Letter writing campaign, please help!
 

I know alot of you got your pens out or your fingers moving across the key boards so I thought I would let you know it's time again. Please help!
Thanks


It's time to gear up for another letter writing campaign. We need your help!
Here we go again! We're planning on organizing a different activity for each
month. This month's Mother's Day...June will be an activity for Father's
Day...July we'll do something for Independence Day...



May 9 will be Mother's Day, and so FPPP is asking ALL of you to send
a Mother's Day card and a letter to your members of Congress . We are asking
senators and representatives to support legislation that will eliminate
mandatory minimum sentencing, or will increase "good time" for qualifying
prisoners, or will reinstate parole for federal prisoners.



Here's what we'd like for you to do:



1.. Before May 5, you'll need to buy three Mother's Day cards. One for
your representative, and one for each of your two senators.even if they are
men.we'd like for you to send a Mother's Day card anyway. We want to drive
home the impact that sentencing laws have on mothers. (Next month, it'll be
fathers.) We want to show Congress that we'll go that "extra mile". It's
more time consuming and costs more to send cards rather than just letters.
2.. We're including four sample letters for you to use when you compose
your own letters.
3.. Include a letter inside each of those three cards.and mail them.
Mother's Day is May 9.and we'd like everyone to mail their cards/letters by
May 5.
4.. Please tell your loved ones in prisons about our latest efforts. We
want them to know that they are not forgotten and that we're working for
them. Maybe they'd like to send a card or two. Please ask your friends,
neighbors, relatives, and whomever about our Mother's Day campaign.
Maybe.Hopefully.they'd like to join us.




SAMPLE LETTER #1



Dear Senator ABC or Representative XYZ:

This year, we, the Federal Prison Policy Project, are celebrating Mother's
Day by reminding all the members of Congress of the number of mothers
throughout our land who have been forced to be both mother and father to the
children of dads who are incarcerated in federal prisons.


The most recent Bureau of Prisons' statistics indicate that we have 174,179
prisoners. Of those men and women, 162,377 or 93.2% are men. Many, many,
many of those male prisoners are fathers, fathers who are far away from
their children. As a consequence of that separation, many of the mothers are
having to work more than one job to support their families, are having to
fill both roles of father and mother, are having to send large portions of
their incomes to their children's father in prison for simple necessities,
are having to deposit money in prison accounts so that child and father are
able to speak on the phone, and are having to rely on family members and
friends to watch their children while they are at work. The fathers are not
the only ones serving sentences.so are their families.

Have you ever watched those children on visiting days? Have you ever seen
the joy on the faces of those children as they spy their fathers entering
the room? Have you ever heard their cries as they are forced to leave their
fathers? You will long remember those scenes.

FPPP is calling on you to help those children, is asking you to support
legislation that will eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing, or will
increase "good time" for qualifying prisoners, or will reinstate parole for
federal prisoners. Time will not solve this problem. Time will only make the
problem worse.

Thank you.



Sincerely,



....................................

SAMPLE LETTER #2



Dear Senator ABC or Representative XYZ:

This year, we, the Federal Prison Policy Project, are celebrating Mother's
Day by reminding all the members of Congress of the vast number of mothers
throughout our country whose children are sending them cards postmarked from
federal prisons.

The most recent Bureau of Prisons' statistics indicate that we have 174,179
federal prisoners. Last week, when I visited my son in a federal facility, I
observed that the vast majority of the prisoners are young enough so that
their mothers are probably living. In many cases, those mothers are
sacrificing retirement benefits so that they can send money to their
incarcerated sons and daughters. Those mothers are foregoing necessities so
that they can afford to travel long distances to visit for a few hours with
their children. Those mothers are hiring outside people to do maintenance
work, to make repairs to their homes that their sons and daughters could be
doing for them. Those mothers are paying for expensive phone calls so that
they can speak with their children. Because of the mandatory minimum
sentencing laws, the daughters and sons are serving obscenely lengthy
sentences, but not only are the adult children serving time.so are the
mothers.

FPPP is calling on you to help those mothers, is asking you to support
legislation that will eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing or will
increase "good time" for qualifying prisoners, or will reinstate parole for
federal prisoners. Time will not solve this problem. Time will only make the
problem worse.

Thank you.


Sincerely,



....................................



SAMPLE LETTER #3: You will need to revise this letter to meet your own
story.to fill in the blanks with the correct words.



Dear Senator ABC or Representative XYZ:

For the third year, I will visit my son in prison on Mother's Day.
I will be doing the same for three more years. I will have to drive three
hours to the prison and three hours home just to see him for a couple of
hours. Or I can spend nearly $100 that I can't afford and stay overnight and
see him on Saturday and Sunday. The BOP says that it's important that the
prisoner's family maintain contact with the inmate while incarcerated. I'm
trying, but I can barely afford to pay for my own expenses. I guess I should
appreciate the fact that my child is that close. I hear of so many families
that are separated far, far farther.


During the years that my son has been in prison, he has turned
his life around, has missed only two NA meeting, has found the chapel,
has earned 40 college credits, and has accumulated an outstanding work
record. Do you really think that those three more years will make a
difference? Do you really think that those three more years are necessary?
Do you really think that those three more years will make my son a
better person? Do you really think those three more years will change him
even more...for the better? Do you really think that we need to spend
$28,000 for those three more years?

The Federal Prison Policy Project is calling on you to help mothers, is
asking you to support legislation that will eliminate mandatory minimum
sentencing or will increase "good time" for qualifying prisoners, or will
reinstate parole for federal prisoners. Time will not solve this problem.
Time will only make the problem worse.

Thank you.

Sincerely,



....................................



SAMPLE LETTER #4



Dear Senator ABC or Representative XYZ:

This year, we, the Federal Prison Policy Project, are celebrating Mother's
Day by reminding all the members of Congress of the number of mothers who
are incarcerated in our federal prisons.

According to the most current Bureau of Prisons statistics, there are 11,802
women prisoners. How many of them are mothers? How many children are
separated from their mothers? Those numbers are not available, but one can
assume that at least half of those female inmates are mothers.

Study after study after study indicates that the children of many of those
women will drop out of school, become drawn in to criminal activity, and
become prisoners themselves. All because of the lack of parental involvement
in their young lives. What a terrible expense! What a waste!

The Federal Prison Policy Project is calling on you to help those mothers,
is asking you to support legislation that will eliminate mandatory minimum
sentencing or will increase "good time" for qualifying prisoners, or will
reinstate parole for federal prisoners. Time will not solve this problem.
Time will only make the problem worse.

Thank you.

Sincerely,