moreThe charge is a serious one as indicated by his sentence. Generally, any offender taking the case to trial probably got a harsher sentence than those that plead guilty (and took responsibility). The parole board will be looking for contrition, meaning at some point your fiance will have to tell them that he is sorry for what he did, he knows what he did was wrong and basically "fall on his sword" in the hearing. Our opinion is that for
Read moreThis is one of the most legitimate and most pursued avenues for post conviction relief and the fact that you feel the representation was inadequate gives you a specific legal foundation worth exploring seriously. The Sixth Amendment guarantees every defendant the right to effective assistance of counsel. When that right is violated and the inadequate representation contributed to an unjust outcome, there are legal mechanisms designed to address it. The challenge is that the legal standard for proving ineffective
Read moreIn Illinois, yes, it is possible. Introducing contraband into a correctional facility is taken extremely seriously and the charge level depends on what the contraband is and how it was brought in. Cigarettes are contraband in most Illinois correctional facilities because smoking has been banned in state prisons for years. Possessing tobacco inside is an infraction, but the more serious criminal exposure comes when someone on the outside attempts to bring or send cigarettes into a facility. Smuggling contraband
Read moreThere are two separate issues here and they work through different channels for different reasons. On the dormitory placement question, the logic behind the request may not apply the way it seems from the outside. Dormitories and cells are not interchangeable housing options within the same facility. They represent entirely different security classifications. Dormitory housing is reserved for minimum security inmates who have short sentences, clean disciplinary records, and no history of violence in their background. Inmates living in
Read moreThis is a genuinely frustrating situation and the honest answer is that formal sentence reduction credit for an incomplete program is unlikely, but the effort and participation are not without value and there are steps worth taking. Most sentence reduction programs, including state equivalents of RDAP and county-based rehabilitation programs like Exodus, require documented completion before any formal credit applies. Four days short of graduation is agonizingly close but incomplete is still incomplete in the eyes of the
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