Penpals in prison

[Limey]

Not sure if this is the right area or not........

I've been writing to 3 prisoners for almost 2 years now. 2 are lifers and one is on deathrow in Cali.

I decided to do this because while I believe people who commit crimes should be punished, I do believe there is some good in everyone.

One of my penpals is called Gregg, he's a lifer in Texas. He's in his early 30's and he would like to have a few more penpals.

I was wondering if any of you would be kind hearted enough to write to him.

He's isn't bothered if he gets responses from males or females and it's purely for friendship.

I've been writing to him for 2 years and found him to be a really great friend and penpal.

If you would like to know more about him let me know. If anyone would like to write let me know and I'll pm you the details but only if you're over 18. There's also a couple of pictures of him on my homepage.

I wouldn't normally post about something like this but he's been a great penfriend to me and I'd like to do something nice for him.

Thanks

[SilverNightShade]

oh i'd love to do this. i am 18, turning 19 on sept, 9. I've always wanted to do something like this just never knew how. so pm me his stuff and i;'ll get started.

[Limey]

Thank you!! I'll pm you the details in the morning, I'm just off to bed right now as it's after 2am :sleepybed

[MsFireHaven]

I do hate to be the one who points this out, but are you for certain he is a lifer?
I did the penpal thing with a prisoner in highschool, he was a "lifer", BOY was I suprised after 2 yrs of writing, that he showed up on my doorstep and then at my school. Just make sure your safe......

[LadySnake]

I'd be happy to penpal him, too. I'm 27 years.

[Gracecat]

In theory it's a fairly good idea. I'd be leary of picking up a relationship with someone in prison I had no idea other than their word who they are.

While I think it's great you give time to these guys, many of them don't... If anybody wanted to pick up a penpal relationship with a prisoner, I'd personally contact the public relationships office at a prison with my intentions and go from there. Even though they *are* human beings, these aren't exactly model citizens.

[Kaija]

I've done it twice.. kind of bummed that the more recent of the two stopped writing.. (alot is going on around him right now).. Do be careful, and if possible do some research into them if you can.. Mine were both fairly easy to do that with.. The second being someone I grew up with AND fairly high profile.

I'd love to.. but I'm not sure my letters would be much good right now.. stressed out beyond belief.. maybe when things settle a bit more..

[Limey]

Yes I'm certain he's a lifer. When I was choosing who to write to I looked through the ads on the internet. I then researched to see what crime had been committed.

I did that for a couple of reasons. There are some crimes that people commit that I wouldn't feel comfortable with. That's a big consideration when deciding to write to people in prison so I researched them thoroughly first..

I choose people such lifers specifically because they aren't going to be knocking on my door any time soon. There are plenty looking for penpals withshort sentences but I didn't feel comfortable with that. :hahugh:

Also with me being in the UK I feel quite safe in giving out my address.

Of course there are dodgy ones after all they are in prison so you must bear that in mind. I've certainly had a few of those.

I've been asked for money, help with their cases and naturally sexual questions. Those ones I didn't reply to.

There are websites you can join for a small fee that will forward emails you send to them if you don't want to give out your address. You can also set up a p.o. box address.

Thank you for pointing out the safety aspects because I forgot to mention that.

Another thing I wanted to say is that the reason I asked for people over 18 is that parents would not be comfortable with it (obviously) and I don't think it's suitable either.

I've been writing to Gregg for 2 years now. He's never asked me for anything but friendship. If he had I wouldn't be asking anyone to write to him, I wouldn't even be willing to myself!

A few days ago someone pm'd me asking for a penpal as they'd seen that I do that from my website. We started talking and they said that they'd have to ask their parents if it was ok. I was a bit concerned then so I asked how old they were and I haven't heard from them since. But that gave me the idea of asking if there was anyone else who'd be interested.

Anyway thanks to all of you who have responded I really appreciate it :hahugh:

[Xander67]

you know, I just want to say that people are people no matter where they are, and Just because someone is in Jail does not mean they are a Bad person, they are in there because they broke the law... frankly, Im sure there are several people who are NOT in JAil who are much more dangerous than the ones who are...

I would like to say that people who do participate in the Pan Pal exchange are takeing a big risk, but that is THIER choice and I think they have a big heart for doing so...

When I was in the Army, (for those of you who don't know, Boot camp is far more restrictive than some prisons) My favorite time of the day was 6:30PM, the 18:30 mail call...
In boot camp you have NO contact with the outside world other than your mail... (at least that is how it was for me at FT Jackson in 1988)

Letters, cards, etc... they can really brighten up a person's day!

[Limey]

Thank you.

As I said there are some dodgy people out there but I don't believe that they are all just purely bad.

Having got involved in prisoner support I've found that there are a lot of innocent people locked up too. There's been cases recently of people being locked up for heinous crimes and then released years later due to DNA evidence.

I can't say if people are innocent or not and of course you should always bear in mind what they are there for but I've found opening myself to them has been nothing but rewarding.

Mail is extremely important to them, it is a commitment to write to them because they have no links with the outside world.

There's been times when I haven't been able to write as frequently as I would like and they've written worried letters to me.

They send me pictures they have drawn and sent me cards and reached out with their friendship as best they can under the circumstances.

Some have been written of by their families, are locked up for 23 hours a day so a letter means a great deal to them.

[Sea-Witch]

I think it is just lovely that you take the time to reach out to others. You are a very special person. XOXOX