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Ask a former inmate questions at no charge. The inmate answering has spent considerable time in the federal prison system, state and county jails, and in a prison that was run by the private prison entity CCA.

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Subject: Inmate phone calls

Whichever phone company has the contract with the prison/jail your inmate is in, you will HAVE to use them. Getting the local number is good if Global Tel*Link is the provider. If it is Securus, then we need to check their published rates to see which number will work best. Securus' rates are sometimes worse for local numbers and better for long distance numbers. The only way to know for sure, and to get an honest assessment of whether getting

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Subject: Marriage in prison

Inmates who are serving less than a year will usually have their application for marriage denied with the presumption being that such a short wait will not harm the prisoner or prospective spouse. Each partner must be legally eligible and mentally competent to marry. Marriages may be blocked for security or disciplinary reasons; solitary confinement can block access to marriage. Most states do not allow marriage for inmates on death row; California is at least one exception to that rule.

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Subject: Survive prison

The county jail system is the worst because there is nothing for the inmates to do. That lack of activity sometimes causes temperatures to boil as personality clashes manifest themselves in this environment. She will have an easier time in the prison environment because it is easier to get into a routine that consumes more of her day. The biggest issue for inmates is keeping their mouths shut and respecting the space and privacy of the other inmates. This is not like

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Subject: General prison questions-terminology

Depending on the classification and security level, most detention facilities have "pods" comprised of two levels of individual two-person cells. The general population area has tables with attached seating, a television and 3-5 telephones. There is a guard station overseeing the entire pod. Inmates are allowed to remain in the main area except for when they conduct count and when it's "lights out" time. The phone is available as long as the general population is open. Inmates will also be

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Subject: General prison questions-terminology

You should call the facility and tell the person answering the phone your concern. They are usually very helpful. You can ask for the counselor, the unit secretary, the chaplain or the warden's secretary. One or more of these people will put your mind at ease.

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Subject: General prison questions-terminology

Monday through Friday

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Subject: Ice-immigration enforcement

It is a very difficult to give advice about this subject as there is definitely some information missing from this explanation. If there is a deportation hearing, the prosecutor must show cause asking to deport someone. He needs a competent immigration lawyer to handle this for him. If he is indigent, your will need to get one through the courts. If they have an ICE hold on him there might not be a bond available.

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Subject: Inmate search

Search through the database and see if anyone strikes you as interesting -send them a letter through our service

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Subject: Halfway house

You pretty much have the process covered in your question. His actual release date is still determined by which of the recommendations are actually enacted. Is it 6 months or is it 9 months? Once you know that, then he'll have a solid "out date".

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Subject: Send inmate mail

Usually not, there are some rare cases where the state system will forward it, but neither federal and county will. It gets returned to sender.

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