The money you put on your account covers the letters you send to him, not the other way around. For him to write back, all he needs is a postage stamp on his end. He writes a physical letter, addresses it to InmateAid's office in Florida, and mails it the old-fashioned way. That stamp is the only cost on his side. When his letter arrives at InmateAid's office, it gets scanned and posted to your account dashboard. You retrieve
Read moreNo, we doubt that the 'for-profit' prison package companies would take food stamps as payment.
Read moreThey sell them through the commissary
Read moreThe career criminal label under the law is not based on danger level or whether rehabilitation was ever offered. It is purely mechanical. Three felony convictions trigger the designation regardless of the nature of those felonies, the person's character, or what opportunities they were or were not given inside. The law counts convictions, not context. That is the frustrating reality of how three strikes statutes and career criminal enhancements work. A person who committed three non-violent drug offenses and
Read moreA hundred dollars a month is a meaningful and generous contribution. It will cover a solid range of commissary basics, phone time, postage for letters, and small personal items without leaving him feeling like he has to ration everything. For most facilities, that amount lands comfortably in the range of what allows an inmate to stay connected, reasonably supplied, and not dependent on others for basic needs. Whether it is enough or too much really depends on the facility's
Read moreYou can try, and the fact that you are willing to is meaningful. But the honest answer is that if he does not want help, there is very little you or anyone else can do to make treatment happen. Mental health treatment in the prison system, like outside of it, requires the person to voluntarily engage. Someone who is not ready to acknowledge they need help or does not want to participate cannot be forced into a treatment program in
Read moreYes, but understand that there will be other eyes on your message so don't say anything incriminating
Read moreYes, probably for the same reason... usually a felony on your record or something similar will prohibit you from visitation
Read moreNEVER! cellphones are prohibited in ANY penal facility. In fact, if you try to carry one into the intake, they will immediately throw you in the SHU (the hole, solitary confinement) if just for being less than self-aware. Stay away from other inmates that might have smuggled a cell phone in, you will be able to use the public phone with money on your account.
Read moren most cases, sex offenders are neither placed in standard general population nor in traditional protective custody. Virginia, like most state systems, typically houses sex offenders in dedicated special housing units alongside other inmates with similar charges. This serves a dual purpose: it protects them from the hostility they would face in general population, where sex offenders are consistently at the bottom of the inmate social hierarchy, and it addresses the management challenges that come with mixing them into the
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