Hi everyone!

I sent my first ever pp email through the WAP service the other day, Tuesday I think. But now I found a thread saying it can take weeks for the email to arrive. Could be even longer now with 4th of July and everything I suppose. So I’m thinking about sending a regular letter tomorrow as well.

In another thread I read about sending drunk messages. Now wouldn’t that be something to try for the first letter?

Please bear with my ignorance, but are all the letters monitored/read by prison staff before they get delivered to the inmates? What about letters going out from inmates to the outside? Is there any privacy at all?

Another thought, are you allowed to send a collage of magazine pictures, glued on a piece of paper, or would that be a problem? What about magazine pictures NOT glued onto anything, but having text in a foreign language on the back?

I’m writing to Coffield Unit btw.

Firstly, welcome and I hope you enjoy writing.

I would take things steadily at first. Wait for the inmate to receive your letter and reply before thinking about sending collages and other things. They are easily overwhelmed so just get to know one another through correspondence first.

All letters sent to inmates are subject to monitoring. They may range from a quick glance through the letter checking for any banned topics (such as escape of gang activity) to a full and thorough scrutiny of the letter with a copy kept on the inmate's file. Letters from inmates may be monitored if the unit staff are investigating that particular inmate.

If you want completely private correspondence then writing to a prisoner is not for you. It is likely that your letters will be seen by various mail room employees, guards who hand out the mail and even other inmates such as cell or dorm mate.

Letters in a foreign language are frowned upon in Texas. I occasionally write a few phrases to my man in my second language (I was raised bilingually) but certainly not a whole letter.

Well first off, kudos on getting started with your first PP, I always love to see new people coming in & doing that!

The WAP email service, I believe they send them on the 4th and 20th of every month. So, just keep that in mind, & yes be patient-it likely will take at least a couple weeks to get a reply.

Yes, the letters you send are opened and read by prison staff, not necessarily read word for word but skimmed over to make sure there is no contraband & that you are not talking about anything bad or illegal. If they did not monitor the letters, there would be alot of bad talk going on-think gangs on the outside communicating with gang members in prison, etc. SO, that's one of many reasons they do open, read & inspect letters to some extent before giving them to the inmate. Outgoing, from inmates to the outside, I believe they do, much for the same reasons to see what is being communicated to the outside as well. So just keep that in mind when you're writing. Just don't talk about anything illegal & you will be fine.

I don't think glue is going to be a good idea, any type of sticky substances, wet substances, liquids, etc. are not allowed for the most part to be sent directly through the mail. Paint, watercolors, glue, etc. generally I would avoid if I were you.

Text in a foreign language could be a problem because if something is in a language that the mailroom can't understand, they could send it back to you. Because gangs and such groups speak in code, and if you send ANYTHING in a foreign language, it could mean anything for all they know. I believe the only reason foreign language material, meaning a language other than English, is allowed is if the inmate is fluent in it and/or has limited English speaking skills. If I were you, I'd keep it to English as much as possible.

Pictures and articles from magazines are perfectly okay, I send some to some of my guys here & there, those are generally very good ideas & I've never had a problem sending those.

I hope this helps. Have fun, I hope you get a great response soon & happy writing!

They pretty much said it.

That said, I've written to R in Italian before with no problem.

Originally Posted by stellar

What about magazine pictures NOT glued onto anything, but having text in a foreign language on the back?

If they cannot relate to the text, it will NOT pass, that is part of all prison policy, in part......

IV. Handling Offender Correspondence

A. Content Inspection of General Correspondence
All general correspondence shall be subject to the right of inspection and rejection by unit mailroom staff. All outgoing or incoming letters to and from offenders and enclosures such as clippings, photographs, or the like shall be disapproved for
BP-03.91 (rev. 2)
Page 9 of 14
mailing or receipt only if the content falls as a whole or in significant part into any of the categories listed below:
1. Contains threats of physical harm against any person or place or threats of criminal activity;
2. Threatens blackmail or extortion;
3. Concerns sending contraband in or out of the institutions;
4. Concerns plans to escape or unauthorized entry;
5. Concerns plans for activities in violation of institutional rules;
6. Concerns plans for future criminal activity;
7. Uses code and its contents are not understood by the person inspecting the correspondence;
8. Solicits gifts of goods or money under false pretenses or for payment to other offenders;
9. Contains a graphic presentation of sexual behavior that is in violation of the law;
10. Contains a sexually explicit image;
11. Contains information, which if communicated would create a clear and present danger of violence or physical harm to a human being; or
12.
Contains records or documentation held by TDCJ that are not listed in the attachment to the TDCJ Public Information Act Manual Chapter 2.
The offender and the sender or addressee shall be provided a written statement of the disapproval and a statement of the reason for disapproval within 72 hours of the receipt of the correspondence. This notice shall be given on Correspondence Denial Forms. The offender shall be given a sufficiently detailed description of the rejected correspondence to permit effective use of the appeal procedures. The offender, sender, or addressee may appeal the mailroom officer’s decision through the procedures outlined in these rules.

http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/documents/policy/BP0391.pdf

Thanks for your welcome and replies!

Good info there! Also, hadn't thought about that he could get overwhelmed... I think I might just send him a short hand written letter and maybe a photo of myself then.

You know, being so used to super quick replies through SMS, email, and even on here, makes one really impatient. Perhaps it will be a good thing to learn some patience again.

I absolutely agree with you on that one! One thing you can't have too much of when dealing with the Texas prison system is patience.

My man's conviction and sentence has been a massive lesson in patience for me. He said to me when he was handed a life sentence 'See it as a marathon, not a sprint. Pace yourself and we'll get there before we burn out.'

Originally Posted by stellar

You know, being so used to super quick replies through SMS, email, and even on here, makes one really impatient. Perhaps it will be a good thing to learn some patience again.

Originally Posted by februarymoon

He said to me when he was handed a life sentence 'See it as a marathon, not a sprint. Pace yourself and we'll get there before we burn out.'

That's some great philosophical and practical advice! Beautifully worded at that. Thanks!

My only advice would be to refrain from sending a drunk letter as your first letter For the record I think I sent a "tipsy" letter not drunk if that makes any difference and that was after a couple of months of writing in response to a letter he wrote LOL. I also prefaced the letter by telling him I was tipsy too just in case he took what I said too seriously.

My husband is at Coffield. You can write in Spanish, that shouldn't be a problem.

You should not send anything that has been glued. If you want to make that kind of collage, then scan it once it's dry and send the scan picture, not the real thing. But I would agree with the others, just stick to letters for now, and you don't need to send another letter because the email will get delivered. You just need a little patience.