WriteAPrisoner.com

WriteAPrisoner.com is an online Florida-based business whose stated goal is to reduce recidivism through a variety of methods that include positive correspondence with pen-pals on the outside, educational opportunities, job placement avenues, resource guides, scholarships for children impacted by crime, and advocacy. The site began primarily as a place to post pen-pal profiles and requests for legal assistance for inmates and has evolved to take a more comprehensive approach to addressing the challenges in the life of an inmate.[1]

WriteAPrisoner.com
WriteAPrisoner.com, Inc. Logo
Formation2000
HeadquartersEdgewater, Volusia County, Florida
Membership
17,000 inmate members, 800,000 Registered members
Official language
Primarily English
Websitewww.writeaprisoner.com

Background
Producer Christopher Hines and owner Adam Lovell filming E! True Hollywood episode about WriteAPrisoner.com.

There are approximately 17,000 inmates profiled on the site, most of whom are incarcerated in the United States; however, the site also includes international inmates. Although the site provides no Internet access of any kind to inmates, it has often been called the MySpace and Facebook for inmates[2][3][4] by the media. Because the business is housed online and includes inmate profiles, it has been compared to social media;[5] however, most agencies recognize it as promoting traditional pen-pal postal mail because the site provides no mechanism for inmates to access the site online.[6] By 2003, the site had about 10,000 hits per day and presented profiles from inmates in about a dozen countries.[7] Inmates using WriteAPrisoner.com only have access to postal mail. Inmates pay $50 per year to post their profile and photo, which are viewed by the public at no cost. The site encourages writing directly to inmates or sending a first message through its free e-mail forwarding service. The president and owner of the company is Adam Lovell, author of WriteAPrisoner.com's SELF-HELP GUIDE FOR INMATES: Flourishing Through Adversity.[8][9] In 2010 the website received about 2 million page views per month.[10]

Media

The site received national media attention in July 2003 when Susan Smith, a young mother convicted of killing her children, posted a profile seeking pen-pals, which received 800,000 hits. Smith received more than 6,000 letters in response to her profile.[11][12][13][14] The South Carolina Department of Corrections issued a press release related to the incident.[15] WriteAPrisoner.com removed the profile at Smith's request.[16] The site received some criticism when its spokesperson used the term "freak show" to describe the media coverage of the Susan Smith story.[17] The site later issued a press release apologizing and stating that the term had been taken out of context.

The site has been featured on many programs including 20/20[18] and E! True Hollywood Story.[19] In March 2006, the site made local news when it posted a profile for Adrian Peeler who was convicted in the killing of an eight-year-old boy and his mother.[20] The site immediately removed Peeler’s profile when the story was featured in the Connecticut Post. The site had also featured a profile for Peeler's brother, Russell Peeler, who was involved in the murder. His profile was also removed by the site. Several states have placed a ban on inmate penpal sites in response to these issues,[9] which the site owner has stated is a violation of the First Amendment.[10] On October 28, 2014, Lifetime (TV network) aired the Prison Wives Club reality show, which features some couples from WriteAPrisoner.com in the series.[21] Artist Benjamin Wills' popular exhibit Airplanes at the Kansas City Public Library features paper airplanes made by inmates contacted through the site.[22] In 2019, Netflix released a new show, Exhibit A, in which an inmate from Writeaprisoner.com was featured in the first episode.[23] The third season of WE tv's Love After Lockup also featured an inmate from the site.[24]

Some controversies involved claims of inmates misleading the public. When the state of Missouri investigated claims that several dozen female inmates were deceiving male pen-pals,[25] the proactive response of the site resulted in a positive response by the public.[26] A study conducted by the University of Louisville reported that not all inmates on the site accurately reported their crimes or release dates at one point.[27] However, this study was rebutted by the site.[28] WriteAPrisoner.com provides a link from each inmate's profile to his or her respective Department of Corrections website so the public can verify the information. Studies have confirmed the act of maintaining a pen-pal relationship for an inmate has had proven benefits to the inmate's wellbeing, reform, and recovery from substance abuse.[29][30][31] Some inmates have used the website to garner support from the public to help overturn wrongful convictions.[32] Others found freedom through the site after their profiles attracted the attention of attorneys and human rights groups.[33]

In 2020, TikTok users discovered the site, generating more than 65 million views.[34]

Research

Universities have begun getting involved in research surrounding the benefits of inmate correspondence and even participating in letter-writing with inmates. In 2019, Duke Law hosted a Write A Prisoner letter-writing event as part of the National Lawyers Guild's recognition of the Week Against Mass Incarceration.[35] In 2015, University of Warwick shared findings of research at the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Festival of Social Science. The study involved prison pen pals in 52 prisons throughout England and Wales and cited numerous mental health benefits to inmates.[36] San Diego State University graduate student Tania Mejia-O’Donnell, a 2018-2019 Inamori Fellow, explored inmates’ pen pal experiences through WriteaPrisoner.com.[37]

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has upheld inmates’ right to receive e-mail printouts from online pen-pals.[38] The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit also found that inmates have the constitutional right to seek pen-pals through websites.[39] An Arizona law that barred inmates from posting profiles on WriteAPrisoner.com and similar websites was struck down after the ACLU challenged it in court.[40] In considering legislation which would prohibit inmates from utilizing social media such as Facebook, officials in South Carolina made a point to exclude WriteAPrisoner.com from the bill, citing WriteAPrisoner.com's vetting process of inmates’ information and the fact that it does not provide a mechanism for Internet contact for inmates.[41] While WriteAPrisoner.com does not allow inmates any form of actual Internet contact, many prisons now have services such as Corrlinks, which allows inmates monitored email access for a fee.

The site states that it seeks to work with states' Departments of Corrections to ensure that the First Amendment rights of inmates are protected. The site has previously collaborated with the ACLU and the Florida Justice Institute regarding rights of inmates[42] and has been represented by the Florida Justice Institute.[43] The site's stated policy includes a zero tolerance approach towards scams committed by inmates as well as scams committed against inmates.[44]

Notes
  1. Anika Myers. "Dear Inmate: Do You Need a Friend?". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
  2. New Haven Advocate. "Met While Incarcerated". Retrieved 2010-10-24.
  3. Tecnologia. "Presos se relacionam por Facebook carcerario nos EUS". Retrieved 2010-10-10.
  4. News of the World. "A Facebook Prison, WriteAPrisoner.com". Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  5. John A. Elzinga. "The Epic Journey of a Man and his Red Phone". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
  6. Sydney Cummins. "SC Inmates Connecting Online, Communicating Offline". Retrieved 2012-03-29.
  7. Hoosegow heartthrobs
  8. Adam Lovell (2017-06-12). WriteAPrisoner.com's SELF-HELP GUIDE FOR INMATES: Flourishing Through Adversity. WriteAPrisoner.com. ISBN 978-0692854785.
  9. Prisons ban inmates from posting ads to attract pen pals
  10. In the pen, seeking pals; Prisoner-correspondence websites serve as eHarmonies for the incarcerated - and sometimes just friendly contact with the outside world
  11. "Online personal ad features child killer Susan Smith". USA Today. Associated Press. 2003-07-11. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
  12. Manuel Ruig-Franzia. "Serving Life, a Pen Pal Crashes the Server". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
  13. Serving Life, a Pen Pal Crashes the Servers
  14. Seeking pen pals, inmates establish Net personal ads
  15. South Carolina Dept. of Corrections. "Statement Regarding Inmate Susan Smith SCDC #221487". Archived from the original on 2007-02-14. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
  16. WriteAPrisoner.com. "WriteAPrisoner.com Press Release - Susan Smith". Retrieved 2008-02-03.
  17. "Site Asks Kid Killer to Remove Ad". CBS News. Associated Press. 2003-07-11. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
  18. 20/20. "Why Are Women Marrying Murderers?". Retrieved 2008-02-03.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. Documentary. "THS Investigates: Love Behind Bars". Retrieved 2008-02-03.
  20. Hartford-AP. "Web site pulls ad placed by Conn. inmate". Retrieved 2008-02-04.
  21. Starcasm (2014-09-26). "Lifetime announces Prison Wives Club: Meet the women and their imprisoned husbands". Retrieved 2014-11-05.
  22. "Write a Letter to a Prisoner". The Kansas City Public Library. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  23. Netflix.com. "Exhibit A". Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  24. Starcasm.net (2019-07-22). "Love After Lockup Season 3 trailers, premiere date, cast photos & bios". Retrieved 2019-07-28.
  25. Missouri Dept. of Corrections. "Department to Ban Inmates From Soliciting Pen Pals on Websites" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-02-04.
  26. Kansas City News. "Kansas City". Retrieved 2010-03-11.
  27. Richard Tewksbury. "Personal Ads From Prisoners: Do Inmates Tell the Truth about Themselves?". Archived from the original on March 13, 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
  28. WriteAPrisoner.com. "Tewksbury Study Rebuttal". Retrieved 2011-02-02.
  29. Lee Page. "Study reveals potential value of prison pen pals". Retrieved 2015-09-28.
  30. Nicola Jones. "Pen pal is powerful boost to prisoner wellbeing". Retrieved 2015-11-09.
  31. Anna James. "The Recovery Benefits of Being a Prison Pen Pal: How the WriteAPrisoner community helps prisoners feel connected and inspires sobriety". Retrieved 2016-06-27.
  32. Jeff Truesdell. "New Documentary Examines Controversial Conviction of 'San Antonio Four' Amidst Satanic Ritual Panic". Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  33. Ben Cousins (2018-01-08). "Canadian with 160-year prison sentence in U.S. back in Canada as a free man". Retrieved 2018-01-08.
  34. Kate Fowler (2020-08-04). "Why TikTokers are writing to prisoners". I-D Magazine. Retrieved 2018-01-08.
  35. Duke Law. "Write A Prisoner". Retrieved 2019-04-26.
  36. Nicola Jones. "Pen pal is powerful boost to prisoner wellbeing". Retrieved 2019-04-26.
  37. Lainie Fraser. "SDSU Students Named Inamori Fellows". Retrieved 2019-05-15.
  38. Declan McCullagh. "Police blotter: Prison inmate wants personal ad replies". Retrieved 2008-02-05.
  39. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Court. "Frank S. Clement vs. California Dept. of Corrections" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  40. Nicholas M. Horrock. "Arizona Prison Ban Struck Down". Archived from the original on August 8, 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
  41. Sydney Cummins. "SC Inmates Connecting Online, Communicating Offline". Retrieved 2012-03-18.
  42. G. Scheet. "Web sites promoting liaisons with prisoners abound". Archived from the original on 2007-12-14. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
  43. Mark Thompson. "Pen pal ads nixed in Florida". Archived from the original on 2004-09-19. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
  44. WriteAPrisoner.com. "Precautionary Measures Taken by WriteAPrisoner.com". Retrieved 2008-02-05.

References
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