Week 5: Marriage
Getting married, is supposed to be an exciting time in both the bride and grooms life. It is a time when the newlyweds can be together, and enjoy their time together as man and wife. However for prisoners who get married while they are incarcerated, this is not the case. How do you ask prisoners meet their “soulmates”, this is where it can become a controversial topic. Many prisoners, mostly men, who are in sentenced to life in jail or on death row, are able to post personal advertisements in order to gain a pen pal, and in some cases a future spouse. There are hundreds of websites out there that contain these personal ad’s and show information on the inmate and how to get in contact with the inmate of their choice.
The reason this has caused so much controversy is the simple fact, whether or not inmates should have the freedom to have communication with the outside world because of they are in jail. This is something that has been discussed many times, and there are many different opinions on the issue. For those who do visit these websites, and respond to these personal ads feel as though it is a way to find their soul mate. Many people, mostly women do this in a variety of way, by writing to them, sending gifts, visiting, and in extreme and raw occasions taking it to the level of marriage. Those who are opposed to prisoners having these ads, feel as though it is going against the idea of what marriage is supposed to be, and giving back the rights of those whose rights were taken for a reason.
With all of the positive and negative sides of these personal ads and marriages happening within prison walls, there are many people who are very happy with what their futures hold. There are those who have found their soul mates through this untraditional way of meeting someone, but they do not get to have the marriage that they maybe pictured for themselves. It is a hard road to travel and it takes a lot, especially from the partner that is not in jail.
