Communication tends to vary from one person to the next. Like your lover may have greeted you at the door with nothing on...only a rose in her mouth and a can of whip cream in her hand on Valentine's Day. Here, our lovers would need to send a photo of that. And.....the mail room isn't going to let that type of greeting in. No, I'm afraid you will be shut down. But! If it's the thought that counts...
This is my personal conflict. Mail that comes into the prison. I understand security needs to make sure no pipe bombs have been put into that sweet Valentine's Day card. What about the mail that goes out? This prison shakes us down once a week. Their officers come into our dorm and sift through each article of our personal property. To top it off, this is a faith and character based camp. They are really over the top here. Which brings us to the mail.
Tampering with mail is a federal offense. Not a small offense...a federal offense! Before the mail is inspected the people inspecting are suppose to be certified. They are then instructed to 'scan' the content of the mail. Looking for items that could be deemed a 'threat' to the institution.
Up until a year ago, there was a large mailbox at the front gate where we put outgoing mail. That mail was picked up by an office, then taken to a sorting room where it was dumped on the floor and kicked around a bit. My art is usually bent in half; at times torn, and other times completely lost. That was the old system.
About six months ago maintenance came around and installed mailboxes in each dorm. Most camps then send a certified mail carrier to each dorm to pick up mail each night. Not this camp. Prison mail is divided into two categories. Legal mail and personal mail. Personal mail can be inspected by officers. Legal mail may not. This is for security purposes. Your dorm officers are not privy to your charges and offenses. Personal problems then arise and many times a conflict of interest. For this reason legal mail is done by a personal call-out. All personal mail comes directly to your dorm to be passed out. The problem?
With mailboxes being installed in each dorm now the dorm officers collect our mail. Then, they sit during their 8 hour, midnight shift and read our personal mail. First problem? They are not certified. Second problem? They are our dorm officer and are not privy to that level of personal information on us, nor our people's personal lives. And last but not least....they don't scan read....they read word-for-word. The problem in this is that we openly talk about family issues and many times legal issues with our family. The very topics, that for security reasons, our dorm officers are not suppose to view our mail. And, in a couple cases those very officers have approached inmates because they took personal offense to a topic that was discussed. This is the very reason a certified mail handler is to scan read outgoing mail.
Instead, we watch officers sit and laugh at our jokes, ponder our personal problems and read when we comfort our siblings. I'm left feeling violated. There is a difference between protecting and serving. Wait....my bad. That's your cops out there that respond to that call. The motto here? Never walk alone.
I broke the law. Not only is my house torn down once a week for an inspection of all I own, but my family is dragged into the mix as well. Some officer back here knows way too much about my family and loved ones. Now they know my legal issues and when I talk sex with my woman. Are there any lines? If so, where are they?
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