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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.

Ask your question or browse previous questions in response to comments or further questions of members of the InmateAid community.

Subject: Prison discipline

Unfortunately there is nothing anyone on the outside can do to intervene on prison matters. Discipline and punishment is meted out by the rules of the institution and all the inmates know them the minute they are first brought in. If there is a suspicion, the system has it's way of doing things and it will have to run it's course. He will have a disciplinary hearing where there are no lawyers speaking for him, he will have to

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Subject: Send inmate mail

The letter and photo service from InmateAid is straightforward. You type up a letter and upload photos where applicable - proceed to the Pay Now page and complete the transaction. The letter order flows through our Admin area to the Processing Department. Letters are processed immediately upon entry unless it is after 6pm on Saturday, then the letters do not go through the process until Monday morning. You may check in your My Account area to see the status of

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Subject: Family services

There are no programs specifically designed to help families of inmates cover household bills during incarceration. That gap in the support system is real and it is one of the less talked about hardships that falls on families who suddenly lose a household income when someone goes inside. The assistance programs that exist are the same ones available to any low-income household, regardless of the circumstances that created the financial strain. SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, is

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Subject: Send inmate mail

Yes, that is almost certainly the reason. Federal Bureau of Prisons facilities including Terminal Island have specific requirements for incoming photographs and color copies printed on regular paper do not meet them. A copy machine printout looks like a photo but it is not and the mailroom knows the difference immediately. The BOP requires photographs to be printed on actual photo stock, meaning standard glossy or matte photographic paper of the kind produced by a print lab rather than

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Subject: Release questions

Yes, housing resources exist for people released on GPS monitoring, though availability varies significantly depending on the state, the jurisdiction, and the specific conditions of release. The most common landing spot for people released on GPS supervision is a halfway house or community corrections center. These facilities are specifically designed to bridge the gap between incarceration and independent living and they are set up to accommodate the supervision requirements that come with GPS monitoring. Staff at these facilities are

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Subject: Visitation

Usually there is a hug and light kiss upon entering and exiting but no touching during the visit. The protocol is standard but there are some visiting room guards that are either less strict or over-the-top strict... be careful not to disrespect the ones that take themselves too seriously.

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Subject: Work release

This is a situation where the answer is not just logistical but personal, and it deserves a direct response. Based on what you have shared, the Substance Abuse Program is the right choice. Being returned to county from work release for a failed alcohol test, even under disputed circumstances, signals to the system that there is an unresolved issue that work release alone was not enough to address. Whether or not your husband believes the test result was accurate,

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Subject: Prison rumors & jail scams

When something does not add up between what an inmate is telling you and what you have read in the public record, trust the public record. On the sentence calculation, federal inmates must serve 85 percent of their imposed sentence. There is no parole in the federal system. On a ten year sentence that works out to approximately eight and a half years before release, followed by three years of supervised release. The claim of being out in three

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Subject: Law & court questions - legal terms

The warrant does not "go away". The issuing judge has probably already given your information to the authorities in the district where the warrant was issued. If it is federal, you should contact an attorney and make arrangements to turn yourself in because the US Marshals will find you. If they have to pick you up, you will find it difficult to get released on bail. Take our strong advice, you want to resolve this as soon as possible -

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Subject: Bail & bond questions

You might try calling the facility as ask to speak with the case manager, counselor or unit team secretary to get more information.

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