From: ghost_of_morphy@theghostishere.com   
      
   The alt.prison FAQ  (Version 1.0)   
      
      
   I. Introduction   
      
   Welcome to alt.prison, a newsgroup where we discuss all sorts of   
   issues pertaining to incarceration.  If you have an interest in   
   learning about life in prison, conditions there, rules and procedures   
   of institutions, or the workings of a corrctional institution, this is   
   the right place to ask those questions.  Similarly, if you have facts   
   or news articles pertaining to correctional facilities, inmates, or   
   staff, feel free to share them with us.  Finally, if  you have ideas   
   on what should be corrected or changed or eliminated in the prison   
   system, do share your opinions with us.   
      
   II. Posting Suggestions   
      
   A. What should I know before I post?   
      
   Before you post, we suggest that you get to know us a little bit by   
   LOOKING, LISTENING and LURKING.  By this, we mean that we first   
   suggest that you look at the message headers to see what topics we   
   discuss here and which of those might interest you.  Then we suggest   
   that you listen by exploring what is said in those topics.  Finally,   
   we suggest that you lurk in the newsgroup for a while and watch as   
   some of these discussions unfold.  By following these three L's you   
   will be up to speed with the rest of us on the issues we are currently   
   discussing.   
      
   B. What can I post here?   
      
   Any posts that contain views, opinions, facts, or criticism of a   
   correctional system are wanted and welcome as long as they are   
   factually accurate.  However, we have a quite diverse audience here,   
   and you must therefore realize that there will be some that will   
   question what you say.  Therefore, we suggest that you be prepared to   
   back up the things that you say.  For example, if you post a statement   
   saying that housing an inmate costs this state so many dollars a day,   
   I'm sure that someone would want to know where that fact came from.   
   If you post a news article, it would be nice to know who the author   
   was and where (if anywhere) it was previously published.  If you make   
   a statement saying that inmates in a certain faciity are routinely   
   treated in such and such a way, it'd be nice to know the authority   
   that you have for making that statement.   
      
   C. What about off topic posts?   
      
   Many people make posts that are not strictly about incarceration and   
   institutions, because they would like feedback from the other people   
   here or because they feel that we ought to know about what they are   
   posting.  It would be polite to preface the header message with the   
   initials "OT" to let others know that this post is off topic.   
      
   D. What can't I post here?   
      
   Advertisments, spam, and scams have no place in alt.prison.   
      
   E. Is it safe to post here?   
      
   We have a very diverse audience that ranges from law enforcement   
   officials to convicted felons.  I would not want all of the people who   
   visit this newsgroup to know personal information about me or to have   
   access to my e-mail address.  I would suggest that you not post   
   anything about yourself that you would not want publicly available.   
      
   III.  Frequently Asked Questions.   
   	   
   A. Is prison a safe environment?   
      
   B. I have a friend who was just incarcerated.  How do I get him   
   stamps, money, food, etc.?   
      
   IV.  Definitions   
      
   A. Kite: A note that a prisoner tries with varying degrees of success   
   to get from his   
   confined position to anyone else.   (Contributed by Stewart Connor.)   
   B. The Hole   
   C. Supermax   
   D. Custody Levels   
      
   V. Recommended Links   
      
   A.  Angel Tree  --  A charity that enables inmates to send Christmas   
   gifts to their children.   
   http://www.pfm.org/AngelTemplate.cfm   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)