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Post by CCADP on May 24, 2005 12:40:02 GMT -5
its NOT mostly women seeking romance; from the people I have heard from in the 8 years of doing this site. Thats a fallacy - those are the ones we hear of in the media; and some on this site are in that position; but the vast majority are human rights activists seeking to make a one on one difference in the DP. Just as many men as women. Just as many happily married as unattached; and more that would never think of dating a DR prisoner than those that would. The tradition of writing death row prisoners has gone on for years among amnesty activists; church groups; college student classes etc.
Who writes?
Well - actress Susan Sarandon (whose penpal just got executed) singer Steve Earle (Whose penpal was executed in 98) Famous Actor and Activist Howard Zinn (look him up!) and : priests; nuns, ministers, buddhist spiritual advisors, 1st grade teachers, nurses, doctors, lawyers, law students, psychology students, social workers, movie actors and actresses, artists, musicians, television presenters, the wife of a boxing legend, politicians, well known writers, human rights activists.
THATS who writes to prisoners.
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Post by catskillz on May 25, 2005 14:12:55 GMT -5
I'm not any of the above and i'm not writing to an inmate yet, i wanted to think about it for a while first. I think i will write someone soon hough, just need to find a person i think i can connect to on interests etc. I'm telling u.. if u'd see or know me regularly i'm sure u couldn't imagine me writing to someone on DR!! Just like the others i bet
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Post by CCADP on May 25, 2005 14:15:38 GMT -5
Yup; SOOO many of us are the same way. When our friends first heard Dave and I were doing this just before we started CCADP they were all like; "WHAT ? ? ? "
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Post by Maggie on May 25, 2005 18:05:54 GMT -5
In my case... I did not go searching for penpals, I was looking for info on SQ. Somehow the pages came up, not SQ pages, but penpal pages--- I saw ads and read some. There were two that I could not ignore.... they are my penpals.
I am a wife, mother, nurse, resident of Ohio, USA...... and glad to be here ;D
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Post by Lili on May 26, 2005 5:09:02 GMT -5
There is a lady on this board who has SEVEN children and as I understood a loving husband (well when I think twice, of course she has a loving husband, how could she have 7 children otherwise:) – peanut. Now tell me, how can anyone who is in the right state of mind even think that she is seeking romance with 8 people she has to take care of? When I’ve read her post I felt so ashamed of myself not doing enough and that is the first time I really thought of writing someone, and you may believe me or not, the romance is the least thing that is on my mind! It is just a desire to make someone’s miserable life a tiny bit less miserable, that for those 5 minutes reading my letter he/she would forget a cruelty all around.
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Post by CCADP on May 26, 2005 5:35:06 GMT -5
You describe the motives of 90 percent of the people that I have heard from over the years of doing this. Just out of feeling compelled to do something to make a difference; a real difference. read over the PEOPLE WHO WRITE TO ... thread and u can see how meaningful this can be. When we started this; Dave and I had been married only three years (practically newlyweds...!) and he's a cutie so I sure wasn't looking for death row romance...but to make a difference in this fight. I think we have - (ps Dave and I have now been married 11 years )
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Post by Maggie on May 26, 2005 7:49:16 GMT -5
You describe the motives of 90 percent of the people that I have heard from over the years of doing this. Just out of feeling compelled to do something to make a difference; a real difference. read over the PEOPLE WHO WRITE TO ... thread and u can see how meaningful this can be. When we started this; Dave and I had been married only three years (practically newlyweds...!) and he's a cutie so I sure wasn't looking for death row romance...but to make a difference in this fight. I think we have - (ps Dave and I have now been married 11 years ) Now Tracy if Johnny Depp ended up on DR...... ;D j/k..... lol I am also amazed at people's reactions when I tell them I write to some pen-pals in prison. I honestly don't understand why it bothers some people... I've had outright negative reactions. This is one of those experiences where you have to actually do it to understand. Once you see how much a letter coming in the mail can mean to a person...... that's all there is.
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Post by CCADP on May 26, 2005 7:52:05 GMT -5
Maggie; I'm calling your husband to let him know you are trying to wrongfully convict Johnny Depp (smile) Ummm....just in case Johnny Depp or any of his friends read this; you never know who is surfing - you'll have to read a million threads to find the reason for this inside joke) smile.
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Post by catskillz on May 26, 2005 11:15:15 GMT -5
I'm not quite looking for a romance either! ;D ;D ;D
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thinkinkmesaaz
Settlin' In
"I know right from wrong, why doesn't my government?"
Posts: 40
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Post by thinkinkmesaaz on May 27, 2005 1:02:54 GMT -5
who writes to death row prisoners....... anyone with empathy............. anyone who has compassion in their hearts....... anyone who believes " do unto others".................. anyone who has had a murderous thought............ anyone who has been in a situation that could have gone bad.................... anyone who has done time............ anyone who knows how they feel when they get mail.... mothers, sisters, nephews,.............. When I know a person needs something I am able to give, how could I turn my back, they are no less deserving!
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kaspa
Doin' Time
Posts: 51
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Post by kaspa on May 27, 2005 17:32:56 GMT -5
I am happily married with 2 children and write to 3 death row inmates, I have written to 5 in the past 10 years. I certainly would not consider the possibility of becoming involved romantically with an inmate, however I guess in some circumstances one could be made to feel that way because of the letters that you can receive and it could be easy to let your emotions rule you and things then become somewhat rose-coloured. Sadly, I have had one of my friends executed in 1997, I have been fortunate enough to keep contact with his family and look forward to finally meeting in person on my next trip to the US. I have also been through the elation of having one of my friends released in 2003 thanks to the then Governor of Illinois. My first contact with the DP came from a book I read in 1995 and the last words my friend who was executed said to me was 'don't forget all the others this country (the US) has sent to death row, it's good to know people care. Now that had a big impact on me and I have to admit it did take me a while to write to someone else for fear of another execution, but I knew living here in Australia the best thing I could do was to form another friendship. and I have never looked back. I am always learning something from them and can only hope they can read my writing at times and understand my humour!! ;D
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thinkinkmesaaz
Settlin' In
"I know right from wrong, why doesn't my government?"
Posts: 40
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Post by thinkinkmesaaz on Jun 15, 2005 17:16:22 GMT -5
My brother has been on DR in Ohio since 1998. I wish I could say that I've written to him consistently over the years, but I can't. Whether it was because of my own drug addiction during this time, or not knowing what to say, etc. doesn't seem to matter right now. What is important is that, he forgave me instantly without question, picking up where we left off. During that time, he of course, has developed pen pals. I thank God that he has them, and hope he will have more!
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Post by peanut on Jun 15, 2005 20:47:09 GMT -5
I write because I care about these people. I can't begin to imagine the loneliness and isolation they feel. I have 2 new penpals, and wrote Doug Roberts #999218 for 8 years prior to his execution on April 20, 2005...I'm missing him terribly. I thought it would get better after a few months, but there's a huge empty spot in my life where he once was. I write to my new penpals not to fill that empty space, but to fill the space in their lives that is empty.
There are those out there that seek to correspond with DR inmates for marriage though. One of my penpals recently wrote in a letter that he had been previoulsy corresponding with a women for 6 months and she announced she wanted to marry him. Needless to say, he's a bit shy of penpals now. I reassured him that I'm happily married with 7 children...so there'd be no marriage proposals from me.
And yes, Lili, my husband is very loving ;D
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Post by sclcookie on Jun 16, 2005 14:24:34 GMT -5
how did I start writing DR inmates. Well, the 1prison pen pal site is my 2nd inmate pen pal site. I had an older one when my husband was in prison called 1prison, but it was with angelfire.com. I gave it up when my husband came home knowing I wasn't going to have time for it.
Last year, my husband and I talked about a new website, but our own domains, plus he already knew a few of the dr inmates personally.
Rich was the first DR inmate on our website so we started writing him.....the rest is history.
hugggz, Suzanne
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Post by sally104 on Jun 18, 2005 4:58:59 GMT -5
The questions the CCADP should answer as well is who should not be writing to death row inmates.
(I am not talking about the pro project asking them to drop appeals)
I am talking about letting people know what to expect
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