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Lead developer here. Ameelio is a non-profit that's building free technology to transform corrections and criminal justice. We've recently launched Letters, our

Lead developer here. Ameelio is a non-profit that's building free technology to transform corrections and criminal justice. We've recently launched Letters, our first application that lets loved-ones of incarcerated individuals send physical mail for free. Currently, the situation is that two corporations own communication throughout the prisons and jails in the U.S (Global Tel Link and Securus). They charge ridiculous amounts of money just so that you can stay in contact with your loved-ones. We're hoping to change that. I actually discovered Ameelio last year through a Hacker News post (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21129557 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21129557) that didn't gain much attention. Zo, the founder, had reached out looking for support and contributors through a hiring post. When I read the post, I decided to look more into the project. My first thought was just "Wow!". I really vibed with the concept because it's something that hits really close to home. I've had friends and family that were incarcerated before so I know exactly what it's like dealing with the struggles that come from that experience. When someone is incarcerated, it's not just a punishment for them. It's an attack on their families, as well. In my experience, poverty is oftentimes a direct cause for incarceration. Mistakes are made and you get put into a situation, a system, that doesn't value reformation, but instead looks to profit. To communicate with a loved-one on the inside means spending money that you don't have. If your family is struggling financially, it means that you're out of luck. This shouldn't be the case. I believe that a system focused on reformation would be much better for our society than a system based on profit. Why should a corporation be able to take control of communication between an incarcerated individual and their loved-ones meahwhile charging high prices knowing that it's their only option? Why have we allowed that to happen? Being a part of this project is my way of stepping up and making sure we can deliver an alternative option for those families that are struggling. I've received amazing support from this community before and thanks to you guys I've been able to focus my efforts on projects like this. Any and all feedback is welcome. If you're interested in using our app then feel free to check it out. It's free and we'll do all that we can to keep it that way.

flanbiscuit 6y ago
"Currently, the situation is that two corporations own communication throughout the prisons and jails in the U.S (JPay and Securus)." Did you experience any issues trying to get into this space? Any push back from the companies mentioned or from any of the state prison systems? What a great idea! That testimonial from the blind person on your home page is very moving.
- jessehorne 6y ago
  First I'd like to thank you for the comment. You made me realize a mistake I made in mentioning JPay and Securus when I meant to say Global Tel Link and Securus. As far as pushback from other companies, we haven't received any so far. There's nothing they can really do besides make their services more appealing. Currently, with Letters (our first app), it allows users to sign up, add their contacts (inmates), and then type out a letter and also are given the option to attach an image. Then we use a third party service, Lob, to print off the letter and send it. Given that we're just working with physical mail, there's absolutely nothing they can do to stop us. One type of pushback we can receive is from facilities themselves. One facility returned one of our letters and said that you can't have anything in the letter that could be some form of encrypted message or symbol. In our case, that happened to be the bar code used by the third party service to manage their letters. In the future, we'd like to also offer services like free video chat/messaging. In my opinion, we're not far from being able to offer those kinds of services. I can definitely imagine some sort of pushback happening in that space, but what kind specifically is TBD. I'm excited though, because if we can get to that point, we'll be literally transforming the system.
  - grahamburger 6y ago
    Honest question, because I have no idea how this all works: if people can just send letters for the cost of a stamp then why do they use Global Tel Link or Securus? Really great thing you're doing here, I hope it all works out.
    - jessehorne 6y ago
      The benefits of using those services are that communication is much faster when you can just write up a message on your phone or computer and click "send". If you can afford it, it's the preferred way to go. It's better than having to wait for days upon days, and even weeks for your letter to arrive. Even though from what I've heard, a letter is much more personal and very much appreciated.
    - tyingq 6y ago
FpUser 6y ago
Thank you people for being human and trying to fight that horrible for profit prison system which I think is a crime on its own.
nyxtom 6y ago
Speaking from personal experience in my family, this hits close to home as well. The for profit system is an absolute travesty and horrible circumstance. Thank you for spending your time working on something to fight back against this gross system.
everfree 6y ago
The letter to the inmate on the front page says "I really enjoy the work we are doing, I could see myself staying here for a long time." Is it just me or is the specific wording of this not in the greatest taste? The letter also has some grammar errors. Not to detract from the good this company is doing.
- jessehorne 6y ago
  I've passed on that feedback and I agree. We'll get that changed!
terrence_tao 6y ago
I support what you're doing but you're getting carried away: >When someone is incarcerated, it's ... an attack on their families The victim was attacked, not the perpetrator's family. I won't have criminals goodified as innocent little damsels in this scenario. >In my experience, poverty is oftentimes a direct cause for incarceration. No, it's indirect, at best. Poverty is not a crime. Plenty of good people are dirt poor yet would never consider victimising another. Unfortunately, some bad people do use their own financial situation as an excuse to prey upon others. This is especially disgraceful in the West where generous welfare systems will cover the living expenses and more of anyone in need. By all means, keep doing what you're doing. But please don't ever forget that you're assisting criminals; people who have harmed some innocent stranger(s) and society as a whole. Regardless of your own sentiments, be very careful how you communicate with decent law-abiding people about your work.
esra_steinberg 6y ago
I support what you're doing but you're getting carried away: >When someone is incarcerated, it's ... an attack on their families The victim was attacked, not the perpetrator's family. I won't have criminals goodified as innocent little damsels in this scenario. >In my experience, poverty is oftentimes a direct cause for incarceration. No, it's indirect, at best. Poverty is not a crime. Plenty of good people are dirt poor yet would never consider victimising another. Unfortunately, some bad people do use their own financial situation as an excuse to prey upon others. This is especially disgraceful in the West where generous welfare systems will cover the living expenses and more of anyone in need. By all means, keep doing what you're doing. But please don't ever forget that you're assisting criminals; people who have harmed some innocent stranger(s) and society as a whole. Regardless of your own sentiments, be very careful how you communicate with decent law-abiding people about your work.
pkphilip 6y ago
Amazing work! More power to you and others involved in this. I can imagine this is a huge blessing to the people involved. Thank you for doing this.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
tsjq 6y ago
>I believe that a system focused on reformation would be much better for our society than a system based on profit. Why should a corporation be able to take control of communication between an incarcerated individual and their loved-ones meahwhile charging high prices knowing that it's their only option? fantastic points. I totally agree with you.
f-securus 6y ago
The prices charged by Securus and other 3rd party services provided to jails are ridiculous and predatory. Competition would be great but I’m not sure they will allow it to happen without a fight. They make so much money and portions of that money are shared with the jails the pessimist in me doesn’t see there ever being a free option for instant communication. I appreciate the effort and I think this space has a lot of room for improvement. Godspeed!
- kruzerkc 6y ago
  What do you think are the best strategies to win that fight?
  - toomuchtodo 6y ago
    Lobbying Congress to use federal statue to prevent predatory behavior. What that looks like would be up to a domain expert. Price controls on communication services, prohibiting kickbacks to prisons, requiring comms be free and subsidized by government, or some combination of the above. If you can show how inexpensive it is to provide the service, it becomes straightforward to punch holes in the story predatory for profits are using to profiteer from the situation.

flanbiscuit 6y ago

"Currently, the situation is that two corporations own communication throughout the prisons and jails in the U.S (JPay and Securus)." Did you experience any issues trying to get into this space? Any push back from the companies mentioned or from any of the state prison systems? What a great idea! That testimonial from the blind person on your home page is very moving.

jessehorne 6y ago
First I'd like to thank you for the comment. You made me realize a mistake I made in mentioning JPay and Securus when I meant to say Global Tel Link and Securus. As far as pushback from other companies, we haven't received any so far. There's nothing they can really do besides make their services more appealing. Currently, with Letters (our first app), it allows users to sign up, add their contacts (inmates), and then type out a letter and also are given the option to attach an image. Then we use a third party service, Lob, to print off the letter and send it. Given that we're just working with physical mail, there's absolutely nothing they can do to stop us. One type of pushback we can receive is from facilities themselves. One facility returned one of our letters and said that you can't have anything in the letter that could be some form of encrypted message or symbol. In our case, that happened to be the bar code used by the third party service to manage their letters. In the future, we'd like to also offer services like free video chat/messaging. In my opinion, we're not far from being able to offer those kinds of services. I can definitely imagine some sort of pushback happening in that space, but what kind specifically is TBD. I'm excited though, because if we can get to that point, we'll be literally transforming the system.
- grahamburger 6y ago
  Honest question, because I have no idea how this all works: if people can just send letters for the cost of a stamp then why do they use Global Tel Link or Securus? Really great thing you're doing here, I hope it all works out.
  - jessehorne 6y ago
    The benefits of using those services are that communication is much faster when you can just write up a message on your phone or computer and click "send". If you can afford it, it's the preferred way to go. It's better than having to wait for days upon days, and even weeks for your letter to arrive. Even though from what I've heard, a letter is much more personal and very much appreciated.
  - tyingq 6y ago

FpUser 6y ago

Thank you people for being human and trying to fight that horrible for profit prison system which I think is a crime on its own.

nyxtom 6y ago

Speaking from personal experience in my family, this hits close to home as well. The for profit system is an absolute travesty and horrible circumstance. Thank you for spending your time working on something to fight back against this gross system.

everfree 6y ago

The letter to the inmate on the front page says "I really enjoy the work we are doing, I could see myself staying here for a long time." Is it just me or is the specific wording of this not in the greatest taste? The letter also has some grammar errors. Not to detract from the good this company is doing.

jessehorne 6y ago
I've passed on that feedback and I agree. We'll get that changed!

terrence_tao 6y ago

I support what you're doing but you're getting carried away: >When someone is incarcerated, it's ... an attack on their families The victim was attacked, not the perpetrator's family. I won't have criminals goodified as innocent little damsels in this scenario. >In my experience, poverty is oftentimes a direct cause for incarceration. No, it's indirect, at best. Poverty is not a crime. Plenty of good people are dirt poor yet would never consider victimising another. Unfortunately, some bad people do use their own financial situation as an excuse to prey upon others. This is especially disgraceful in the West where generous welfare systems will cover the living expenses and more of anyone in need. By all means, keep doing what you're doing. But please don't ever forget that you're assisting criminals; people who have harmed some innocent stranger(s) and society as a whole. Regardless of your own sentiments, be very careful how you communicate with decent law-abiding people about your work.

esra_steinberg 6y ago

pkphilip 6y ago

Amazing work! More power to you and others involved in this. I can imagine this is a huge blessing to the people involved. Thank you for doing this.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

tsjq 6y ago

>I believe that a system focused on reformation would be much better for our society than a system based on profit. Why should a corporation be able to take control of communication between an incarcerated individual and their loved-ones meahwhile charging high prices knowing that it's their only option? fantastic points. I totally agree with you.

f-securus 6y ago

The prices charged by Securus and other 3rd party services provided to jails are ridiculous and predatory. Competition would be great but I’m not sure they will allow it to happen without a fight. They make so much money and portions of that money are shared with the jails the pessimist in me doesn’t see there ever being a free option for instant communication. I appreciate the effort and I think this space has a lot of room for improvement. Godspeed!

kruzerkc 6y ago
What do you think are the best strategies to win that fight?
- toomuchtodo 6y ago
  Lobbying Congress to use federal statue to prevent predatory behavior. What that looks like would be up to a domain expert. Price controls on communication services, prohibiting kickbacks to prisons, requiring comms be free and subsidized by government, or some combination of the above. If you can show how inexpensive it is to provide the service, it becomes straightforward to punch holes in the story predatory for profits are using to profiteer from the situation.