This site has two important purposes. The first is to introduce you to a unique group of people who are looking for friendship through the exchange of letters.  Like similar sites offering pen pal information, these men and women have provided photographs and personal background information about themselves. What makes them unique compared to others who are seeking pen pals is that these men and women reside in prison. Mail call is often the darkest hour of the day because many of these people are forgotten souls. Daily they are reminded that contact with the outside world is a privilege they no longer enjoy, a privilege they acknowledge they were responsible for losing. Receiving mail can lift their spirits and give them hope.  Some will never live outside of prison walls again. Others are serving shorter sentences, hoping that good behavior and a desire to live a better life will lead to their release and a productive life. In these modern times, when email and cell phones dominate our world of communication, prisoners are less likely than ever to receive mail. What a shame, when we know the powerful and positive effect receiving a letter can have on an inmate.  Our site's primary purpose is to ask YOU this question: Will you please look into your heart and look over these fellow human beings and write just one short note of hopeful encouragement?   Will you spend just 41 cents on a stamp and write a few lines to uplift another human being? Your words of inspiration might just make the difference between hope and despair for a person whose life is already bleak, a person who would like to feel worthy once again.

Our site's second purpose is to advocate for the rights of prisoners. No, we are not asking prisons to carpet their cells or provide frivolous amenities. We are seeking to inform the general public about life in prison. Yes, when incarcerated, an inmate loses more than his or her freedom. Rights that many Americans take for granted are suddenly gone. In many cases, this even includes the right to vote. Make no mistake - like any law abiding citizen, we abhor violent crime, and our hearts go out to anyone who has been victimized by a crime. However, we know that our prisons are full of people who made stupid mistakes or who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. People whose youthful transgressions now hold them in cells from which they may never be released. We also know, thanks to DNA testing, that many innocent people are sent to prison. It is no secret that the majority of those incarcerated could not afford proper legal counsel, and that guilty people who have plenty of money can afford to hire good lawyers to get them off. Meanwhile, innocent people who cannot afford good counsel are condemned to hear those steel doors slam behind them. Prisons are society's dumping grounds. They are a vast wasteland of human potential. Prisoners are the last group of people it's okay to hate and despise and make fun of. We've all heard the prison jokes, and maybe even told one ourselves. But these are human beings. You must ask yourself this: Could you, or someone you love, have been sent to jail for some small offense you committed but later regretted? Would you be cast off and forgotten? Could you endure the horrors of prison rape or solitary confinement? Could you endure the isolation from the outside world? Could you hope to receive a letter, a few words of hopeful encouragement, or could you expect to languish behind bars, mocked and despised by a society who is not entirely innocent itself? Could you find it in your heart to write a few lines of encouragement to one of the men or women on this site?

"The pen is mightier than the sword."

You have the power to transcend the walls, to promote rehabilitation, to restore dignity, and to champion human rights. If you have a pen, your words can provide relief to lonely, isolated men and women who live in cages. You have the ability to hear these voices from inside, voices that cry out to be heard. Your response to these people, be it just a few simple words of hope, can offer solace and respite from a penal system that punishes through far worse ways than a judge's sentence or jail time.  To be locked up awaiting parole or pardon should be sufficient punishment, but we know that far worse punishment awaits those who live a prisoner's existence.

Perhaps you have never had the occasion to use terms like protective custody (also known as "punk city"), strip search, solitary confinement, or lock down. You may have never experienced racial profiling or rights violations. Early release to you probably means leaving the job before quitting time, and good behavior is sticking to your diet. Granted, you are not a convicted felon and have probably never even been charged with a misdemeanor. We do not deny that prisoners' offenses range from burglary to grand larceny to assault and battery to first degree murder. We also know that many sentences are for much less severe crimes, also known as "victimless" crimes. And, we know that innocent people have been charged with and convicted of crimes they did not commit. Death row is a reality. The death penalty has been eliminated in countries around the world, but many "civilized" societies continue to seek justice in this barbaric way, despite evidence that refutes its effectiveness as a deterrent to crime.  Execution dates are scheduled with regularity although research continues to support the assertions of religious groups and human rights groups that this is the ultimate situation where "two wrongs do not make a right."

Police, judges, and corrections officers are not the bad guys. Neither are those who administer lethal injections. They are simply people hired to do a job. But as a society, we must be watchful of politicians who ride the backs of those less fortunate on their way to office - politicians who wish to "stamp out crime" without acknowledging the source of most crime - poverty and ignorance. It is an easy platform for politicians to embrace: I'm tough on crime! Who would argue against that? Surely no one is going to say, "I'm soft on crime."  But we are a short sighted nation if we fail to see beyond this simple premise. The American prison system is big business. Supermax (maximum security) prisons are being built at record rates; more inmates are housed in solitary confinement than ever before. In a time when economic prosperity has reduced crime, why are our prisons at their fullest? These are important issues, yet somehow these forgotten people grow in number as politicians pat themselves on the back, politicians who may themselves be eligible for a stay at a correctional institution if all were known. You can't fight City Hall, as the old saying goes, but there is nothing to stop you from reading, listening, and learning why more and more Americans are finding themselves in prison.  And in the end, perhaps you can fight City Hall through the power of your vote.

In the meantime, will you please spend some time on our site and visit the links we've provided to other organizations that will help you make informed decisions? Also, will you please view the photographs and profiles of the inmates who provided introductions? Although inmates are unable to receive email or participate in chat rooms (they do not have access to computers), the Internet provides an efficient way for them to tell their stories. If one of their stories intrigues you, a postcard or letter from you could make their isolation more bearable.

The law is a strange and wonderful and fearful thing. We do believe laws and the enforcement of laws to be necessary. We also believe that many laws can actually get in the way of justice.