My boyfriend is in prison.:( he would like us to develop a website that gives info about prison life and in particular the situations that occur in yards, such as stabbings, deaths, etc. He would give me info and I would post on the website. Would there be any legal issues for me ? Specific names would not be used, however the name of prison and specific yard would be given. Thanks !

Hi,
If you print the names of specific prisons, you will open yourself up to lawsuits, possibly. Your boyfriend could also encounter some serious problems, if and when anyone finds out it's he giving you information.
The most serious problem though, is printing anything with specific prison names. If you continue with this, you WILL need a good lawyer! Please get some Professional advice before you start this. I am not a lawyer. You really, really need to talk with one now.

Hello red:

YES! It absolutely would be legal. Additionally, it would be absolutely legal to use SPECIFIC names, dates and prisons. As a matter of fact, if you DON'T use specific names, dates and details, your website is going to look like just another convicted felon sniveling about the joint. Frankly, people could care less about that.

Legal issues? YES.. So you must report, like a reporter reports, because what you report MUST be true, or you will be sued. In order to guarantee the truthfulness of your postings, however, you'll need another source than your boyfriend.

Be aware that you may very well be sued anyway. The TRUTH is the only defense you need. However, the truth can only save you if you can afford to hire an attorney to represent you.

Yes, it's going to take some work. This is a serious endeavor and CAN do some good. However, you need to treat it with the seriousness it deserves. I'll be happy to advise you. It's work that needs to be done.

excon

There can be some legal issues, for example telling that inmate "ted williams" is in so and so prison, in so and so cell, if that inmate is for example in protective custody. Also photos of inside the prison is restricted unless they have been oked by the institution.

Even some time frame of activities and officer movements could be considered restricted for security reason.

Now the truth needs to be the truth, and publishing the truth is normally not illegal unless there is a level of government security issue.

Also if here is any info on witness protection people serving time that is restricted.

Now of course if you are posting that the Bloods or the Arians did a killing in this yard ( that makes the person a witness) and unless they told the authorities what they saw, they will want proof of the statement.

Also if they are "reporting" on various gang activities, it can cause get danger from other inmates.

And yes you can expect if there are things someone don't like, you can get sued, does not mean they will win, but means that you have to protect yourself with an attorney when they do sue.

Also on things like killings and deaths you will need to try to include official department statemens also. And remember if your version does not match there version that is where issued can come up.

I worked for years with inmates behind the bars. One of my most rememberal occasions was where I was taking 3 inmates down a flight of stairs to the showers.

* side note, all imates were to shower 3 days a week at least, and only allowed 5 minutes in the shower, ever try to make them get out if they did not want to come but always wants a few minutes more. You have about a hour to shower maybe 50 inmates. You are only suppose to have one inmate at a time out of their cell or out of the locked shower. You are not really suppose to have one inmate out unless there was another staff member there.

So OK, you are trying to get the inmate his required shower, but you have to break the rules to get it done.

So as I took these three inmates down a fight of stairs in shower shoes, one trips and knocks the other three down.

Ok now of course the inmate who triped will not tell the truth but says I pushed him down. He knocked the other two down and all fell down the fight of stairs. In the hearing, I cam cleared, since they can't prove I did anything,

So in your blog or web site, would you say that a staff member and name me by name pushed this person down the flight of stairs, that was the inamtes side of the story, or would you report that they merely tripped and fell down.

This is where the issue is, since I was cleared in a hearing, I could and most likely would sue you for saying that I pushed them down.
Also if these people were gang members, you can put me at risk, by stating untrue statements.

http://www.prisonerlife.com/links.cfm

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/07/26/MN33852.DTL

http://www.euronet.nl/users/wilfried/captive.html

http://www.inmatesplus.com/inmates.htm

http://groups.msn.com/PRISONLONGHOUSE/introduction.msnw

http://www.survivingthesystem.com/nary_steven.htm