Bobby Hines Jail located in Thomasville, Georgia, in Thomas county, has been violating the rights of incarcerated individuals by not allowing them to SEND Or RECIEVE any type of written mail through the United States Postal Service. 

Under the Constitution’s First Amendment, prisoners are entitled to receive and send mail. However, keep in mind that the correctional facility has the right to inspect that mail. They even have the right to censor the mail in some situations, particularly if the contents of the mail threaten prison security. 

 

Bobby Hines Jail, who is overseen by their 'chief jailor' Lt. Viginia Williams has violated these rights by stopping any & all mail & forcing all inmates families to purchase a 'email subscriptions through jailatm.com. 

This choice to force inmates and their families to spend more money through a 3rd party service , was clearly done as a way to increase profit yet it leaves those with absolutely no way to communicate to their families.

By cutting off any access to written mail, it leaves these incarcerated individuals and their families little to no choice but to purchase this messaging subscription through jailatm.com or go without being able to communicate with their kids, wives, husband's, mother's, fathers, grandparents or whomever they call family.

 

Remote communication — by phone call, email, or video conferencing — allows some incarcerated individuals to reach the outside world, but internet access in prison remains restricted. There are also high costs for these types of communication. For example, many jails throughout the United States charge at least $3 for a 15-minute in-state phone call, along with a $3 processing fee EACH TIME funds are added from an inmates account to the phone provider, even if an inmate were to transfer $1 over it would be a minimum of $4. In addition to that there are atleast 10 states in the United States that still charge $12 or more for a 15-minute in-state phone call.

 For many people behind bars with limited financial means, the cost of making a phone call can be nearly impossible to afford.

Not only that but not everyone is up to date on using today's phones or computers. There is still a large percentage of the population who wouldnt consider themselves to be 'tech savvy'. Not to mention there's those who just prefer to do it the old fashioned way.

Many of us who use our phones & are surrounded with new technology have experienced some kind of issue at some point in time. Rather it was a small glitch that caused a game we were playing to close out of or a website we were browsing on our cellphone to freeze up, we have all at some point experienced a type of technology failure. 

These individuals who are incarcerated here at Bobby Hines have to completely RELY on a touch screen 'Kiosk', which is literally a big, clunky, outdated touchscreen on the wall, to communicate with their loved ones.

There is only a single kiosk per dorm and only one person at a time can access the kiosk. The touch feature on the kiosk is notorious for having issues. Just like the keyboard on our phones, the keyboard on the kiosk also pops up on the screen, except it hits every key other than the one your hitting. 

For example, when you go to type in a reply, the keyboard pops up, and 9 times out of 10 the kiosk hits the letter above it  even though you definitely hit the correct key. 

 

It can take weeks or even months for these companies to update or repair their software leaving any inmates in that dorm without anyway to stay updated with their loved ones at home.

Please join us and sign this petition to make sure those who are incarcerated always have an adequate means of communication with their loved ones through good old written letters, or as I like to call it, "snail mail"