The real point being, read enough to be able to point to where the prison admin is violating a policy or rule and demand that they correct their behaviour.

"Find a case where a lesser set of rules conflicts with a greater one, and you've got a case, and it might never have to go to court."

My apologies for my garbled expression!

What I meant to say is:

Use Google to find the department policy, the statute and the human rights convention, on family communication with prisoners. Read until you find where their actions (the on-the-ground policy) are in conflict with the department policy, statute, or the human rights convention, That is a "case" that one put before them with the obvious implication that you could seek legal redress.

Another goldmine. Thank you commie rag Searchlight!
https://www.searchlightmagazine.com/2023/07/far-right-terror-cases-undermine-shawcross-report/

I looked into the Rose bot to keep spammers out (almost a daily occurrence lately) but I don't quite understand or trust it, so we'll have to make do with human admins. But I will only appoint people that I have met and trust, and I will take my time doing this.

I have created a backup channel but there is nothing there so don't join. It is a place to regroup if this channel goes down. I shall save anything essential offline for reposting if ever necessary. In all likelihood it will never be needed.

I have received word from Vincent that his final hearing has been postponed yet again, to 19 October.

His lawyer is going to explain to him what is going on and I shall pass that information along as soon as I have it.

We know that Chris Gibbons is at HMP Elmley so all we need is his prisoner number OR date of birth, in order to write to him.

I myself am going to be doing prisoner support a bit differently. I encourage others to continue doing what works best for them.

Up until now I have focussed on one prisoner at a time, and being quite generous (if I do say so). That worked well when there was only one or two prisoners, but the five we have now, sure to soon be more, makes that impossible.

It's not just the cost but the cognitive load of constantly considering that someone might have been overlooked. If a prisoner has been forgotten then we (I) have failed.

My job as coordinator includes not leaving anyone behind.

But I also need to keep everyone as safe as possible, which means not asking who is doing what, so I usually have no way of knowing if a particular prisoner has been left out.

By personally sending each prisoner a little bit - a small donation, a book, a card and either a letter or an e-mail - at regular intervals - I know everyone has been covered.

I have therefore drawn a grid and stuck it on the wall, with prisoners on one axis and items such as listed above on the other axis. The grid has to be filled with ticks each month and a fresh sheet goes up at the end of the month.

It sounds mechanical but it takes the load out of my head and guarantees that it gets done.

Longer term the project as a whole needs a system to receive donations.

I had a brief telephone conversation with Tyrone this evening.

I have reason to believe that bureaucratic snafus and moves were the cause of most of his difficulties. Time will tell.

I shall send him a book straight away from Blackwell's and see how that goes.

Please, everyone, drop Tyrone a postcard at least.

I have received the following update about Kris:

Legal counsel said today that "everything is in place it’s just a matter of waiting now."

All the courts in Spain close in August, so nothing will happen until September/October.

A screw has taken a dislike to Kris recently and has put a few complaints in about him so maybe that might delay any emails,

^^^ Therefore, please drop a postcard, at least, to Kris.

GRID GAMES

I find that the use of a grid, as described above (I've already started August) turns what might otherwise be an easily forgotten activity into a kind of game, where it offends me that there are so many blank squares and I can hardly wait to get them filled.

I have enough of each design of card that I can send the same one to all the prisoners this month, and a different one next month, thus relieving me of having to select a card and avoid sending duplicates to the same prisoner two months in a row.

Same with books: It takes mental effort and time to browse and select just the right book, pertinent but without censor-offending text on the cover. If two or three prisoners are interested in say philosophy, history or politics then send the same perfect book in a given month. Mental clock cycles saved.

Book parcels don't say who purchased the book, just the online vendor.

Donations via the gov site do identify who the sender is.

So on my anonymous card to James (remember I'm on the blacklist) I mention the donation and the book, thus tying them together. We'll see if the knuckle-dragging censors are going to do a big cross-check.

Please give your recommendations here of non-pozzed, non-fiction books, particularly on the following topics:

history
politics
religion
philosophy

The books would need to pass superficial scrutiny by the censors at our prisoners' prisons.

Start brainstorming for Christmas.

Books again:

Like postcards, which are either regional or themed, non-fiction books (for our purposes) come in two types:

1. Books that develop the reader's intellectual framework, and that attempt to answer the question, "what is going on!?" I mention this type in a previous message.

2. Books that are about healthy recreation. These books not only allow your time inside to be more bearable, but they make you stronger; you emerge better than you went in. This type might include:

* puzzle books such as crosswords and brain-teasers.
* almanacs/books on current events.
* collections of traditional children's stories.
* physical and mental culture.

The four sub-types listed above are not all equally appropriate for everyone:

For example, a book of children's stories might be appropriate for a prisoner who you know has small children and is expected to be released within a year or two.

Books of brain-teasers might not appeal to everyone (I love them) but crossword puzzles are more likely to suit almost anyone.

Books on physical and mental culture are for people who you already know are interested in a particular area of physical or mental culture, such as stretching for martial arts, different types of meditation, etc

I have only scratched the surface of this subject.

Books again:

Ask the prisoner to be as specific as possible in telling you what books he would like. That's why sending books to Vincent was a breeze: he actually had a list of titles he wanted, so all I had to do was look them up on the vendor's site. Also, by asking you will avoid sending something he has already read.

Books again:

To the list of healthy recreation you can add artistic development - how-to books on various genres.