Subject: Release questions
There is no single word for it. Unbelievable is close. After 15 or more years inside, freedom does not land the way most people imagine it from the outside. It does not feel like flipping a switch. It is more like stepping off a ship after a very long voyage and realizing the ground is solid but your legs have forgotten what solid means.
The first thing you notice is the volume of choices. What to eat, where to stand, when...
Read moreSubject: Relationship issues
Yes, we have more than one person write. When you're locked up you have nothing but free time. To us, the more letters, the better. For calls, in federal inmates may only talk 300 minutes per month (400 minutes in Nov. and Dec.), state inmates can talk all day if they have the funds on their account. Many penpals will send money so that the inmate will call them. Some do, some don't
We don't mean to play mind games, BUT, the...
Read moreSubject: Send inmate mail
Yes, they make it easy. Once you get a name or two, you should use this service, everyone does as it's cheaper and recognized by the jails and prisons
Subject: Medical treatment
The federal system will allow the prostetic leg. We cannot find a state system that disallows prostetic limbs, and unless there are come county jails out there that prohibit it for some archane reason will don't see it as a problem.
The only thing they will NOT allow is a toupee.
Subject: Arrest record search
If you go in and have fines or restitution owed, you definitely will have money taken from your commissary account to start paying down that amount. As far as credited time, every inmate begins their bid with "earned good time". In almost every case, that is 15%. Misbehavior and incident reports can cause the loss of this time. Anytime spent incarcerated will count as a day, whether it's an hour or 23 hours, you get credit for "one day".
Subject: Inmateaid website questions
You can try the service for FREE now until the 25th with coupon code TRYUS. You get ONE FREE picture and ONE FREE letter delivered to your inmate at any prison or jail in the United States. Click on Letters and Photos and follow the easy steps. Type out your letter and upload a selfie!! Use the coupon code which will pay for the entire transaction.
Subject: Inmateaid website questions
Inmates do not have access to the internet and should not be able to access the InmateAid website. However, there are countless incidents where inmates are caught with smartphones that can indeed access the internet. InmateAid was created for the family and support groups of inmates. There are not many things you can do for an inmate, but InmateAid has everything that you can - it's all in one place and it keeps you organized, connected, confident that someone has...
Read moreSubject: Law & court questions - legal terms
They might have to wait until their case is heard. Our advice is to tell your son's attorney that they wish to be married and see if they can get permission from the court (ask the judge, not the prosecutor). If they were to be married, they could not testify against each other, maybe the prosecution doesn't want that to happen.
Subject: Prison discipline
First, the inmate is taken into custody by the correctional officers with handcuffs. They are transported or walked to the area called the Special Housing Unit (SHU), what others call "the hole", also known as solitary confinement. Once there they are stripped-searched and given new clothing to wear. This is a special uniform for SHU inmates, usually an orage jumpsuit with lightweight blue sneakers. They are then walked shackled to their cell. It is usually a one-man cell. There, there...
Read moreSubject: Parole, probation & supervised release
A failed drug test is one of the most straightforward probation violations there is, and the type of drug involved does not matter. Alcohol can trigger a violation the same way an illegal substance can. The only thing that counts is that a condition of probation was violated, and a positive test is documented proof that it was.
The violation goes back to the original sentencing judge, who has broad discretion in deciding what happens next. The range of outcomes runs...
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