We’re wrapping up this week’s series on prison mail policies with one last return from a prison mailroom … somewhere.

We’ve saved one of the most infuriating for last, and it isn’t just one prison being careless. It’s a tactic used in many states: Placing the return label directly over the recipient’s name, and address. That means the letter didn’t just get returned, but the mailroom erased the person it was meant for.

“Refused – Return to Sender – Inmate information missing, not found, inactive.”

So not only was this person denied their mail, but we have no way of knowing who it was supposed to reach.

This is how arbitrary and dehumanizing prison mail policies can be. A single carefully placed sticker thwarts the message of hope inside.

Thanks for (literally) nothing.

But we’ll keep on mailing, and keep on speaking out. Because even when mailrooms silence voices, we won’t.