
Does Your Inmate Pen Pal Manipulate You?
09/17/24 • 37 min
Is your prison pen pal genuine, or could he or she be manipulating you for money and commissary? This week, we're joined by Chris from Colorado. Now retired, Chris worked inside of a correctional facility for over 17 years and has some stories to share. You may or may not agree with his opinions about inmates (or offenders as he calls them) but his cautionary tale may prove beneficial to some. Later in the show, we chat with two inmates (and members of PenPals.Buzz). Get to know Terry Spencer from Umatilla, Oregon, and Kristopher Douglas from Tucson, Arizona.
Is your prison pen pal genuine, or could he or she be manipulating you for money and commissary? This week, we're joined by Chris from Colorado. Now retired, Chris worked inside of a correctional facility for over 17 years and has some stories to share. You may or may not agree with his opinions about inmates (or offenders as he calls them) but his cautionary tale may prove beneficial to some. Later in the show, we chat with two inmates (and members of PenPals.Buzz). Get to know Terry Spencer from Umatilla, Oregon, and Kristopher Douglas from Tucson, Arizona.
Previous Episode

Daniel Dean Morris: Incarcerated Author and Father
Everywhere you go, everywhere you look, you'll see and hear people asserting that all inmates are scum, that inmates deserve to rot and die in prison. Big Steve disagrees, reasoning that with 2.3 million incarcerated men and women in America, it's impossible to put them all into a tiny little box labeled "SCUM". While some inmates (like the ones depicted in movies) have committed heinous crimes and may be where they need to be, our mission is to share with the world some more uplifting stories of prison inmates. Redemption is possible. Thousands, just like our guest on this week's episode, have worked tirelessly to change their lives for the better. When we interview Daniel Morris, you won't hear Hannibal Lecter. You won't hear Charles Manson. You'll hear a human being who admits he made some terrible choices in life, but who has worked unbelievably hard to improve himself both mentally and physically. You'll meet a guy who loves the stock market, loves octopuses, loves his daughter, and has put in the effort, each and every day, to improve himself both mentally and physically. PenPals.Buzz member Daniel Dean Morris II discusses the book series that he authored from prison, the motorcycle he built while incarcerated, and even shares his opinions on prison pen pals, JPay, and Securus. We hope that after listening to this interview, you'll feel inclined to write him a letter and say hi. He is an inmate, but he's also a human being.
Next Episode

No Books for You: The Dangerous Realities of Book Banning in Wisconsin Prisons
Camy Matthay co-founded Wisconsin Books to Prisoners in 2006. For 18 years, she and her team of dedicated volunteers have sent over 70,000 books to prison inmates in Wisconsin. It has been proven that inmates who read while incarcerated are significantly less likely to reoffend. Why, then, would Sarah Cooper, administrator for the Division of Adult Institutions in Wisconsin, suddenly decide to ban inmates from receiving these free books? Even though there's never been one instance of contraband entering any of Wisconsin's 20 state prisons from this non-profit group, Cooper believes that bad actors could potentially send drugs into the facility by using a fake return address label, thereby impersonating the Wisconsin Books to Prisoners organization.
In this episode, Camy tells her story of why she started this program, how many inmates she has helped, and why she believes that restricting books to inmates will ultimately make society a much more dangerous world. She also discusses the sad realities of budget cuts leading to antiquated prison libraries with little or no access for inmates. Is the potential prevention of drugs entering the facility really the reason for this ban? Or could something far more sinister be at play here?
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