Anarchist prisoner Cassidy Wheeler still experiencing mail disruptions by prison staff

From Chantel:

Hello friends and supporters of Cassidy Wheeler!

I talked to Cassidy on the phone last night. He is in good spirits, and we laughed a lot.

However, he told me that he is still having a lot of problems with his mail. He said that in many letters he has received lately, the writer has indicated that this is the second or even third time the letter has been sent. Many pieces of his mail have been rejected due to "foreign substance." Cassidy was even told recently that there is a rule against him asking publishers to send books for him to place in the pod library. Of course, when Cassidy challenged this assertion, the rule sited did NOT say that prisoners cannot ask for publishers to send them free books.

In any case, Cassidy's mail is still being withheld, and the mailroom workers are still messing with him.

PLEASE DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED!

The mailroom workers want us to get disheartened and stop writing to
Cassidy. They want to cut him off from his friends and supporters by rejecting letters that are really not against the rules. He is a thorn in their side and challenges them when they break their own rules, and they want to punish him for that.

What Cassidy needs right now if for us to write him more letters than ever! We need to show the mailroom that they cannot cut Cassidy off from the people who care about him.

If you have not written to Cassidy in a while (or ever) or if you wrote and never heard back from him, please consider sending him another letter or postcard. If you have written to Cassidy and your letter was returned, please do not get frustrated and stop writing. Send your letters again and again and again until they get through. Please do not give in to the mailroom's intimidation tactics.

Here are some tips for writing:

Make sure there is no glitter, glue, tape, stickers, lipstick, coffee (or any other) stains anywhere on the envelope or letter.

The mailroom is using the "foreign substance" rule a lot lately to reject letters. If your ink is smeared or there is dirt or oil spots anywhere on the envelope or letter, the mailroom may send it back to you. The envelope and letter should look neat, clean, and pristine.

Plain white stationery with no images might be the way to go. (One
friend's letter was returned due to "foreign substance," and all we could figure out was that the mailroom didn't like the image of flowers on the stationery.)

Circle A's and other symbols perceived as "anarchist" may slow down a piece of mail (as it sits on the security threat gang official's desk for months) or get it rejected even though it's not supposed to be against the rules.

If you don't hear back from Cassidy within a couple of months, assume that your letter never got to him and write again.

If your letter is rejected and returned to you, please Please PLEASE write again. Believe me, I know how frustrating and discouraging it is when letters are rejected and returned from the mailroom, but for Cassidy's sake, we cannot give up.

I have a theory that postcards get to him more quickly because they are easily read by mailroom workers (oh yes, assume that everything you send in to him is going to be read and scrutinized by a mailroom worker and maybe even workers higher up in the chain of command). Please consider picking up a postcard or a few and sending them to Cassidy to let him know that you are thinking of him and that you won't be deterred by this mailroom foolishness.

I know Cassidy enjoys and appreciates every piece of mail he gets and sees mail call as the highlight of his day. I know he would be glad to hear from you.

all the best,
Chantel