NC cracks down on prison mail to keep drugs out

Instead, they'll send letters to Maryland, where a contractor will scan the letter and send a digital copy to the prison so it can be printed out.

Advocates criticized the change, noting, among other things, that a digital printout of a child's drawing isn't the same as the real thing.

This policy has been in place for some time at the state's prisons for women, and now it's expanded to all facilities. The Department of Public Safety said the policy generated "few complaints" at the women's prisons, and that substance abuse infractions dropped by 50 percent.

A company called TextBehind will process the mail, and there won't be a charge for regular mail. The company has an app, though, for cellphones and computers, and it will charge people who want to send digital letters, greeting cards and uploaded photos or artwork through the app.

Charges start at 49 cents, the Department of Public Safety said.

Prison Books Collective, which provides books to prisons across North Carolina, said it's concerned. The original letters and art sent through the system will be shredded after 30 days unless the sender pays $2.50 to have it returned.

Leigh Lassiter, a volunteer with the group, said it often gets requests for books that can be read over the phone to a child. A letter or birthday card or drawing scanned, "perhaps imperfectly," is "a devastating image," she said.

“We see every week in the letters we answer how important mail is," Lassiter said Wednesday. "To think that they will no longer be able to look at an expression of love from these children. ... We’d really like people to think about the people incarcerated.”

Lassiter also worried the policy will continue to evolve, pushing people toward digital services that TextBehind can profit from. She also noted people won't be able to send stamps anymore to cover the cost of response letters.

Prisons leadership said this is a necessary shift.

“The safety and security of our prisons are always foremost,” Prisons Commissioner Todd Ishee said in a statement. “Reducing the volume of drugs and other contraband entering our prisons will help us protect our staff, the offenders in our custody and the general public. This new system will be faster and safer.”

Letter writers should address mail to prisons this way, the department said:

Phoenix, MD 21131