Writeaprisoner.com

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WriteAPrisoner.com
WriteAPrisoner.com, Inc. Logo
Formation	2000
Headquarters	Edgewater, Florida
Membership	5,000 inmate members, 41,000 non-inmate members
Website	http://www.writeaprisoner.com/

WriteAPrisoner.com is an online business that posts personal and legal ads for inmates. The prison pen pal website was launched in 2000 and currently hosts over 5,000 inmate profiles annually. With the growing trend in incarceration (the U.S. prison population has quadrupled since the 1980s), the impact of families and society in general is incalculable. This site, although retail in nature, is especially grounded in human rights activities. The site's main purpose is to reduce recidivism through letter writing. In addition to helping inmates establish friendships through letter writing, the site: 1) hosts an interactive forum where friends and families of inmates connect, share, and help each other; 2) offeres a free résumé posting service for inmates being released within the year; 3) coordinates a Books Behind Bars program to promote literacy and educational opportunities; 4) provides a comprehensive resource list for family members; and provides a vast network of services related to inmates and their families.

1 Background
2 Major Events & Controversy
3 Agenda
4 Impact
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Background

Most inmates profiled on this site are incarcerated in the United States. However, the site also lists international inmates. The site features a Books Behind Bars program, resources for inmates and their families, and resources for crime victims. The interactive feature includes polling and chats, with most emphasis on the forum where friends and family of inmates share stories and advice. The forum was updated in November 2006 to include photos and personal information about forum members. The majority of forum participants are pen pals to the inmates. Topics range from seeking advice about corresponding and visiting inmates to non-prison issues. The site charges inmates $40 per year to post their profile and photo, which are viewed freely by the public. Inmates cannot receive email because they do not have access to the Internet. However, the web site receives email messages on the inmates' behalf, prints them, and mails them to the inmates twice monthly.

[edit] Major Events & Controversy

The site gained notoriety in July 2003 when convicted child killer Susan Smith posted an ad seeking pen pals.^[1]^[2] The South Carolina Department of Corrections issued a press release related to the incident.^[3] Writeaprisoner.com pulled the ad at the request of Susan Smith.^[4] The site received some criticism when its spokesperson, Jason Roberts, used the term "freak show" to describe the way that the press covered the Susan Smith story.^[5] 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^[6] and E! True Hollywood Story,^[7] and its Books Behind Bars program^[8] was lauded in the July 2006 issue of O, The Oprah Winfrey Magazine.^[9] The company maintains a free résumé service for inmates who are being released within the year. Success stories are regularly featured on the site, and the home page frequently posts a "call for stories" when various media agencies are planning television programs, documentaries, and news stories. It has even attracted overseas media attention.^[10] The site claims to avoid 'shock media' and notorious inmates and has pulled inmate ads to avoid sensationalism. In March of 2006, the site made national news when it posted an ad for Adrian Peeler who was convicted in the killing of an eight year old boy and his mother.^[11] The site immediately removed the ad when the story was featured in the Connecticut Post. The site had also featured an ad for Peeler's brother, Russell Peeler, who was involved in the murder. Both ads were removed by the site.^[12] Writeaprisoner.com has also hosted an ad for Francisco Martin Duran and currently hosts one for Kenny Kimes.^[13] When the state of Missouri investigated claims that female inmates were deceiving male pen pals, the proactive response of the site resulted in positive response by the public.^[14]^[15] The site has come under attack by some states, such as Iowa.^[16] And, in Arizona a House Bill was passed to bar inmates from posting ads on WriteAPrisoner.com and similar websites, but the law was later ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge. Similar rules by other Departments of Corrections have also been ruled unconstitutional. Finally, a government study conducted by Richard Tewksbury, Ph.D. of the University of Louisville reported that not all inmates on the site accurately report their crimes or release dates.^[17] WriteAPrisoner.com provides a link from each inmate's profile to his or her respective Department of Corrections website so that the public can verify the information. WriteAPrisoner.com's stated policy is to remove the ad of any inmate found misusing the site.

[edit] Agenda

WriteAPrisoner.com has made an impact in the prison community and the courts. Legislation protecting prisoners' rights has resulted from the site's advocacy and outreach efforts. The site works with states' Departments of Corrections to ensure that the First Amendment rights of inmates are protected. The site has collaborated with the ACLU and the Florida Justice Institute regarding rights of inmates. Because of these efforts, hundreds of newspaper and journal articles have addressed the site, and the owner, Adam Lovell, has been interviewed by many media organizations. GoDaddy owner Bob Parsons chose to interview Lovell^[18] for GoDaddy Radio's first anniversary because of the widespread influence WriteAPrisoner.com has had in the prison subculture. The site also claims to maintain a zero tolerance approach towards scams committed by inmates as well as scams committed against inmates.

[edit] Impact

With the growing trend toward incarceration in the United States (currently 2 1/2 million Americans are incarcerated), services for inmates have even reached the virtual world as seen on this site. The trend is expected to continue. A Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting was awarded to Joseph T. Hallinan, whose book, Going Up the River: Travels in a Prison Nation, reported that the prison experience has become so commonplace in America that one in eleven men can expect to be incarcerated at some point in his lifetime. Prison pen pal sites are a growing phenomenon as a result. Although WriteAPrisoner.com is the largest and fastest growing of inmate pen pal web sites, there are several smaller versions online.

The site has even been linked to a fictional character in The Memory Artists, a novel by award-winning author Jeffrey Moore. The character of Dr. Emile Vorta is the novel’s linchpin, and in the preface he cites his affiliation with WriteAPrisoner.com.^[19]^[20]