A friend in jail 07/23/23 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A friend of mine recently started serving a six-year prison sentence. The full story is long, as they usually are, but in brief he accepted a plea deal related to some images that he had on his Google drive. He may have some chance of getting out in three years, if all goes well. I've been in touch with him through Securustech.net. It's $0.25 for a "digital stamp" to send him an emessage (plus another $0.25 to send him a return stamp so he can reply.) We've also chatted on the phone, also through Securus; I believe that was about $0.65 for 10 minutes. The charges are understandable, when you consider the fact that some employee has to read my email to search for... I'm not sure, something illegal I suppose. And, some employee has to listen in on our phone call as well. Time is money, after all. If you've experienced, or looked at the cost communicating with an inmate, then you'll understand that the rates above are relatively cheap. I believe in some states it's closer to $5 for a 15 minute phone call, for example. So, no complaints here. They gave him a tablet when he went in. Apparently that's a thing these days. There's no AC in the prison cells (and this is a large state prison here in MO), so he's been having some trouble with the temps. But mostly he sits around. They have a library, but he's new and not fully processed yet (whatever that means), and so he can't access any books. Justice is a little screwy, if you ask me. But, it is what it is. The part I'm most upset about, is how he'll be treated forever after he gets out. Keep your nose clean, kids; the costs can be high. In other news, I have another friend who has been on house arrest for the last two years... or is it three? I've actually lost track, it's been that long. And that's just from an accusation that he plead not guilty to. They set a high, cash-only bail... and he doesn't have the cash. Another long story.