Posted on 09/12/2006 2:36:12 PM PDT by NCjim
NASHVILLE, N.C. -- Convicted murderer Michael Peterson has received a minor prison infraction for having too many postage stamps, a state Department of Correction spokesman said.
Stamps are a hot commodity behind bars, according to spokesman Keith Acree, because prisoners use them for trading and bartering.
Indigent inmates used to receive, all at once, 10 stamps a month, but because too many inmates were using them for other purposes, the policy was changed. Now, inmates get one stamp about every three days.
A former Durham newspaper columnist and novelist, Peterson was declared indigent in October 2003 after he was convicted of first-degree murder in connection with the death of his wife, Kathleen Peterson. She was found dead at the bottom of a staircase inside the couple's Durham mansion in December 2001.
Peterson is still at the Nash Correctional Institution, where he is serving a life sentence and awaiting a decision from the North Carolina Court of Appeals on his murder conviction.
At one point, the one-time millionaire earned $1 a day teaching GED classes to other inmates. Acree said that Peterson lost his teaching assistant position because of the infraction, which is a standard practice, even for a minor problem.
The possession of "no-threat contraband" is Peterson's first infraction since he was admitted into the state's prison system on Oct. 10, 2003. He did spend nearly a month in solitary confinement in early 2004, but prison officials would not ever say exactly why he was placed there.
(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...
OK....what other use can be found for a stamp?
I seem to recall the old lick stamps were used with a drop of LSD or whatever on them.
He started his very own Lickit&Stickit program, a spin-off of the state's Clickit or Ticket program, which upset state officials.
In a place like a prison stamps could become a defacto form of currency. If they are earning a dollar a day, then a stamp represents a third of a day's work.
They can be used as currency behind bars for other things.
I think he should have to register as a stamp abuser when he gets out. Everyone should be able to look him up on the internet. He should not be able to live within half a mile of a post office.
You used to be able to pay bills with them. Not in prison, but outside.
Seriously.
I can recall when utility companies began printing on their bills do not send cash or stamps."
Before that you could pay utilities and certain retailers (Sears was one Montgomery Wards was another) in postage stamps for mail order stuff.
That mightve been before your time though
prison uses them for that purpose, evidently.
Indigent inmates used to receive, all at once, 10 stamps a month, but because too many inmates were using them for other purposes, the policy was changed. Now, inmates get one stamp about every three days.
why give then stamps AT ALL??? put the damn stamp on it in the mail room AFTER the convict gives it to you for mailing. sheeesh... it's NOT rocket science.
Hang the philatelists, that way there will be no repeat philatelists.
philatelism must be stopped!
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