What is it like meeting a DR penpal?

[legallybrunette]

I have often wondered what it is like to actually get to enter one of those institutions that are portrayed as so grim and frightening, by the media. Also, how stringent are the security checks and what are the conditions like when you meet an inmate?

[Maggie]

It is as you expect...... grim and frightening.

[legallybrunette]

Is it true that you are not even allowed to sit next to the inmate in San Quentin and have to speak to him from across this tiny wired cage?My penpal once suggested he knew how my pet hamster felt when it came to visiting time! I felt so awful for him.
I appreciate that jail is not supposed to be a bundle of laughs but one would think a bit more hygiene and some brighter colours would hardly stretch the State in question!!

[pumpkinpie]

I don't think that is true about San Quentin. Is that where your pen pal is? I write to someone there also.

[legallybrunette]

Yes that is where my penpal is. So have you actually gone into one of those visiting cages before? What are the guards like? Do they treat visitors respectfully? You know, my penpal's mother kept insisting that I take my little girl in there for a visit some time if we ever went over to the US sometime. Not sure that is the right place to take a small innocent child!! Hmm....
Could just see hubby's face if I suggested that as a cool family visit on our next vacation abroad!

[pumpkinpie]

legallybrunette said:

Yes that is where my penpal is. So have you actually gone into one of those visiting cages before? What are the guards like? Do they treat visitors respectfully? You know, my penpal's mother kept insisting that I take my little girl in there for a visit some time if we ever went over to the US sometime. Not sure that is the right place to take a small innocent child!! Hmm....
Could just see hubby's face if I suggested that as a cool family visit on our next vacation abroad!

Check your personal messages, I sent you one.

[rosemateo51]

I visit at San Quentin every Sunday. Yes, we are in a cage that isn't very big and certainly has no privacy whatsoever. We are allowed a brief embrace and kiss and then sit in crappy chairs with a low table between us. Hand holding is allowed but that is it. The guards are very helpful and friendly....not a problem there.

[legallybrunette]

That sounds really sad. If you are visiting a loved one, it is bad enough that they are in that predicament but to not even to be able to enjoy some semblance of comfort while you are seeing them, is dreadful.
Well, at least the guards are polite anyway. I guess they are only doing their job if they are stern in that kind of environment. Did you ever visit in that big room they used to have with artwork painted on one wall? My penpal told me something about that. It seems to have been stopped for security reasons a couple of years ago??

[rosemateo51]

The cages we visit in are in the old visiting room....can't hardly see the artwork anymore but it is still there.
It's amazing when you get to talking how you can block out everyone else around you....it just becomes you and him....for a short time in your own little world.

[rosemateo51]

legallybrunette said:

That sounds really sad. If you are visiting a loved one, it is bad enough that they are in that predicament but to not even to be able to enjoy some semblance of comfort while you are seeing them, is dreadful.
Well, at least the guards are polite anyway. I guess they are only doing their job if they are stern in that kind of environment. Did you ever visit in that big room they used to have with artwork painted on one wall? My penpal told me something about that. It seems to have been stopped for security reasons a couple of years ago??

Yes, the cages are a result of two inmates fighting......what a shame it ruined it for everyone but at least we still can visit and hold hands....better than what Texas offers from what I hear.

[gemma20]

has anyone ever visited an inmate in mississippi.What is it like there i would love to be able to visit my penpal sometime as he has been on dr for a long time i doubt he will have many years left if he doesnt get another appeal

[legallybrunette]

Oh that's awful. Poor you and him!! How many years has he been in there?? My penpal has been on San Quentin since 1985.
How long does the appeal process last? I heard from his mother that the prosecution lost the original evidence against him so they only have original transcripts to work from.
i wonder whether in those circumstances, his appeal would be granted at least to life and in that case, does the visiting arena alter or is it similar does anyone know??

[janet]

Gemma,

I regularly visit a friend who is on death row in Mississippi. It's an arduous and painful process, however, when you see his smile light up the room, it makes it worthwhile.

The appeals processes is a 'Direct Appeal', various stages of a Mississippi Supreme Court Appeal, and an appeal to Federal District Court. It's at the federal or 'habeas appeal' level that the convicted has the best chance. With recent changes, affecting habeas, incorporated into the 'Patriot Act', however, relief has been diminished. Last of all, there can be an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, if they agree to hear it.

As to visitation, yes, a life sentence does change the visiting arena somewhat.

Please PM me, if you wish, and I'll provide you with details outlining visitation for DR prisoners.

[rosemateo51]

legallybrunette said:

Oh that's awful. Poor you and him!! How many years has he been in there?? My penpal has been on San Quentin since 1985.
How long does the appeal process last? I heard from his mother that the prosecution lost the original evidence against him so they only have original transcripts to work from.
i wonder whether in those circumstances, his appeal would be granted at least to life and in that case, does the visiting arena alter or is it similar does anyone know??

Not quite as long as yours, but a long time.
The appeal process can last over twenty years.......it all depends on each case as to how long it will take.
If he were to have his conviction overturned and be sentenced to life, you would visit on the mainline...much different then the condemned visiting rules and area.

[legallybrunette]

Oh that's cool. The thought of a cage is scary for me. They don't have things like that over here but then we don't have a DR either.
It's just one large room with rows of tables and two or so chairs dotted around each table and the inmates are brought in to their allocated table and visit with the family or friend. At least I have seen this on documentaries rather than actually visited. In fact I have never written to anyone in jail over here. Sentences are not as long as US ones so there isn't quite the same demand for penfriends as one finds with those institutionalised in the US.
I sometimes wonder how a person obliged to endure that kind of threat over their life and those stark conditions inside, can cope if they are released out into a markedly changed world....