Adopt An Inmate - Home
Locking People Up for Unpaid Fines or Fees

Locking People Up for Unpaid Fines or Fees

by | Jun 12, 2025 | From the Staff, Policy vs. People

This is part of our Policy vs. People series, where we unpack how prison policies affect real people, and what you’re not hearing in the headlines.

Policy: It’s called “pay or stay.” Miss a payment, go to jail.

Reality: This practice punishes people not for crimes, but for being poor.

Whether it’s a parking ticket, court fee, or old fine, people across the U.S. are still being incarcerated simply because they can’t afford to pay.

📌 Some courts call it a “civil bench warrant.” Others call it “failure to appear.” But for many, it’s just a modern-day debtor’s prison.

Wait — Isn’t Debtor’s Prison Illegal?

Technically, yes. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Bearden v. Georgia (1983) that it’s unconstitutional to jail someone just because they can’t afford to pay a fine. But in practice? It still happens.

📚 ACLU: Modern-Day Debtors’ Prisons

Why It Happens
Cities and counties increasingly rely on fines and fees to fund their operations, from traffic tickets to probation fees to room-and-board charges for jail time itself. When people can’t pay, courts issue arrest warrants. That means jail time not for a new offense, but for unpaid debt.

Who It Hurts

  • Working-class people living paycheck to paycheck
  • People already dealing with housing insecurity
  • Parents who miss child support payments due to job loss
  • Formerly incarcerated individuals trying to rebuild

What It Costs
Jailing someone for nonpayment costs taxpayers more than the amount owed. And it creates a cycle of poverty: lost jobs, missed childcare, suspended licenses, and more.

What’s Being Done
Several states have outlawed the practice, and lawsuits are challenging it elsewhere. But in many areas, it’s still happening, quietly, cruelly, and disproportionately to Black, Brown, and low-income people.

Policy vs. People
📜 The Policy: Use jail to collect fines.
👥 The People: Get trapped in a poverty-to-prison pipeline.

✍️ Take the Quiz
How much do you really know about mass incarceration?

🗣️ Tell Your Story
Have you or someone you know earned time off that was never honored? We want to hear how these policies are playing out in real life.

❤️ Give
Support our work to expose injustice and fight for fair representation.

Civics 101: The Law Passed — So Why Is Nothing Changing?

Civics 101: The Law Passed — So Why Is Nothing Changing?

by | Jun 10, 2025 | Civics 101, From the Staff

This is part of our Civics 101 series — breaking down the structures behind the headlines.

What happens after a bill becomes law, and why most people still wait.

You did it. The bill passed. The president signed it. You throw some confetti and wait for the change to kick in.

But here’s the part they left out of Schoolhouse Rock:

Just because a law passes doesn’t mean it’s enforced, or that it helps the people who need it most.

Let’s break down what really happens after a bill becomes law, especially in the criminal legal system.

1. Implementation Isn’t Instant

Passing a law is just step one. Now agencies have to write the rules to carry it out.

  • That means departments like the DOJ (or state equivalents) have to interpret the law.
  • They create new policies, update procedures, and train staff.
  • That process takes time. Sometimes months or even years.

Worse, if a department doesn’t want to implement the law?
They can drag their feet, “interpret” it narrowly, or underfund enforcement.

2. Most Reforms Aren’t Retroactive

This is the heartbreak of justice reform.

Most new laws don’t apply to people already convicted under the old law.

  • Lawmakers often write reforms to avoid “letting people out.”
  • Retroactive application requires separate legislation — and political courage.
  • So the very people who fought hardest for reform… get nothing.

📌 Example: California changed its Three Strikes law in 2012. But it took another separate campaign (Prop 36) to allow people already sentenced to apply for release.

3. Courts Can Still Gut It

Any new law can be challenged in court — and many are.

  • Judges can strike down all or part of it.
  • Opponents often sue to block reforms, especially those reducing prison time or expanding rights.

Even if the law survives, court decisions can weaken its impact.

4. The Law Exists, But So Do Barriers

  • Prosecutors may not use new resentencing tools.
  • Prison officials may “lose” applications or stall reviews.
  • People inside often don’t even know they’re eligible.

Without advocates and watchdogs, new laws can sit on the books collecting dust.

Why It Matters

People say “just change the law” like that’s the end of the story.

But the people most harmed by bad laws are often excluded from the reforms that follow.
And when a new law takes effect, it still needs funding, enforcement, outreach, and oversight.

🗣️ Have a civic question you want us to cover? Want to break down a specific law or policy?
Comment below, or share your idea with us here.
See all Civics 101 posts here.

⏩ Forward This Post – Someone in your life needs to understand this.

👉 Missed Part I? Start here – How a Bill Becomes a Law.

🗣️ Share Your Story – How has incarceration or policy shaped your life?

💌 Donate Stamps – Help us send dignity, hope, and human connection.

✍️ Take the Quiz – Think you know how U.S. prisons work?

🧠 Subscribe – Get new blog posts and action tools in your inbox.

Why We Use the Typewriter Font

Why We Use the Typewriter Font

by | Jun 7, 2025 | From the Staff

At first glance, our website font might look like a throwback, but it’s much more than a design choice.

At our core, we celebrate the enduring spirit of communication within the prison system. In an era dominated by digital interactions, prison remains a stronghold for the art of letter-writing, both handwritten and typewritten. This tradition is not just a means of keeping in touch; it is a lifeline for many inmates.

Typewriters hold a special place in this environment. They are a rare and valuable asset, often out of reach for prisoners who earn a few cents per hour, if they get paid at all. All electronics available for purchase in prisons are clear so that no contraband can be hidden inside. Where available, a typewriter like this will cost someone in prison about $250. It’s how people inside file grievances, fight wrongful convictions, write poetry, or send love. And it’s how many have kept their spirits alive in a system that dehumanizes and isolates. Those who do manage to obtain one often become pivotal figures within their communities, much like the first telephone owners, and serve as hubs of information, assisting others inside with legal documentation, correspondence, and maintaining connections with the outside world.

Our use of the typewriter font pays homage to these resilient communicators. It symbolizes the importance of every letter written and every word typed within the confines of prison walls. It is a nod to the struggle and the perseverance of those who continue to reach out and connect, despite the barriers they face.

Want to see more posts like this? Subscribe

 👉 Donate stamps

🗣️ Tell Your Story

❤️ Give

 

Fact Check Friday: “They get three meals a day – how bad can it be?”

Fact Check Friday: “They get three meals a day – how bad can it be?”

by | Jun 6, 2025 | Fact Check Friday, From the Staff

MYTH: 

People in prison are well-fed.

🔎 FACT CHECK:

Many are forced to eat food that’s spoiled, nutritionally hollow, or barely edible.

🚨 What We’re Seeing:

Heavily armed, masked agents:

  • No identification
  • No warrants
  • No probable cause
  • No Miranda rights
  • Shooting rubber bullets and chemical agents at peaceful protesters and journalists
In America:
  • You have a RIGHT to protest.
  • You have a RIGHT to know who is detaining you.
  • Agents need a WARRANT or PROBABLE CAUSE.
  • Masked paramilitary forces dragging people into unmarked vehicles is ILLEGAL.

What we’re witnessing in cities like Los Angeles and Nashville isn’t “immigration enforcement” - it’s extrajudicial abduction. It's kidnapping and human trafficking.

🧨 Being undocumented is not a crime.

It’s a civil offense, not grounds for violent raids.

Yet workers - cooks, janitors, dishwashers, farmhands - are being hunted like fugitives, while real threats walk free in positions of power.

💬 Quote of the Week:

I’ve never in my life feared an immigrant or a trans person. I’ve feared the men in my church, the white men in office, and now the armed men hiding behind masks, badges, weapons, and lies.

[...] and i hope they remember the Nuremberg trials, because this fever is going to break, and you will be held accountable for your crimes.
Monte Mader

🗣️ We Need to Say It Plain:

This is not about safety.
It’s not about law and order.
It’s about control and power, and using fear, and cruelty to get it.
That's called fascism.

📣 Your Rights (Even Now):

✅ You do not have to open the door to ICE without a signed judicial warrant.
✅ You have the right to remain silent.
✅ You have the right to record in public.
✅ You have the right to protest.
✅ You have the right to legal representation.

Know them. Use them. Defend them.

❤️ Call to Action

🧵 Share this post.
📬 CALL AND WRITE your lawmakers.
🎤 Speak out. 
💰 Support local immigrant aid organizations.

Because when they come for them, they’re coming for us all.

Want to see more posts like this? Subscribe.

Challenge the Myth
Share this post with someone who needs to see it

Think you know how the justice system works?
✍️ Take the Quiz

Have you or a loved one faced an unfair sentence or wrongful charge?
🗣️ Share Your Story

Help send more love inside
💌 Donate Stamps

Your donation fuels education, advocacy, and dignity.
❤️ Support the Work

Hug Your Adoptee this Month: June Edition

Hug Your Adoptee this Month: June Edition

by | Jun 5, 2025 | From the Staff, Hug Your Adoptee

👋 Note: To all of our new adopters – welcome!

You’re bringing hope and human connection to people who need it most. Whether you’re already in contact, or are still waiting for your match, we’re grateful you’re here.

Each month, we’ll send a short note like this one, just a gentle nudge to check in with your adoptee, along with a few ideas of what you might write, send, or say. We know life gets busy, and sometimes the hardest part is knowing where to start. We’re here to help you keep that connection strong.

It’s the start of a new month and a good time to drop a quick note, card, or poem in the mail. For folks inside, time stretches differently. Hearing from someone on the outside can change the whole rhythm of their week.

June brings Father’s Day, graduation season, and longer days – any of which might stir up hard feelings. If you’re not sure what to write, a simple “thinking of you” goes further than you think.

✍️ Need inspiration?

  • What’s one thing that brought you joy this week?
  • Have you tried something new recently – food, show, hobby?
  • If you could teleport anywhere this summer, where would you go?

📌 Friendly Reminder:

Make sure you’re adhering to mail policies for your adoptee’s institution – let us know if you’re unsure.

📙 Book Pick (optional):

 

The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton
A powerful reminder of hope, connection, and the long reach of injustice, and how love, humor, and letters sustained him through nearly 30 years on death row.

 

 

📚 Extra This Month:

Is your adoptee a veteran? Check out our veteran series from Memorial Week on the blog.

Have a question? Email info@adoptaninmate.org

Let’s make someone’s June a little brighter.
Go hug your adoptee.

With appreciation,
🐝 Melissa Bee
Adopt an Inmate

✍️ PS: We’d love to hear how your connection is going – good, bad, or in between. Use this form to share a little about your experience. You can stay anonymous if you prefer.

Locking People Up for Unpaid Fines or Fees

📉 Policy vs. People: “Good Time” That Doesn’t Count

by | Jun 4, 2025 | From the Staff, Policy vs. People

This is part of our Policy vs. People series, where we unpack how prison policies affect real people, and what you’re not hearing in the headlines.

Policy says: If you follow the rules, take classes, and work hard, you’ll earn time off your sentence.


Reality: Many never see the time they earned, and some never knew it was taken away until it was too late.

What Are “Good Time” Credits?

Many state prison systems offer earned time or good conduct credits meant to reward people for:

  • Completing education programs
  • Holding prison jobs
  • Staying out of trouble

In theory, it encourages rehabilitation. In practice? It’s a bait-and-switch.

The People Impacted

  • We’ve heard from countless incarcerated people who:
  • Finish a GED or reentry class only to learn it doesn’t qualify anymore.
  • Lose time credits because a program was reclassified after they completed it.
  • Follow all the rules for years, only to be told the policy changed, and their credits don’t count.
  • Never received clear notice in the first place.

One man wrote:

“I earned my time. I have the certificates. But they told me the rule changed last year, and no one said anything. Now I’m still sitting here.”

🔍 What’s Really Going On?

This isn’t just clerical error. It’s systemic.
Some corrections departments quietly reclassify programs, others fail to track credits at all. And many don’t have a transparent way to appeal.

The result? People serve more time than they should, at taxpayers’ expense, while states brag about “reform.”

✍️ Take the Quiz
How much do you really know about mass incarceration?

🗣️ Tell Your Story
Have you or someone you know earned time off that was never honored? We want to hear how these policies are playing out in real life.

❤️ Give
Support our work to expose injustice and fight for fair representation.

Civics 101: The Law Passed — So Why Is Nothing Changing?

Civics 101: When Obscure Laws Are Used to Silence Dissent

by | Jun 3, 2025 | Civics 101, From the Inside

This post is part of our Civics 101 series, plain-language breakdowns of how power really works in the U.S. legal system.

Before we dive into today’s post about the case of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian rights advocate detained under a vague and rarely used immigration statute, let’s pause with this quote.

“What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?”
“Yes, I’d cut down every law in England to do that!”
“Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you – where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country’s planted thick with laws… and if you cut them down… do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I’d give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake.”

— Sir Thomas More, A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt

Thomas More isn’t praising the Devil. He’s warning us. Even the worst among us deserves the protection of law, because once we start ignoring laws for people we dislike, the ground beneath all of us gets dangerously shaky. What protects one of us must protect all of us, or it protects no one at all.

This week’s Civics 101 is about exactly that: how obscure laws, vague language, and unchecked power can be used to silence people, and how the courts are sometimes the only line of defense.

What do you get when the government uses an immigration law from the Cold War era to punish someone for speaking out?

A legal mess. And a civics lesson.

Last week, a federal court ruled that the Trump administration’s use of a little-known immigration provision (Section 1227) to detain Mahmoud Khalil was likely unconstitutional. Khalil, a Palestinian rights advocate and father, was ripped from his family in New Jersey and transferred 1,400 miles away to a detention facility in Louisiana.

Why? For foreign policy reasons, they said.

What is Section 1227?

It’s part of the Immigration and Nationality Act. In rare cases, it lets the Secretary of State remove a non-citizen if they’re deemed a foreign policy “threat.”

But here’s the problem: the law is so vague that it opens the door to abuse. In this case, the government used it not because Mahmoud committed a crime, but because he spoke out in support of Palestinian rights.

The ruling made it clear: this kind of power grab is not okay.

⚖️ What Did the Court Say?

Judge Michael Farbiarz called the government’s argument “unprecedented” and said Khalil’s detention under this law is likely unconstitutional. He warned that using vague laws like this could eventually be applied far beyond immigration cases, including against U.S. citizens in criminal contexts.

The implications are chilling.

Why This Matters

Immigration law isn’t just about who gets to stay. It’s about how power is used, and misused.

When the government uses obscure laws to target people for their speech or identity, it threatens all of us. If it’s possible for one man to be imprisoned for speaking out, it becomes possible for anyone to be next.

This is exactly why civics matters: so we know when our laws are being bent into weapons.

💬 From the Judge:

“If Section 1227 can apply, here, to the Petitioner, then other, similar statutes can also one day be made to apply. Not just in the removal context, as to foreign nationals. But also in the criminal context, as to everyone.”

What You Can Do

✍️ Learn more about the case from the Center for Constitutional Rights.
🗣️ Speak out about unjust detention. It happens more than you think, both inside and outside prison walls.
❤️ Support organizations fighting detention and deportation abuses.
👀 Want to see more posts like this? Subscribe.

Bee 🐝 Sides: Shelf Life (Part I)

Bee 🐝 Sides: Shelf Life (Part I)

by | Jun 2, 2025 | Bee Sides

Welcome to Bee Sides
short reflections on justice, hope, and the human spirit

This series is a corner of our blog where I gather books, stories, and unexpected moments that linger long after the first glance.

Most will tie back to incarceration, justice, and the quiet fight for dignity. But sometimes? It’ll simply be whatever refuses to let go. The echoes that stay with me. Because that’s what Bee Sides are for.

Let me know what you’re reading, watching, or wondering about. Maybe it’ll make the next issue.

 

This one’s about holes in the wall, agile mindsets, and not knowing what you’re doing until you do.

There’s a shelf I’ve been meaning to hang for weeks.

Okay months.

Hanging a shelf is like building a support system, it takes planning, the right anchors, and the patience to start over when it all crumbles.

The instructions were simple, and I’m reasonably handy. But somehow, despite good intentions, careful planning, and a decent drill and level… I still got it wrong.

More than once.

What started as a small project turned into a full-blown architectural battle with my wall. I patched holes. I repainted. I watched youtube videos. I made peace with the mess and tried again.

While prepping for another go at it, I went to buy a new can of wall texture spray because the one I found in the garage had lost its will to live and just spit out clumps like a grumpy llama.

My local Ace only had giant cans, enough to texture the Taj Mahal. I asked if they had smaller ones.

The clerk said no, then offered this:

“Use the whole can. It won’t last anyway. Spray it in the corners. Baseboards. Gaps. Anywhere. Keep critters out. Just use it up”

Um ….
What?
I nodded. I smiled. I did not ask follow-up questions.

I’m still not sure what she thought was in the can.
Foam? Spackle? 
Rat poison?

I walked out thinking: this is how most advice works.
Part experience, part imagination, and just enough misplaced confidence to keep you from trying it.

Eventually, I got it done. 
And even better: it’s level. Perfectly level.

But let’s zoom in a little. There she is. That one recalcitrant screw. That’s as far as I can get her. She’s giving “I tried my best with what I had” energy.

And that uncommitted wall anchor in the background? A ghost of methods past.

And yet, the shelf? She’s solid.

And ... isn’t that just life? If that’s not a metaphor for advocacy and DIY perseverance, I don’t know what is.

It reminded me of something Rick said years ago, back when he was still inside and coaching me through the early days of Adopt an Inmate. I had to redo something I’d built that wasn’t working.

“That’s called agile methodology,” he said.

It’s a good thing, he told me.

(My) translation:
“That was a shitty way to do it. Let’s try something else.”

We’re taught to equate mistakes with failure.
But growth? Growth is drywall dust and painter’s tape and trying again with better anchors.

Eventually, I finished the job. Here’s the “after” photo that hides the errant screw completely.

And here’s the thing: behind every picture-perfect space, there’s always a recalcitrant screw.
Something unsightly but functional, and only you know the backstory.

And that’s okay. Maybe it’s even the point.

Behind the shelf, there are holes I patched.
Behind the polish, there’s a mess I worked through.
And behind the level bubble… there’s a lesson.

Success isn’t about doing something perfectly.
It’s about making just enough wrong decisions to land in the right place.

Coming Soon Sometime: Shelf Life, Part II
Now that the wall is patched and the shelf is steady, what deserves to live there?
(An essay on curation, memory, and the weight of beautiful things.)

🧰 Got a recalcitrant screw of your own?
Tell us your DIY tales or agile life lessons.

And hey, if you need a little something for your baseboards, I’ve got 98% of a can of wall texture spray with your name on it.

If it doesn’t work, just try something else.

 

🐝 Get Involved – Help behind the scenes
✍️ Take the Quiz – How much do you know about U.S. prisons?
❤ Give – Fuel the mission

Memorial Week: “It’s large-scale business built on the bodies of those in its grasp.”

Memorial Week: “It’s large-scale business built on the bodies of those in its grasp.”

by | May 31, 2025 | From the Inside, From the Staff

🇺🇸 Each day this Memorial Week, we’re sharing the words of a living veteran. Someone who served their country and is now incarcerated, waiting to be seen, heard, and remembered. These are real voices from our waiting list. Real people. Still here. Still hoping.

Some veterans keep serving, even from prison.

Steven spent eight years in the U.S. Navy, stationed in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Now, he’s serving a 30-year sentence, which, at his age, likely means life.

But he hasn’t stopped showing up.

Prison is a rough place, but what I’ve learned most is that prison is not only intended as punishment, but even more for the purpose of exploitation and abuse. It’s large-scale business built on the bodies of those in its grasp.

I have therefore dedicated my life now to being a writer and a prison reform advocate. I’ve written more than 200 reform-related essays.

I would love to be adopted by someone as a pen pal. My family does not stay in touch, and I’ve had only one visitor in the past 8 years.

Want to see more posts like this? Subscribe.

This is what service looks like when no one’s watching.
This is what resilience looks like in the absence of recognition.

Today’s Fact:

**Many incarcerated veterans become writers, educators, and advocates,** but rarely receive outside recognition or support.
They fight for justice from within a system built to silence them.

Want to do something about it?

The veteran who shared these words is on our waiting list and could really use a friend.
If you’d like to get connected, or even just send a note of encouragement, contact us and mention his name. We’ll take care of the rest.

CHAT