The Associated Press
DES MOINES, Idaho — Inmates in the state’s prison system may soon be able to see if they’ve got mail.
State corrections officials are reviewing a plan that would install restricted e-mail for the state’s 8,900 inmates. The inmates could exchange e-mail messages with a limited number of friends and relatives.
The software program would screen messages for anything suspicious, corrections department spokesman Fred Scaletta said in a copyright story in The Des Moines Register.
Inmates would use surplus government computers in designated areas where e-mail would be supervised, he said.
All e-mail would be archived and reviewed by prison officials.
“This would give inmates another way to correspond and communicate with families,” Scaletta said. “It would also save staff time because the server would do a lot of the things the mail staff now do.”
Access to e-mail and the Internet are currently prohibited for security reasons, officials said.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons has successfully tested an e-mail system for federal inmates at 11 prisons, with the system being approved for eventual use at all federal prisons, said Mike Truman, a Bureau of Prisons spokesman in Washington.
That system, developed by West Des Moines-based Advanced Technologies Group Inc., gives inmates controlled e-mail capabilities without Internet access, he said.
“Message content is subject to the same restrictions as regular mail and any inmate who is found violating the rules or procedures governing this program is subject to losing this privilege and may be subject to disciplinary proceedings,” Truman said.
The Iowa Department of Corrections hasn’t sought contractors for its inmate e-mail system.
Mario Hayslett, who was released from the Newton Correctional Facility in 2001 after serving time for a drug conviction, said giving inmates e-mail access is a good idea.
“My family is from Chicago and I didn’t have a visit in prison for three years, which meant the only thing I could do was talk to them on the telephone or have regular mail,” said Hayslett, who is the executive director of the Hansen House of Hospitality, which houses former inmates. “Hearing that voice or having a nice letter from them is so important. And if you can’t make a phone call to them because of the high cost of phone bills, you are just isolated.”
Kay Perry of Kalamazoo, Mich., heads a national campaign by Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants and providing e-mail to inmates is a step toward improving communication between inmates and their families.
“If they can have e-mail, it’s a lot more immediate than a letter,” Perry said.
The proposal being considered in Iowa would permit e-mail pilot projects at prisons in Rockwell City and Mitchellville, officials said.
Most of the expense would be paid by inmates, with the cost of each message being about 41 cents.