Or just make the time pass a little easier in the clink.
Heres how to make it happen, and make it happen safely.
If your would-be prison pen pal is in state prison, their information is kept in a state database.
Here is a collection of links to all50 state prisoner locator databases, frommeet-an-inmate.com.
Some state databases summarize and share the convictions and sentences of incarcerated people; some dont.
Maybe they want to be left alone.
I likeMeet-an-Inmateits been around since 1998 and has the web-design to prove it, but its functional and fast.
Both are linked byThe Innocence Project,so I assume theyre legit.
Another scam: There are websites that offer to send messages to prisoners for a fee.
Often all theyre doing is charging you a premium to mail a message you could have sent yourself.
Can I email a person in prison?
If youre not into the old-school style of pen-and-paper pen-pallery, many incarcerated people have access to email.
But like most everything involving prisons, its often expensive and can get complicated.
Email access varies from state to state, institution to institution, and prisoner to prisoner.
Some inmates can receive emails but not send them.
Some have access to tablets or computers.
The charge for messages varies depending on the state.
Federal prisoners can useCorrlinksto send and receive email.
Theres a cost, and Im sure its a huge hassle, but what are you gonna do?
Why do you want to write to a prisoner anyway?
Ask yourself what youre trying to get out of this.
Do you just think serial killers are interesting because youre a ghoul?
You should consider the power imbalance between an incarcerated person and a free person.
you could always expect that a letter will be inspected for contraband, so dont send anything you shouldnt.
Its romantic, but frowned on by authorities
A file baked in a cake.
Use a post office box instead of giving out your address and phone number.
Be on the look out for scams.
