116 Federal Prisons in the U.S. provide e-mail access

The Facebook page reads: "We are inmates in the federal system who are looking for someone to talk to. We have e-mail capability so we may chat."

A few caveats: "You must be educated and (non-ghetto) please." Oh, and only women need reply.

Welcome to 21st-Century prison life, a world where those on the inside can communicate with those on the outside via cyberspace.

As of this month, all 116 federal prisons in the U.S. provide e-mail access to qualifying inmates who pay 5 cents per minute to use the computer.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons reads all the e-mails, and recipients have to agree to be contacted.


Internet access, though, remains off-limits.

Some states are following suit.

Kansas, for example, lets inmates use e-mail, online banking and videoconferencing with friends and family. Washington state has installed e-mail kiosks in several large prisons. And North Dakota lets inmates e-mail those on pre-approved lists.

Michigan uses a program called JPay, which lets outsiders e-mail inmates. But prisoners cannot reply electronically.

"We still have to ensure facility security," said John Cordell, a Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman, pointing out that full-scale e-mail "is not viable for us."

Maybe in the future, he said. But for now, snail mail, pay phones and personal visits will have to do.
Nearly 122,300 U.S. inmates qualify to use e-mail

Prisoners have been trying to find ways to communicate with the outside world for years, even secreting smartphones into footballs tossed over security fences.

But now, federal prisons have another high-tech -- and sanctioned -- option to stay in touch.

This spring, the Federal Bureau of Prisons officially made e-mail available in all 116 of its prisons, with nearly 122,300 inmates -- more than half the federal prison population -- already qualifying for the program. The idea is to help inmates keep ties with the community and family members by letting them talk online.

Of course, inmates trying to communicate with the outside world isn't new. Cell phones and smartphones are getting smuggled inside by the thousands.

But prison officials say e-mail offers a link that can be easily monitored. The messages going in and out are screened. The recipients are pre-approved, and only those who agree to be e-mailed can get messages.

"The Bureau of Prisons has taken a lot of pains to make sure that any security concerns are taken care of. If the public is scared that some inmate is going to be stalking in cyberspace, that is not going to happen," said Elizabeth Kelley, co-chairwoman of the Corrections Committee for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Kelley, a supporter of the prison e-mail system, said it lets inmates go over matters with their lawyers without requiring a visit. It also helps prisoners conduct limited job searches, reaching out to employers who may be willing to hire ex-offenders.

"We know that maintaining ties to the community is absolutely essential to the re-entry process," Kelley said.

No tax dollars are used for the program, known as TRULINCS -- Trust Fund Limited Inmate Computer System. The program is funded by profits from inmate purchases of commissary products and telephone services. Inmates are charged 5 cents per minute to use the computer.

Based on recent Internet activity, inmates are doing plenty of cybertalking.
Tweets from Riddle

In state and federal prisons nationwide, cell phones and smartphones are regularly smuggled in -- in some cases getting tossed over fences -- leaving the corrections community scrambling to stay on top of the problem.

Inmates are texting, tweeting and posting on Facebook, thumbing their noses at rules banning Internet use.

The ever-defiant Detroit political consultant Sam Riddle continues to update his Twitter page from federal prison, most recently posting photos of himself and fellow inmates in North Carolina, where he is serving a 37-month bribery sentence.

In California, notorious cult leader Charles Manson was caught twice in recent months with a cell phone in his prison cell.

In Georgia, a group of inmates used smartphones to organize a strike, triggering lockdowns at four facilities in December.

In South Carolina, a guard was shot six times in September after an inmate used a smuggled cell phone to order a hit on the man at his home.
Inside Michigan prisons

It is those kinds of stories that keep the Michigan Department of Corrections Internet-free.

MDOC spokesman John Cordell said Michigan hasn't yet decided to jump on the prison e-mail bandwagon. In addition to the federal prison system, a handful of states are allowing inmates to e-mail family, friends and their lawyers.

"Michigan has a pretty strict Internet-based policy. There are no network connections inside the prison setting that a prisoner could utilize," said Cordell, noting any kind of Internet use could jeopardize inmate and public security, even tightly monitored e-mail.

Instead, Michigan inmates communicate using the pay phone, written letters or actual visits at the prison, he said.

There's also JPay, a system that allows outsiders to send an e-mail to the prison a printed copy is delivered to the inmate. But the prisoner can't respond via e-mail.

"It's one of the things that ultimately we may consider," Cordell said of full-scale e-mail. "But right now, it's not something that's viable for us."

That's too bad, say prisoner advocates and criminal defense lawyers.

They say prison e-mail has several benefits: it's easier to monitor and read than regular mail, it's cheaper than pay phones for inmates, and it helps prepare inmates for re-entry by keeping them in touch with the outside world.

"That's a lot more reasonable than them using the phones," said criminal defense attorney Anthony Chambers, who has several clients in federal prison and views prison e-mail as "extremely helpful."

Chambers is serving as standby counsel to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian national charged with trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Dec. 25, 2009.
Abdulmutallab is detained at a federal prison in Milan, but he is among those who do not have access to e-mail.

Neither does former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who is in state prison in Jackson on a probation violation stemming from the text message scandal that drove him from office.

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