Hi I had my visit denied to my friend in Fed institute purely on the fact I did not know him before he was incarcerated. I am writing to appeal this decision particularly due to my background and the stabilizing effect I have had on him. I am wiritng to the warden, his counsellor and the Jail administrator has anyone else got any other suggestions of what I could do to get this overturned?

ahhh....your pal should have *warned* you first about this. It's common policy on the(most) aps. Always have to say, you've known them b4 incarceration. I would not have know this myself had my pal in ohio not told me when i used to visit him. Good luck tho!

Yeah i had to say i had known my man before incarceration so i could go see him too! I know no one likes to lie but you got to do what you got to do! Good luck!

I did not know my pal before his incarceration in a federal prison. I filled out form, no lies, sent it back and one week later was told I was approved. I understand there is a hefty fine and could be prison time if caught lying on those forms. Yikes!!
No thanks!

because not all prisons require knowing the person before incarcerated. Some do.

I never visited one of my pp, but this thing is very interesting for me. Why do some prisons or states not allow visits when someone is a new pp and didn't know the inmate before incarceration? Is there a serious reason for that? As for this visit form people have to fill in before approving a visit, wouldn't they know that it's a lie when someone from Europe writes that he knew the inmate before?
Marita

no, I wouldn't think they would 'assume' it's untrue. People meet and move along in life. I have a good friend(not in prison) who has been over in london for many years but knew him before he moved away. Doubt they research the past too deeply unless they are given a reason to suspect or something. Plus the question on the ap. does not ask for details, at least the ones i have seen--simply asks -- 'what is your relationship/how long have you known inmate'

Huddles-what state?

Thats rotten luck Huddles. Those rules make it hard for overseas penpals especially.
I think you are doing the best thing by writing to the prison. If that fails, then perhaps you could take it to a higher state level.
Good luck.

I agree about writing to those who are higher-up. Lying won't get you anywhere. What goes around, comes around. It'll eventually bite you in the butt! You'll end up being prison-mates instead of penpals.