North Carolina
NC computerized prison mail system is both cruel and a rip-off | NC Newsline
I’ve been doing life in the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction (NCDAC) for almost 22 years. In 2021, the NCDAC made my life worse by contracting TextBehind to remotely scan and print our mail, supposedly to thwart synthetic drug smuggling, although it is widely accepted that prison employees are the main source of contraband.
Problems with TextBehind are too many to list. However, I once thought receiving a scanned copy of a birthday card three weeks late was as bad as TextBehind could get. But it’s about to become even worse.
Last month, people incarcerated at North Carolina prisons found out our scanned mail will be posted on prison-issued tablets. That translates to us viewing amateurishly scanned mail in tiny print on unreliable ViaPath tablets that regularly drop service.
Once, the tablet service dropped for three weeks. At Nash, where I am housed, 12 men must share six tablets because there aren’t enough for everyone. And if a tablet breaks, it can take up to six months for it to be replaced. Prisoners in solitary confinement have no tablets. On top of that, prison officials regularly restrict tablet usage as a collective punishment, not allowing them to be issued for the day because a few people don’t clean up their living area. All of this will amount to us losing access to our mail in a timely fashion or not receiving it at all.
This harmful issue is about more than us losing the experience of caressing a child’s first drawing or fingering a photo of a loved one. I survived this environment of hopelessness because tangible trinkets, like letters and cards, reassured me through bouts of depression, gave me a reason to live when I contemplated suicide, and humanized me when the violence and oppression of mass incarceration made me feel like a caged animal.
Now, no one wants to send me a personal letter through TextBehind.
Not only is it a mistake for the NCDAC to allow TextBehind to post mail on tablets, it is a mistake to continue monetizing our communication at all. Posting mail on tablets is happening because TextBehind loses money by printing our scanned U.S. postal mail without recouping the material cost, like toner, paper, and labor.
In North Carolina, the company only earns by charging high fees to send photos and letters through its app, as previously reported in a piece I wrote for Logic(s). Contrarily, TextBehind charges the Wisconsin Department of Corrections $1.49 per scanned letter, probably amounting to millions a year, on top of the revenue they reap from app usage in that state.
NC Newsline recently reported that the NCDAC was cutting ties with TextBehind, and going back to processing physical mail in its prisons, because the company wanted to charge the state for its services. Three days later, it changed plans again and renewed its arrangement with the firm.
If mail scanning actually reduced drug smuggling, the NCDAC would gladly pay for it, no matter the cost. But it doesn’t work. Trust me. I live in ground zero. Drugs are as rampant as they have ever been, with or without mail. As evidence of this fact, the NCDAC only continued the relationship after TextBehind partnered with ViaPath to post mail on our tablets, slashing the overhead to increase profits.
Obviously the NCDAC values money over the supposed prevention of drug smuggling. We already pay ViaPath nearly $2 for 15-minute phone calls that are free in California from the same company. ViaPath regularly hikes the price we pay for instant messaging on tablets without regulation by the NCDAC on our behalf. Now ViaPath will also control our U.S. postal mail.
When will the unfair monetization of communication stop? North Carolina’s prisons have become corporate piggy banks. I blame NCDAC officials for allowing predatory companies to exploit us for profit without bargaining for fairer prices and better service. Rehabilitation demands healthy communication with loved ones. To ignore that fact promotes recidivism, because we cannot build necessary bonds to ensure success upon release.
Posting mail on tablets is just the latest corporate hustle.
North Carolina
3 men charged in connection with woman’s death at Cook Out restaurant in North Carolina
Two men have been charged with murder in the death of 29-year-old Davicia Jean Ann Lee at a Cook Out restaurant in Durham, North Carolina, last month. A third is facing a weapons charge.
Two men have been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a woman at the fast-food restaurant Cook Out in North Carolina.
Twenty-three-year-old Alexander Kenyon Carlton Jr. and 19-year-old Calvin Jerade Spence Jr. have been charged with first-degree murder in the killing of 29-year-old Davicia Jean Ann Lee late last month in Durham, the Durham County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release on Friday.
A third man, 18-year-old Jamari Treyvon McKnight, is charged with one count of going armed to the terror of the people, which basically means terrorizing someone with a weapon like a gun.
USA TODAY could not immediately find attorneys representing the three men.
The shooting occurred just after 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 26 at the Cook Out on South Miami Boulevard, according to the sheriff’s office. When deputies arrived at the scene, they found Lee dead.
The sheriff’s office called the shooting “an isolated incident” that happened after shots broke out following a fight, WNCN-TV reported.
Arrests made in fatal shooting of Davicia Jean Ann Lee
Detectives arrested Spence and Carlton on Thursday and took them to the Durham County Detention Center without bond on charges of carrying a concealed gun, felony conspiracy, going armed to the terror of the people and first-degree murder, the sheriff’s office said.
McKnight was also taken into custody and arrested Thursday night on misdemeanor going armed to the terror of the people, according to the sheriff’s office. The Morrisville police arrested him and he is currently being held in the Wake County Detention Center until his first court appearance, the agency added.
The investigation into Lee’s homicide is ongoing, while all findings are now in the process of being turned over to the Durham County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution, according to the sheriff’s office.
The USC Trojans are in pursuit of flipping two class of 2025 recruits, Nela Tupou and Alex Payne. Can the Trojans flip one or both of these players before national signing day?
Nela Tupou Player Profile
Nela Tupou is a 6-4, 220 pound tight end/defensive end out of Folsom, California. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the 43rd-best ATH in the class of 2025 per 247Sports.
Tupou committed to the Utah Utes in February of 2024, but he just recently visited USC last weekend for the Trojans’ 28-20 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
On3 is now predicting that Tupou will likely flip this commitment from Utah to USC.
Alex Payne Player Profile
Alex Payne is a 6-5, 265 pound offensive tackle out of Gainesville, Florida. He is rated as four-star recruit and ranked as the 16th-best offensive tackle in the class of 2025.
Payne committed to the North Carolina Tar Heels in January of 2024, but he as well as Tupou, visited USC last weekend.
In 247Sports recruiting analyst Tom Loy’s updated crystal ball prediction, he had Payne flipping his commitment from North Carolina to USC. Loy has a good track record of predicting where recruits will end up as his all-time hit rate for predicting recruits’ final destinations is 81.64 percent.
USC Bolstering Up Offensive Line to Go Along With Weapons
One of the glaring holes for the USC Trojans this season has been the offensive line. For USC to bounce back next season, they will have to get much better in the trenches. This has been exposed in their first season in the Big Ten. Landing Tupou, who can both be a factor in the run blocking scheme as a blocker, and Payne, one of the top tackle prospects in the country, would go a long way for next season and the future of the program.
Barring a flurry of transfer portal decisions, the Trojans will have an abundance of skill position talent coming back next season.
Freshman running back Quinten Joyner has been the second best back this season behind senior running back Woody marks.
Four of the Trojans five leading receivers are sophomores. Makai Lemon, Zachariah Branch, Ja’Kobi Lane, and Duce Robinson all have shown flashes of potentially being a number one wide receiver next season.
Add in the Trojans starting sophomore quarterback Jayden Maiava and they have one of the youngest teams in the Big Ten. If USC continues to address the offensive line in the last days of the 2025 recruiting cycle and in the transfer portal this offseason, the Trojans could be a dangerous team next season.
MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Five-Star QB Husan Longstreet Talks Recruitment, Flip to USC Trojans
MORE: Minnesota Vikings’ Jordan Addison Injury Update After Increased Role Vs. Tennessee Titans
MORE: Did NIL Factor Into Julian Lewis Decommit From USC Trojans? Colorado Buffaloes Loom
MORE: USC Trojans Schedule Release: Notre Dame Kickoff Time, TV Broadcast
MORE: USC Trojans Quarterback Miller Moss’ Potential NIL Value as Transfer
MORE: USC Trojans’ Bear Alexander Visiting Georgia Bulldogs: Transfer Portal?
MORE: Chicago Bears’ Caleb Williams Reveals Advice from USC Trojans Coach Lincoln Riley
MORE: USC Trojans’ Lincoln Riley on De-Commitments: ‘Great Ones Always See The Opportunity’
MORE: Why 4-Star Hayden Lowe Flipped From USC Trojans To Miami Hurricanes, Mario Cristobal
MORE: USC Trojans Women’s Basketball Star JuJu Watkins Makes Name, Image, Likeness History
Sledding in Haw Creek Dec. 9, 2018
The Tracey family enjoys the snow in Haw Creek with some sledding.
Angeli Wright, Asheville Citizen Times
Some school systems in Western North Carolina are closed Friday, Nov. 21, due to winter weather.
- Avery County Schools: Closed, remote learning day.
- Graham County Schools: Closed, workday for staff.
- Madison County Schools: Closed, optional teacher workday.
- Mitchell County Schools: Closed, remote learning day.
- Watauga County Schools: Two-hour delay.
- Yancey County Schools: Closed, remote learning day.
This story will be updated
Montana transgender lawmaker on Capitol Hill's bathroom ban: 'Do not cede ground'
Tigers Top Flip Target Locks in Commitment with Nebraska
How Las Vegas, Nevada, Became Known For Its Larger-Than-Life Buffets
Property Tax Rates; Arrests; Best Ski Town; Where’s Santa? PM Patch NH
Fair Lawn man, NY associate facing civil action by NJ AG for defrauding investor
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Why Marjorie Taylor Greene was ‘kicked out’ of the Freedom Caucus according to Rep. Buck
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
Video: Heavy Rains and Wind Wreak Havoc on the West Coast
'Conveyor belt of radicals': GOP slammed over Senate absences that helped Biden score more judges in lame duck
Fact-check: What do we know about Russia’s nuclear arsenal?
Can Matt Gaetz return to Congress? He says he won’t.
Where Trump Gained and Harris Lost in New York
-
Business1 week ago
Column: OpenAI just scored a huge victory in a copyright case … or did it?
-
Health1 week agoBird flu leaves teen in critical condition after country's first reported case
-
Business6 days agoColumn: Molly White's message for journalists going freelance — be ready for the pitfalls
-
World1 week agoSarah Palin, NY Times Have Explored Settlement, as Judge Sets Defamation Retrial
-
Science3 days agoTrump nominates Dr. Oz to head Medicare and Medicaid and help take on 'illness industrial complex'
-
Politics5 days agoTrump taps FCC member Brendan Carr to lead agency: 'Warrior for Free Speech'
-
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25739950/247386_Elon_Musk_Open_AI_CVirginia.jpg "Inside Elon Musk’s messy breakup with OpenAI")
Technology4 days agoInside Elon Musk’s messy breakup with OpenAI
-
Lifestyle5 days agoSome in the U.S. farm industry are alarmed by Trump's embrace of RFK Jr. and tariffs
