MA- Connecting from inside

Let us never forget that, upon renetry prisoners do best and are not likely to recidivate, if they have a strong support system. This is one way they have to develop such a system and it helps to protect society in the long term...

6-2-2009 Massachusetts:

WEB ALLOWS INMATES TO FORM RELATIONSHIPS

A baby-faced young man in a white T-shirt stares from the computer screen. He is a good-looking, tall 18-year-old who by his own description is built like a statue.

“I love being involved in sports, am known as the life of the party and can turn any girl’s frown upside down,” writes Joseph M. Stewart in his online profile. “I would love to correspond with a nice, friendly, open-minded girl willing to write me so we can get to know each other, have some laughs, swap stories, whatever it comes down to.”

This catch has one catch. Mr. Stewart is serving prison time for his involvement in the killing of 24-year-old Billy Lindell on July 16, 2006, in Worcester. He was one of six people charged in the beating death and subsequent fire on Chandler Street.

Mr. Stewart is one of thousands of inmates across the country who have a profile posted on prisoner pen pal Web site. Mr. Stewart, who lived in Worcester, has his profile listed at WriteAPrisoner.com, a Florida-based company that charges prisoners a fee and posts their personal and legal profiles online.

Several Web sites offer the same service. Some have received scrutiny from media and prison officials and drawn the ire of victims’ families.

“We do take some heat from the victims’ families. We are not a victim’s rights group. We are a platform for inmates,” said Adam J. Lovell, the 31-year-old president of WriteAPrisoner.com Inc. “We get all kinds of media attention. We get as positive as it can get and as negative as it can get.”


Mr. Lindell’s mother, Candace Edelbrock, said in a telephone interview from her home in Washington state that she didn’t have a problem with Mr. Stewart’s online profile.

“I have forgiven those kids and I pray for them,” she said. “I know they didn’t intentionally kill my son. I know it just got out of hand.”

Mr. Lindell was killed during a burglary gone awry. He was inside his Chandler Street apartment when he was beaten. The fifth-floor apartment was later set on fire in what investigators described as an attempt to destroy evidence.

Mr. Stewart pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter and received a 8- to 12-year prison sentence. His profile states that he will be released at the earliest in 2016 from the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Facility on the Lancaster-Shirley line. “Also my pic that is posted is when I was 15 seeing as I’ve been locked up since then it’s all I have to show you what I look like, plus the ad said a picture was better than none,” wrote Mr. Stewart, who is pursuing his general education diploma. “I wouldn’t say I’ve drastically changed since I was 15, just grown and gotten bigger seeing as how I work out a lot. Well, that’s me. Hope you decide to write to me.”

WriteAPrisoner.com has a long list of safety precautions on its site, such as not allowing minors to contact people. People contacting inmates have their messages sent to the prisoners through the service.

Mr. Lovell said he does not encourage inmates to seek romance and even though some do, those profiles do not fare well.

Sometimes inmates do find love through pen pals and in some cases marriage.

At first the concept of inmate pen pal Web sites was resisted, but Mr. Lovell believes people have become more accepting. With about 50,000 unique profiles a month, Mr. Lovell’s site has continued to gain members.

The standard annual profile is $40, which includes 250 words and one photograph/art. Additional photographs or art cost $10, and there are charges of $5 for an additional 50 words and $15 for each 250-word blog entry. The renewal fee is $30.

Mr. Lovell said family members usually post and pay for the service. Massachusetts Department of Correction spokeswoman Diane Wiffin said inmates here do not have Internet access. Some state Department of Correction authorities, including in Florida, Missouri and Indiana, have banned inmates from using the find-a-pen-pal Web sites, citing the potential for an inmate to use the service for fraudulent purposes. A federal lawsuit is pending in Florida filed on behalf of WriteAPrisoner.com, Prison Pen Pals and the Freedom Through Christ Prison Ministry challenging that state’s correctional facilities’ policy.

“They basically say can’t have a profile online and say will receive punishment,” Mr. Lovell said. “You don’t have to like what this service is. Inmates do have First Amendment rights. That is exactly what they are coming down on.”

Mr. Lovell pointed out that a vindictive person could also post a profile for an inmate in hopes of getting that inmate in trouble in those states.

WriteAPrisoner.com also has programs that help inmates find jobs upon release. Mr. Lovell said his service could help inmates transition out of prison life because contact is made with people on the outside.

Creating relationships could also strengthen an inmate’s resolve not to re-offend, he said. Some inmates find housing and work through their pen pals, he added.

“Many lead productive lives,” Mr. Lovell said. “Relationships give motivation not to get in trouble on the inside.” ..Source.. by Scott J. Croteau TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF