Let inmates' penpals use common sense
D.F. Oliveria/For the editorial boardSome people are so clueless that laws are written to protect them from their own stupidity.
In Arizona, for example, it's now unlawful for prisoners to interact with "communication service providers." Basically, the new law prevents prisoners, mostly male, from using the Internet to troll for penpals, mostly female, who are looking for love in all the wrong places.
Understandably, Mike Nelson believes Washington state should adopt the same law after learning that killer Kevin Boot was reeling in penpals with his personal Internet ad. Boot's ad mentions that he's looking for a "sweet, special someone," which describes Nelson's cousin Felicia Reese, whom Boot kidnapped from a Spokane hotel parking lot and shot in the face three times.
"The Internet has become a major player in society, and I don't think they have any right on it, advertising for anything," Nelson told Spokesman-Review staff writer Jeanette White.
It's tempting to agree with Nelson. After all, Felicia Reese is dead, and her two-bit killer is alive to con naive women. But where does personal responsibility come into play? Anyone who responds to a personal ad placed by an inmate must have some inkling that her penpal isn't a choirboy. That he'll hit her up for money, cigarettes, legal help and more. Access to the Internet shouldn't be hamstrung by laws that attempt to regulate stupidity.
The situation would be far worse if inmates had direct access to the Internet. Instead, they rely on a Web matchmaker, who for a fee paid by the prisoners or their penpals list inmate personals, complete with photos and mailing addresses. If these Web accomplices had any decency or a shred of compassion for the families of victims, such as Felicia Reese, they'd also list the crimes committed by their clients. Call it truth in advertising.
In a 1998 personal ad, Spokane's Dwayne Woods said he enjoyed "almost everything that requires two: dining out, long drives across the country or just sitting at home in front of the fireplace watching a scary movie or listening to some slow music!" Priscilla Pletcher of Pennsylvania should have mentioned Woods' other "hobbies" on her Web site: beating women to death with a baseball bat and stabbing them when they refuse to have sex with him.
That'd take the bloom off Woods' rosy ad.
If common sense can't keep women from writing to convicts, such as natural-born killers Boot and Woods, a disclaimer or a law won't do much good either. There'll always be some who seek the thrill of chitchatting with a caged killer, armed robber or even a rapist. Or who are naive enough to believe they can change a convict. Or who are so terminally lonely they're willing to make a bad choice. Or who relish the chance to control a relationship. At least, they know where their man is at night.
Nyna Logsdon, a 19-year-old convenience store clerk from Texas, is one who doesn't seem to care about the consequences. She corresponds with Boot. When reporter White dutifully told her that Boot was a hard-boiled killer, Logsdon was shocked. But she said she planned to keep writing to him.
"If I was going to judge people on the mistakes they've made," she said. "I wouldn't talk to half the people I talk to."
Maybe she shouldn't.
Copyright 2000 Cowles Publishing Company
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
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