Good people do bad things.
by Silva
Thanks for thinking of contacting someone on one of America’s Death Rows. Here you will find requests for pen-pals from various states, but before you write there are a few things to keep in mind.
The very nature of their sentence means that you must prepare yourself, at least at the back of your mind, to one day say goodbye to your pen-pal. Close friendships can be formed through letters and as well as being part of the inmate’s life, they will become part of yours. Even if you are convinced of their innocence, the courts may not be. Please give some thought to this before beginning to write to an inmate, but also, don’t let it put you off.
Inmates seek written contact with the outside for various reasons; to further their appeals, to find friends, to find romance, to pass the time, to converse on specific topics. Be aware in yourself of what you are able to offer through your letters, make it clear at the start if you are unable to help with legal work or unable to send money or other items, and also if you are NOT looking for any romantic involvement. These inmates deserve you to be straight with them, and it will help to avoid complications and upset as your friendship develops. It is always better to start off by saying you cant do something and then finding later that you can, rather than saying you will and then not following through. Often, DR inmates have been incarcerated for many years, and have grown and developed from the people they were when first imprisoned. Many are intelligent, have artistic talents, write poetry and prose or have other interests such as history, religion and politics.
Many DR inmates have little financial help from the outside. Some states allow inmates to receive stamps and stationary direct from pen-pals, but most only allow stationary to be sent via a supplier such as Office Depot, and some states (Texas, for example) do not allow stamps to be sent to inmates at all. If you can include a few stamps with your letters, or consider sending a small amount of money to the inmate’s trust fund to cover postage, it is more likely that your friendship will continue.
DR inmates are human, just like the rest of us, and it may be that the inmate you ‘choose’ decides that they don’t want to respond. They may feel that they have nothing in common with you from the information you provide in your initial letter. Inmates are grateful for mail, but that does not mean they have to respond to every piece of mail they receive. Also, inmate mail sometimes goes ‘astray’. If you do not receive a reply within a month – 6 weeks, try either writing once more, or consider contacting another DR inmate instead.
