Support letters for inmates can be one of the most important factors considered by parole boards when thinking about whether to release an inmate back into society. The parole board must be certain that the inmate has been rehabilitated to the point where they will not only cause no harm to society but will actually be able to merge successfully back into the mainstream. One big part of this decision is often based on the kinds of support letters received by the board which attest to the degree of rehabilitation any specific inmate has achieved. You can read more here about the huge impact that such support letters can have on influencing the decision of a prison parole board.
In this article, we’ll discuss how these same support letters can have an even greater impact when used as part of an online campaign, or when posted on social media to be seen by the masses. If you are the relative of someone who has been incarcerated, you’ll probably want to do everything possible to secure their release, so this information could be crucial in helping to accomplish that goal. It is, of course, extremely important that the parole board be made aware that an inmate has undergone significant change, but it’s also vital to build a groundswell of support in society for his/her release.
This kind of social support is one thing a parole board takes heavily into account when considering the release of an inmate. All these support letters help to show that an inmate is ready to re-enter society and become a productive member of some area. That is exactly what a parole board is looking for, because they don’t want to release someone who is ill-equipped to function in a social setting. That would only encourage them to revert to illegal activities or to lose whatever remediation they had achieved in the prison setting.
How social media can be used
Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the last 20 years, you’re aware of the tremendous power of social media to popularize any topic or any action, and make it well known to millions of others. Some social media platforms have as many as two billion active users, and that is a good percentage of the entire population on this planet. That’s exactly why digital media advertising makes such widespread use of social media – because it has the power to reach a good percentage of all the people on earth.
All it takes is a few users who decide to like or share any given post, and it can spread like wildfire all around the globe. The kinds of posts that achieve this level of popularity are many and diverse, and you can never tell just what will catch the fancy of social media users worldwide. By using social media in a campaign to support the release of an inmate, you would be enlisting a resource that has the potential to create a tidal wave of support for your inmate. Here’s how you can go about that:
- Hootsuite – this is an excellent tool for managing your posts across several social media platforms. If you plan to use several platforms, this will be the best way to control exactly which posts go to each platform, and it will prevent chaos from developing with your individual posts.
- Summary blogs – if you have a regular blog, you can post periodic summaries, to let your readers know the status of your efforts and theirs. This will be a good way to inform your readers and maintain their interest and involvement in your inmate release efforts.
- Regular blogs – don’t just do a one-time post and expect that it will be seen and acted upon by readers. It usually takes time to establish an online presence in social media, and you will need to have your posts discovered by at least some readers, who can then help to share and popularize your posts. By blogging regularly, you can increase the chances that your posts will be discovered by readers and that they will join forces with you.
- Keywords – discover which keywords resonate most strongly with your readers, and make sure to liberally use these keywords in your posts. This can be very important, because anyone searching for activities like yours will be much more likely to find your posts, since they will appear on the first page of search results.
- Schedule your time – track the time you spend on social media posting and allow enough time to adequately accomplish your objectives. If you just sit down and start posting indiscriminately, you could end up exceeding the amount of available time you have quite often. It’s better to set time limits for yourself, so you won’t burn out on the task, and will be able to return to it periodically.
Using online social media campaigns
Most companies are well aware of the power of social media to influence consumers to make a purchase or to sway them toward a cause. That’s why a number of social media campaigns have been developed and used in the past on a situational basis, to improve sales of a specific product or to promote an upcoming event or activity.
These kinds of campaigns have typically met with more success than would normally be achievable through ordinary social media postings. With some strong initiative and some great content, you might be able to initiate your own social media campaign to obtain the release of an inmate you know. Here is how you could go about starting up and maintaining such a campaign.
- Planning stage – take some time to think about what the overall theme of your campaign will be. For instance, you may want to focus on the fact that your inmate has paid his/her debt to society and has been a model prisoner during incarceration. Include some specific examples of how your inmate has been rehabilitated and is now ready to re-enter society. This will encourage readers to get on board with your efforts, and will help to convince them of the righteousness of the campaign. You’ll also want to make some decisions on how many social media posts will be involved in your campaign, and what kind of content you intend to use.
- Execution – decide which of the social media platforms are frequented by users who are most likely to be sympathetic to your cause. For instance, a highly visual platform like Instagram may not be as useful as one like Facebook, which has a more general readership. At any rate, this may call for some trial and error. You may have to plan a few preliminary posts, and see which platform they are best received on, before choosing those platforms where you think your message is most likely to be picked up and acted upon.
- Follow-up – when you begin to enlist followers to your cause, it will be important to give them some feedback, so they know their efforts are appreciated. This will tend to keep them on board, and working with you to achieve your goals. Everyone likes to feel appreciated, so don’t miss this opportunity to thank your followers, and to encourage them to spread the word even further.
The impact of support letters and social media campaigns
A parole board is obliged to consider just a few factors in determining whether or not to grant a release to any inmate. Here are those factors:
- Behavior in prison – if the inmate has been a model prisoner and has obeyed all prison rules faithfully, it is more likely that he/she will be granted early release. On the other hand, if they have shown a consistent pattern of unruly behavior and disregard for the rules of the institution, early release becomes far less likely.
- Severity of the crime – violent crimes are always looked at more closely by parole boards. So if your inmate is only guilty of petit larceny, his/her chances for early release are far greater than they would be if murder or some kind of violent physical harm was involved in their incarceration.
- Remorse factor – if a prisoner has shown remorse for a crime, that is a favorable quality that will be considered by a parole board. If there is no obvious remorse, it’s likely that an inmate will not be granted early release.
- Rehabilitation – those inmates who have clearly demonstrated a willingness to be rehabilitated are always given priority for early release by a parole board. An inmate who retains the same criminal attitude after years of incarceration is not likely to be favorably considered by the review board.
- Community support – in many cases, this can be the most powerful agent for getting an inmate released early from prison. The reason for this is that early release generally depends on whether or not an inmate can safely be released back into society without causing any additional disruption or harm to fellow citizens. If there is a strong groundswell of support from members of the community, and they feel the inmate is ready for social interaction, it can make all the difference.
