Has anyone ever heard of correspondence restriction. My husband ordered stamps on store day and the CO didn't bring them so he wrote the warden and stamps were brought to him. Well next store day he ordered stamps again and the CO didn't bring them again. He asked the CO what's up and the guy said he was on correspondence restriction. My husband wrote me a letter all pissed off telling me to call the warden there was no such thing as correspondence restriction the CO was just trying to mess with him cause he went over his head last time to get the stamps. He told me he had 4 stamps left and he knew how grumpy I got if I didn't get my "Papi fix". Well last time I called the warden I had to leave 17 messages before the idiot called me back.

Thats a load of crap.they can't ever keep you from getting mail.they can take phones away but not mail.co's can be such jerks when they want to.atleast the warden finally called you back.

I'm sorry this is happening to him, but your guy needs to address this issue with his counselor or who ever takes care of those things. VERY few wardens answer phone calls from families... there's a chain of command to follow. If your guy has some sort of restriction, he needs to address it thru the proper channels.

mrsd

Never heard of it but I have heard of guys in the hole not getting mail. I have also of guys in hole getting mail so who the hell knows. CO is a jerk

Funny... he's on correspondence restriction, but they didn't restrict the correspondence he sent with one of his remaining stamps??? So much for consistency. That makes no sense and I'd have a lawyer call up there or even someone just claiming to be his lawyer call the social worker/ counselor.
Time to be a squeaky wheel.....

What did the warden tell you???

I know this is old, but I read this and wanted to respond. Don't know what state you are in, but in NC, and probably every other state, that is illegal. It is called freedom of speech, and it does apply to inmates as well. Inmates have every right to free speech, which means the right to send letters whenever he or she wants. That cannot be restricted unless the prison sees him as a security threat, and if so, that has to be specifically noted. No officer can deny an inmate stamps for any reason under some questionable accusation, or paperwork from administration. Even if an inmate was broke, the prison has a responsibility to supply stamps. I went several rounds with some prisons on issues like that, so I kinda know about it. Smells like a lawsuit to me...

Well, he can be on a mail restriction if he's been sanctioned from writing to someone who requested that he not write to them. He can also be restricted from writing to certain people if the prison deems it a security risk.

Before calling and pretending to be a lawyer, be aware that the calls are probably traced easily and you could end up in jail yourself.

And no, the prison isn't required to make it possible for inmates to have postage. Indigent prisoners are to be given so many stamps and writing materials a week, but they have to apply for that and be truly indigent.

Like Mrsdragon said, it's better to let the inmate deal with his own problems and through the proper channels. If family members start calling people, the inmate will have a much rougher time of it because he'll be branded as causing problems. Tell him to talk to his counsellor or someone to deal with the problem himself. If he tries and that doesn't work, then he'll just have to keep trying or else learn to just be patient till he gets his stamps from now on.

i have never heard of an inmate not being able to write. i know sometimes that their commisary privelages get taken away though. i know when jeff had a ticket he wasnt able to go to the store.

The prison my husband is at gives 8 envelopes and stamps a month to inmates. They are allowed to purchase more thru commissary. One time commissary was out of stamps for about two weeks, and my husband had to negotiate with some of the other guys and trade for their envelopes. Now, what kind of commissary "runs out" of stamps? The kind that does not mind if they cause a riot, because that is almost what happened! As far as I know, as long as they have the stamps, envelopes or money to purchase them, they are allowed to write! CO sounds like he is not having a good week!

After reading some of the threads, I have to reply back to see if I can help. As a person that was in prison, I cannot buy any excuse by anyone that the inmate should deal with this problem themselves. Toi ama, I agree with your thread in part, but I must respectively disagree on a few accounts. First, I don't agree that a person calling should have to act like a lawyer. When it comes to defending a constitutional right, anyone can stand up for the defense. A loved one calling a prison about an abused right has every right under the sun to call and find out what is going on. Now, I submit that before someone calls, they have to have proof. Don't just call and try to intimidate the prison; that won't work. If that is what you are trying to imply toi ama, I agree 100%. Prisons are not intimidated by such ploys.
I also disagree in part with the prison's requirement to make sure inmates have postage. Now you are correct in the requirement about indigence, but there are many exceptions. In general, inmates are guaranteed by the constitution the basic elements of writing which are pencils, paper, envelopes and carbon paper. Mind you, this is by the Constitution, which applies to inmates as well. Any prison guilty of preventing these can and will be in legal trouble. Stamps, as you mentioned, are available to inmates if they can prove that they do not get a certain amount of money. When I was at Pasquotank, I think the amont is less than $20 a month. This affords those who are working under the incentive wage to still be able to get stamps without paying what little they earned to it.
Another point I have to make clear, we cannot simply fold our arms and "hope for the best" for our loved ones. There is a fine line, I grant you, in pushing the prisons too far and defending our loved ones. There is a difference. But if you ask me which is of greater importance between inmates having to deal with such problems themselves or the idea that prisons are intentionally destroying inmates morale by denying them their basic consititutional rights, I vote for the latter. Let us keep in mind the reason there is a problem in mailing is because the prisons are doing exactly what they want. If any prison can show proof about the mailings in writing, then we have no argument. The fact here is that they can't, and won't. This becomes a case of apathy and fear, which is what prisons want most from every person outside the prison. The strongest check against prison abuse is the involvement of the wonderful people like you here at PTO. Understand that you are a light in the dark world of prison. I have shared many journals of situations where prison officials intentionally abused their rights in the name to control inmates. Inmates have been asking for help for years because they cannot get it from prisons. To ask an inmate to deal with the problem by theirself is just as good as sending a man to war with a stick. Ask yourself this, how many inmates in youth camps might have been protected from rape or death from other inmates and officers if people outside had gotten involved sooner, rather than waiting to see if things clear up? If a person asks for help, don't deny it or turn your back; they need your help. I know I sound kinda corny in this, but I am speaking from personal experience. I know for a fact that if an inmate has a problem with a situation in prison, the prison will side with their own 99.9% of the time, even if the prison is totally wrong. Prisons do not like letting inmates think they have any intelligence.
In the situation of mailing and stamps, prisons have to be held accountable if they cannot maintain the rights of inmates, and you don't have to be a lawyer to know that this can result in a lawsuit. Any citizen has the right to proceed with the filings of a suit, whether inmate or not. Mind you, you may have to obtain the counsel of a lawyer, but in many cases you don't. Let me share this as well. From some legal books pertaining to inmate rights it says:
"Retaliation against a prisoner for exercising 1st Admendment rights is UNLAWFUL". Another says that to deny inmates to type papers that are required in forma paupens would be concidered a denial of cout access. Such is also concidered with stamps as well. When you talk about money for stamps, there is also legal situations because by several court cases it is illegal for prisons to do such, because it becomes a case of due process of inmates' money. A case in 1991 proved that prison officials must observe due process with inmate's money, and that prison officials must obey statues and regulations governing the use of inmate's money. As another book says, "there is no question that an inmate's interest in their funds in his prison account is a protected property interest".
Let us also keep in mind that whenever there is a problem between two sides, there is what is called the "Turner Standard", based of a prison lawsuit. Without going into too much info, what it basically means is that when prison restrictions are challenged, officials must justify their positions and provide factual support for their arguments. This means there has to be substantial proof, not words. This is the problem with situations in prison if you let inmates try to deal with problems. Prisons are very slow and deliberate NOT to give facts, because in most cases, there are none. When I write a grievance or ask an officer about a situation in question, I rarely get the answer from the book. I get their answer, without proof. That tells me if I had a problem with an officer who said, "the sky is green", I could argue to another officer or write a grievance and get some answer like, "well, if that is what he said, then that's right". But is it?
I could go on and on, but sticking with the situation about mailing problems, I cannot believe that the problem will solve itself. I believe if left alone to the inmate and the prison, one of two things will happen; one, the inmate will give up because he has no help and the prison will keep him in circles, or two the prison will retaliate (which I say again is illegal under every law of the United States). If you are worried about whether the prison will label your loved one a trouble-maker, then you have sacraficed your loved one to the prison system to do whatever they want. Ask yourself, is the the person you want returning to you; a beat-down, low-morale human being who thinks that he has no value or nothing worth contributing? Because this is what you will get, outside of rare inmates who have the strength to change. I stand firm on the fact that inmates have many rights concerning writing; and they are supported by the United States Constitution. But if they cannot get help from outside sources, they will be left to hear lies from the prison. If you chose not to help them, then they are almost defenseless to the system which does not care about them. If my loved one was in prison, and had problems, and if I found evidence that what the prison was doing was unconstitutional, I would ring every phone in the prison to get an answer. That shows that you are willing to defend your loved one when he needs it. You cannot know how important this means to his well being. If your child was playing outside and you saw a snake slithering towards him, would you sit and hope your child has sense to move away, or would you grab a shovel or something and race to protect that child? I know, writing letters and a child with a snake are quite different, but I ask that to pose a question about defending someone you love. The prison knows what it is doing; don't assume that they made a "mistake".
I know I said too much, but I feel very strongly about this situation, or any situation about prison rights, especially when some believe that the best way to resolve them is to do nothing and hope the inmate can work it out. That won't work without someone's help. Toi ama, I did not say all this about you, because as you know, every situation is different as we all are. I agree with many points you said, but I believe that when it comes to inmate problems, someone outside has to help, or the inmate will lose. There are situations where when an inmate stands up for himself, he is persecuted; I have written journals here about my situations, like once when I was thrown in segregation on a trumphed up charge because I was writing grievances. It can happen, but I do not regret standing up for something I believed and could prove in letter and word. I never got thrown in segregation for an opinionated situation like, "all CO's are crooks". I have been persecuted for standing up on rights that the prison was indeed abusing. I have been kicked out of Pasquotank Correctional, Tyrrell Prison Work Farm, Sanford Correctional and Robeson Correctional. Yes, it can happen, but I do not regret it. I will much rather do that than give in to a wrong and lying officer. That is just how I feel, and I know inmates who believe that too, as well as those who let prisons run over them. In the long run, those guys don't turn out any better than when they came to the system. Is this what we want?

Funny... he's on correspondence restriction, but they didn't restrict the correspondence he sent with one of his remaining stamps??? So much for consistency. That makes no sense and I'd have a lawyer call up there or even someone just claiming to be his lawyer call the social worker/ counselor.
Time to be a squeaky wheel.....

What did the warden tell you???

Toi Ama was simply responding to my suggestion of calling and pretending to be a lawyer to get some answers. I've never had to go this far, but would be willing if it would work. How would they know if I was from the lawyer's office or not?
That aside, I see you put a lot of time and effort into your response. Hopefully the correspondence restriction is resolved by now.

there is no such thing as correspondance restriction. an inmate is always allowed to recieve his mail under whatever circumstance he may be in. i would definatley get the name of the CO is you mn can get it for you and id report him to the warden. everytime you call up there write down the date/time you called and keep a record of this in case it may be necessary to go above HIS head.