Prisoners Playing

mepbmlist
#1

Hi,

Snail mail from prison is I believe always marked as such (though

perhaps someone

knows otherwise).

I regularly receive mail from several PBMers in UK prisons - the
envelopes are not marked. Mail from US prisons on the other hand IS
marked.

I think that Clint should get some legal advice though, as the

situation is

one fraught with complexities. And he may need to get legal advice on

established practice for all the countries they trade in.

Exactly! The point here is not, or should not be, what we all think
about the subject. After all, there are bound to be a
multiplicity of views. The key is to check what the legal situation is
and adhere to that.

The legal system draws the line for you - lines of parallel iron

bars. At

the moment, in England, people do not have to reveal their criminal
records, except when applying for very specific protected
occupations.

So, a fraudster (Mr. Archer for instance) worries you more than a
violent repeat offender who is out of prison?

OK, so it's easy to score points either way here, however please
remember that all mail from (and to) a prisoner is subject to being read
by the prison authorities. I've spoekn with prison authorities more than
once over the years (on this very question) and can assure people that
prisoners thought to be sociopaths or likely to commit a crime against a
person they correspond with, are generally not permitted to play PBM.
This was certainly the case four years ago, and I have no reason to
believe the policy has changed. Of course, I don't know about overseas
prisons.

Easy to say. Now consider: Young Mepbm teeny, plays with older more
experienced player.

It's easy to reduce this to an emotional level, isn't it Laurence.
However, shall we try and stick to logical discussion,
preferably off-list? The question here is not (or should not be), "what
do you and I think", but "what is the legal
situation?"

It's not Harly's job to act as warden. England and the
U.S. and Australia and the EU have fine public forums
to debate the rights of prisoners. This is a gaming
company -- let's play, all of us.

Ta-dah! Best point yet made. (Please, no-one pick up on the fact that
England does not have a Parliament, whereas the Scots and Welsh do ...
oops, too late :-))

Colin.

#2

That's interesting. Do you know if this applies to all categories of prisons?

Laurence G. Tilley

http://www.lgtilley.freeserve.co.uk

ยทยทยท

At 12:06 PM 18-02-02, Colin Forbes wrote:

I regularly receive mail from several PBMers in UK prisons - the
envelopes are not marked.

#3

Exactly! The point here is not, or should not be, what we all think
about the subject. After all, there are bound to be a
multiplicity of views. The key is to check what the legal situation is
and adhere to that.

RD: Of course Harle should adhere to the law. BUT, over and above that,
Harle have a duty of care to their players. If some players do not want to
play with prisoners, why the hell should they have to? Most of us have come
across players whom we would rather not play with again for much smaller
reasons than whether they have been in prison or not.

Give players the choice!

OK, so it's easy to score points either way here, however please
remember that all mail from (and to) a prisoner is subject to being read
by the prison authorities. I've spoekn with prison authorities more than
once over the years (on this very question) and can assure people that
prisoners thought to be sociopaths or likely to commit a crime against a
person they correspond with, are generally not permitted to play PBM.
This was certainly the case four years ago, and I have no reason to
believe the policy has changed. Of course, I don't know about overseas
prisons.

RD: Who makes these assessments? A prison governor or some faceless
bureaucrat? I have absolutely zero faith in the civil service to identify
who is likely to be a sociopath or not.

I DO have faith in Harle's ability to tag a game "one or more prisoners play
in this game." This leaves it up to the individual player whether he joins
that game or not.

What the hell is the problem?

Richard.