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Abstract: 

Freedom Through Christ Prison Ministry (FTCPM), Prison Pen Pals (PPP), and WriteAPrisoner.com, Inc. (WAP) were all pen pal services that operated by sending lists of prisoners who were looking for pen pals to outside individuals or groups. The Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) adopted a new regulation in 2004 which prohibited state inmates from soliciting pen pals (Fla. Admin. Code Ann. §33-210.101(9)). An action was filed in federal court claiming that the new penal regulation violated the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and placed a substantial burden on the operations of FTCPM, PPP, and WAP. The services sought an injunction to prohibit the FDOC from banning their correspondence with inmates. The Eleventh Circuit found that the pen pal solicitation regulation was a reasonable restriction on First Amendment rights under the accepted standards and that other arguments against the 2004 regulation were not so compelling as to override the government’s reasonable interest in achieving its legitimate penological objectives.

Keywords: Pen pal services

Affiliations:  1: Pace University School of Law Library.