Families of SOs Community Group
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I checked my Corrlinks account today, looking for any new messages from my son. There was an email from "admin" telling me I'm blocked from communicating with my son. Here's what it said...
This message informs you that you have been blocked from communicating with the above-named prisoner because it has been determined that such communication is detrimental to the security, good order, or discipline of the facility, or might facilitate criminal activity. The prisoner with whom you were communicating is being informed of this block.
You may appeal this block within 15 days of the date of this message by submitting a written request to the Warden of the prison where the prisoner is located. You should include a copy of this notice, an explanation of your appeal request, and any additional documents or information you wish to be considered.
I immediately wrote to the warden, asking for a reversal of the block and asking what I did wrong, so I won't do it again.
Has this happened to anyone else? Will this be explained to me? Will it be permanent? Can I still write letters to him?
This message informs you that you have been blocked from communicating with the above-named prisoner because it has been determined that such communication is detrimental to the security, good order, or discipline of the facility, or might facilitate criminal activity. The prisoner with whom you were communicating is being informed of this block.
You may appeal this block within 15 days of the date of this message by submitting a written request to the Warden of the prison where the prisoner is located. You should include a copy of this notice, an explanation of your appeal request, and any additional documents or information you wish to be considered.
I immediately wrote to the warden, asking for a reversal of the block and asking what I did wrong, so I won't do it again.
Has this happened to anyone else? Will this be explained to me? Will it be permanent? Can I still write letters to him?
Here is a Google search result page with some links that may help.
http://tinyurl.com/oq8ybk4
I don't think you need an attorney yet. I would explain to the admins that you are a mother who only wants to correspond with your son. I assume you are in your 40's or 50's or maybe even older, so mention that you are an older mother and tell them your age.
We don't want the admins to think you are some kind of Ma Barker or Bonnie Parker type character.
I would want them to know that you cannot imagine why you are being banned, but it has upset you greatly and you would like to know what steps you need to take to be reinstated.
Write this letter from the heart of a mama who has sons incarcerated. Mention losing contact with them would greatly decrease the support your son has from the outside. Hell, if you have to, make the letter a tear jerker. If prison staff ever displays a soft side, it should be towards a mother with a son in prison who she loves very much.
Let's see what happens.
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Also send it certified to the Warden. He will know how important this issue is to you since you went to the trouble and expense of sending it certified. Every little edge you can get is worth it.
Good luck.
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Just because you beforehand tell the secretary that you are sending a FAX does not mean the warden will receive it. Certified mail is a more sure way of sending mail that you want to ensure goes to the right person and does not get tucked away somewhere.
Certified mail also allows you to get a receipt in the mail---usually green in color--- when the recipient receives the letter. There will be a signature on that receipt to show that it did indeed get to the warden's office.
And sending it certified is a lot of trouble and relatively expensive for one letter, so it might impress the warden and tell him how important this issue is to you.
But a FAX would be faster. Try the FAX. If you don't hear back from the warden in three days or by the end of the week, go ahead and sent him a certified letter explaining everything. If and when you certify the letter, request that you get a receipt when it is received by the recipient, in this case, the warden.
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He explained why. I had ordered my son a pair of eyeglasses from www.zennioptical.com a couple of months ago. There was nothing wrong with that. Now, Zenni formerly provided a printed catalog to the prison, so inmates could order their own glasses. However, Zenni went to a web-only format, so they no longer send printed catalogs.
Since my son knew I could get access to the web site, he asked me to do it for several other inmates, as well. So, I printed and sent to him the entire set of pages from the web site that showed all the men's frame styles. It was 45 pages. My son then had several (8) of the other guys look at the pages, in order to decide what frames they wanted, when they ordered new glasses.
However, since they can't order the glasses themselves, because they don't have access to the internet, I said I was happy to have them send me the money and I would order them on their behalf. In fact, over the past three years, I've done this for two other inmates, besides ordering glasses two different times for my son.
Well, according to the deputy warden, who was very polite but firm, this goes against the prison's policy of how property should be ordered. He says the prison has it's own sources for ordering glasses and they charge a processing fee. The reason they charge a processing fee is to be able to keep track of all the money and property that go into and out of the prison, to make sure nothing is illegal. He said it's not in order to gain revenue.
The deputy warden said inmates are always looking for ways to circumvent the systems put in place by the prison and he said my son knew better than to do this, because it's clearly printed in the prison handbook.
I told him I had no idea it was against policy and that my son never gave any indication that he was asking me to do something "under the table." The deputy warden told me he's not saying I was doing anything illegal and I think he believed me when I told him I had no idea this was against policy.
I asked how long my son would be in segregation, but he wouldn't tell me. He said there are several things like this going on right now in the prison and they're in the process of investigating all of them. They only have so much staff to handle it all. He said it would be a "while." He did say I was welcome to call him any time and ask for an update, which I did appreciate.
So, yeah! Now my son will have this black mark on his record. I'm not happy! But, at least I know what's going on. *sigh* I also know to ask my son POINT BLANK from now on whether something he asks me to do is against the prison policy. I'm obviously way too gullible!