image courtesy of Andula Agecy Website

Lois Ahrens of Real Cost of Prisons Project passed along the new incredibly awful procedures for mail in Pennsylvania prisons. As she says, a bad idea does get passed along from prison to prison, and apparently other states have already initiated some of these horrendous policies.

Here is what is on the Pennsylvania DOC website which they are calling ways to eliminate drugs. Bold is mine.Imagine how long it will take people inside to get mail or any books.

“Non-legal mail will now go to a privatized processing company in FL where it will be scanned and emailed back to the prison. Books will need to be ordered through the PA DOC.  Details below.

MAIL
Effective immediately, all regular/non-legal inmate mail should now be shipped to the following address utilizing existing DOC mail rules:
Smart Communications/PADOC
Inmate Name/Inmate Number
Institution
PO Box 33028
St Petersburg FL 33733

EXAMPLE:
Smart Communications/PADOC
Joe Jones/AB1234
SCI Camp Hill
PO Box 33028
St Petersburg FL 33733

Envelopes must include a return address. Photos will be limited to 25 per mailing. Any mailing received with more than 25 photos will be returned to sender.
All legal inmate should be addressed to/sent to the facility at which the inmate is housed.

From the PA DOC
Immediate elimination of mail processing at facilities
Effective immediately, all inmate mail will be sent to a central processing facility where it will be opened, scanned and emailed back to the facilities. Initially, this process will take a few days however, after the initial 90 day transition period, mail will be delivered the day after it has been received. Mail delivery will be expanded to 6 days per week.
Each facility will print the mail and deliver it to the inmates effectively eliminating any possibility of drug introduction through the mail system. Effective immediately, all mail that was collected during the lockdown will be returned to sender – no exceptions.

Books & Publications
Effective immediately, the DOC will begin to transition to ebooks coupled with bolstered DOC library system featuring centralized purchasing and ordering process. No books or publications will be shipped directly to an inmate.
Inmates will have access to a “publication request icon” on existing kiosks and all requests will be forwarded to central office for processing once the publication/book has been paid for by a cash slip. Central office will purchase in bulk from various sellers to prohibit the introduction of contraband.
Friends and family may make requests to purchase books for inmates and may pay for those items via an account specifically for this purpose. Once payment has been received, the DOC will order the publication and ship it to the institution where the inmate resides.
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The Abolitionist Law Center sent an email saying it was monitoring the newly unveiled policies which “represent a threat to the rights, dignity, and health of our incarcerated clients, friends, and family. The problems occurring during the last week [a lockdown in Pennsylvania prisons] will be compounded and added to by these measures that will further restrict and chill communication between incarcerated people and those outside the walls.”

“It is becoming clear that there will need to be an organized challenge, or series of challenges, using a variety of advocacy strategies, including potential litigation. Please feel free to share this widely.

Toward that end we are asking for any reports of the following to be emailed to ckeys@alcenter.org at the Abolitionist Law Center:

• Obstruction or interference in attorney-client communications, including:

• o restrictions or prohibitions on visits
  o restrictions or prohibitions on regular legal call opportunities
  o failure to send outgoing legal mail, or significant delay in sending it out.
  o failure to process incoming legal mail, or significant delay in getting mail.
  o opening legal mail outside the presence of the recipient
  o any copying of legal mail whatsoever

• Any negative legal consequences faced by incarcerated people due to their inability to communicate with legal counsel or the courts – missed deadlines, inadequate preparation for court proceedings, etc.

• Instances where the DOC refused to process non-legal mail, including where it was returned for no reason other than the DOC’s arbitrary statewide “lockdown”.

• Any serious problems caused by not receiving non-legal mail sent from family, friends, or other contacts, including and especially problems caused by not receiving time-sensitive information.

• Denial of publications such as magazines, newspapers, or books due to the “lockdown” or new policies.

• Imposition of disciplinary measures such as the issuance of a misconduct or having privileges restricted based on mere suspicion of drug use, or an allegation that mail intended for but not received by an incarcerated person contained a prohibited substance. Please include whether any evidence was obtained, tested (by the DOC or third party vendor), and whether there was any due process afforded through a hearing.

• False positives by ion scanners resulting in visitation restrictions or prohibitions.

• Instances of incarcerated people being deprived medical care during the lockdown, including regular appointments for chronic conditions, medications, mental health care, outside hospital appointments, emergency care, or specialist care.

• Instances of incarcerated people with physical or mental disabilities being deprived accommodations for those disabilities during the lockdown.

With solidarity and in it for the long haul,
The Abolitionist Law Center”

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