http://www.writeaprisoner.com/vbforum/blogs/mountanddo/ en Wed, 22 May 2013 00:21:25 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.writeaprisoner.com/vbforum/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.writeaprisoner.com/vbforum/blogs/mountanddo/ http://www.writeaprisoner.com/vbforum/blogs/mountanddo/2899-my-pen-pal-innocent.html Sun, 15 Jul 2012 03:27:34 GMT When I first found WAP it was after I watched an episode of prison wives I believe that was the show. A couple of the wives stories were about them... When I first found WAP it was after I watched an episode of prison wives I believe that was the show. A couple of the wives stories were about them helping their husband's prove that they were wrongly convicted. I thought about it for a couple of months before I searched on the internet and found this site. I lurked for awhile and read posts from people that had pen pals. I decided to look in the inmate profile section out of curiosity. There is an area for inmates to check if they are seeking donations, education help or legal help. I skipped right by the donation ones because I knew that I didn't have money to spare for inmates. I read the disclaimer on the little question mark about offering legal assistance but really didn't put much though into that because I'm not an attorney and have zero legal expertise. I didn't think that I qualified as someone to offer help to a prisoner and after watching the episode of prison wives I KNEW that it had taken over her life.

At this point I really hadn't decided if I really even wanted to write someone in prison and at the time there were quite a few "I won't write to a child molester" posts on the website. So I continued to look and came across a profile of someone that said that they were wrongly convicted and I was intrigued by that. I mean really how could someone be in prison and not deserve to be there. It was something that I really couldn't imagine happening. I did some more research on the internet about wrongly convicted people and found a TON of information on exonerated people and decided that yeah, it's possible that these people could be innocent. I choose two people that stated that in their profile and DIDN'T have the box checked where they wanted legal assistance because as I said before I am not really qualified to do that. I wanted to hear their story so I wrote. The responses that I got back were amazing. Neither one of my pen pals were whining "omg I've been wrongly convicted" sorts of people. They were both intelligent, articulate men who took the time to write exactly what it is that proves their innocence. I still wasn't totally convinced so I did more research - something both of my pen pals encouraged me to do. The more we wrote the more I got to know them and the more they told me about their case. I was sent trial transcripts and DNA evidence and affidavits from people that had recanted their testimony. The more I read and the more they sent me the more convinced I was. I do not have ALL the evidence nor do I want it. I decided to take a leap of faith and trust my instincts. If I should find out that they are not innocent after all I will be very disappointed but I just don't feel that in my heart.

We all have our reasons and our motivations for writing our pen pals. To tell you the truth I was a bit shocked and taken aback by the responses that I got especially the one where the poster said that they've seen a lot of reasons to write prisoners but they found that writing specifically only to innocent inmates odd. I have to ask the question why? Innocent inmates are not "a needle in a haystack" Yes, probably most DO deserve to be where they are but I think that there are more innocent people in prison than one could ever imagine. Are there people in prison that will say that they are innocent and are not. Absolutely. I don't get this from the two people that I am writing too. One of my pen pals has a website set up with many, many people believeing that he was wrongly convicted. I do not feel alone.

I commend everyone who writes someone who is incarcerated in prison whether it be the person who can write to someone on death row or someone who can write to someone convicted of hurting children or someone who writes to the wrongly convicted. All of these types of people need someone to care about them. I've only been writing for a little over 4 months. Some of the posters have been writing for years and years and have much more experience than I do. However, I also believe that no matter how much experience you have you can always learn something new and there is always going to be new perspective that comes and goes on any forum site. Just because someone has been doing something longer than others doesn't mean that they are always right and just because you are new doesn't mean that you will always know less than others.

I am hoping that we are all here for one reason and that is our need to help another human being that needs our help whether that be moral support, love, or a swift kick in the behind every once in awhile. ]]> mountanddo http://www.writeaprisoner.com/vbforum/blogs/mountanddo/2899-my-pen-pal-innocent.html