HOW DO YOU WRITE THE POSTS FOR THIS SITE WHEN YOU'RE IN PRISON?

On several occasions, people - including other prisoners, staff, the public and the media - have asked me how it is I am able to write these articles and post them on this site. I suppose there is enough interest in this issue that simple explanation.

Let me set the stage: as I write this article I am sitting at a metal table in a prison [general population] dayroom constructed of steel and concrete - a virtual echo chamber with ear buds jammed into my head to block out much of the incessant noise of my surroundings.

Some of the 88 inmates assigned to this housing tier are shouting at nothing in particular, while others are horseplaying, jumping on tables like lemurs, sitting in corners crying, staring at (and in some cases, talking to) walls, gambling, eating or playing cards/chess. Others are exercising (utilizing what seems to be newly created "Prison Kama Sutra" techniques) or watching televisions mounted to walls.

Oh, and that doesn't include the constant unintelligible [and usually unnecessary] 'announcements' made by staff over the overdriven industrial PA system in the dayroom that more often than not creates ear-piercing feedback, while guards shout at prisoners to put on their shirts or take off their hats.

These "normal" conditions make it difficult to actually focus on typing this article into my unreliable, overpriced and underpowered JPay tablet that does not even have a word processing program (and that was technologically outdated in about 2005). Needless to say, even though there might be a "good" piece to write, sometimes I'm just not mentally up to it.

First, I have to come up with an idea. Sometimes, these ideas come from readers of this blog. Some come from Idaho Department of Correction staff, prisoners, direct observations of situations, listening to radio or television programs, from reading (old) newspaper articles or virtually anything that might pop into my head.

Oddly enough though, writing the pieces isn't the most difficult part of this, it's the logistics of getting them from here to there.

Once I've written an article I send it out via email (costing me $0.32 for each email with a 6,000 character limit) to a friend. Using this process, I am following all procedures established by the IDOC, and there cannot be any question whether or not I am sending or posting information which has not been reviewed by the prison censors.

Sometimes, this [censorship] review process results in weeks of delay between the time I write and send an article/email and the time it is received by my site administrator (David). Per policy, prison officials have 10 [business] days to officially 'confiscate' the communication and provide [due process] notice - or release the email to the intended recipient. Often, I'll have to send a 'nastygram' to the censors to release it when it is not released or notice is not provided within the allotted time - another delay of several days.

Once the email is received by David, he will make any necessary adjustments to the piece per my request(s) before posting it to the site at his first opportunity. As I've mentioned before, David is the hardest working individual I have ever known, and due to there being only 24 hours in a day, coupled with pressing financial and family responsibilities and obligations, it might be a few days before the article is available online.

In some instances, David will receive several articles from me at one time to post to the site. When this happens, the articles are published one per day so that readers can leisurely browse the posts (and of course return to the site more often), and not be overwhelmed with reading several articles posted at once. That may change, depending on some feedback and possible new website configurations coming in the near future.

Once the article is posted, David will send email links to the newly posted article to a list of people who have either asked to receive such notifications, or who I have determined may have an interest (personal or professional) in the information contained within the specific piece. In the interest of fairness, I usually try to send an email to anyone I may have identified by name within an article so as to give them an opportunity to respond or give feedback. In one instance of having done so however, I was accused of (and disciplined for) harassing a guard that I named in a post... not for the post itself mind you (as everything posted was true) but for sending him a link to the article.

So, really, there's nothing secret or mysterious about how I get these articles out to the public. Yes, it's a little more work and takes a bit more time to respond than it would be were I to have access to the internet (like some 'privileged' prisoners do), but then again, you wouldn't have the benefit of knowing what's going on inside from the perspective of someone who is actually inside.

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I'd like to take a moment to thank all the visitors to this site, and to thank Chris M. who has graciously offered to help move this site into the future and make it more accessible, readable and reliable for the readers. I believe good things are coming our way.