Q: Why should I log into Mail-to-Jail.com?

A: You can send letters to jailed freedom activists via the Mail-to-Jail website even if you don't log in, but you will not be able to see any letters you've sent in the past if they were sent anonymously.

We suggest that you do log in, however. The only piece of "real" information we need is an email address so that you we can verify you're a real person, and you can sign up for a free email account somewhere just for this purpose if you want. And you can make up a username, which is the only other information we require. Or you can log in using your OpenID credentials. We're not going to sell or give away your information - ever, not even if the government demands it of us. We just think it's a more streamlined experience to have your own account.

With a Mail-to-Jail account, you can review letters you've sent in the past and make sure they were mailed (we change the status of each letter to "Processing" as we're printing it out and preparing it, and to "Mailed" after we've sent it). Also, only with an account can you add an activist so that you (and others) can send them letters.

Q: What's the deadline to enter a letter in order to have that letter sent in today's mail?

A: I print and send your letters to jailed activists once per day, usually mid-morning. When I am in jail, however, and I have someone else running Mail-to-Jail.com, they'll do it when is convenient for them. I want to send every letter no later than the first day after the letter is created that US Mail is deliverable. If you would like your letter sent sooner (i.e., immediately), please enter your letter like normal and then send an email to admin@mail-to-jail.com and let me know you want it sent immediately (I'll need to know which letter or your Mail-to-Jail user account); I'll print it and pop it in the mail right away.

Q: Is there any mail that Mail-to-Jail will not send?

A: We do not read the letters we send, though we can't help but see them briefly when we print them out and out them in envelopes. Certain jails, however, have rules about what is allowed to be mailed in, and we abide by those rules in order to assure your letters get delivered. Usually such rules prohibit physical things like stamps and money or more than X sheets of paper, but sometimes they also censor content, like images including nudity.

In short, we send your letters - we do not censor them.