The rule that lets us promise a baseline of safety, the workflow that enforces it, and the recourse if it fails.
InsideLines does not list anyone convicted of crimes against women, children, or vulnerable adults. We verify charges against state and federal corrections records before publishing any profile. If we find a disqualifying record, we refund the subscription and explain the rejection.
This is non-negotiable. It is the rule that lets us promise outside correspondents a baseline of safety. It is also the rule that some inmate applicants will find frustrating; we accept that cost.
The exclusion applies regardless of how long ago the conviction was, regardless of any subsequent rehabilitation, and regardless of whether the inmate or their family contests the conviction. We are not the appropriate venue for that contest — the courts are. We are a private listing service and we set our own listing criteria.
Every profile goes through a structured vetting workflow before publication. The workflow has five stages and each stage is logged in our internal audit trail.
We pull the inmate's record from the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator (or the equivalent state corrections registry), the PACER federal court records system where applicable, and the state sex offender registry for the state of incarceration and any state of prior conviction. Charges are documented verbatim from the source. If any source returns a disqualifying record under the exclusion rule, vetting fails at this stage.
Photos submitted with the profile are reviewed for suitability — no nudity, no gang signs, no images of other identifiable individuals without consent, no contraband visible in frame. Photos that fail review can be replaced; we don't reject the whole profile for a photo problem.
The submitted bio is reviewed for content. We do not edit bios for tone or persuasiveness — the inmate's voice is the inmate's voice. We do flag content that names third parties without consent, content that describes criminal activity beyond what's already on the public record, or content that violates BOP communications policy.
The mailing address listed on the profile (facility name, register number, PO box) is verified against the BOP locator. We confirm the inmate is currently at the listed facility and that the address format is correct. Inmates transfer between facilities periodically; we re-verify addresses on a quarterly cadence.
An operator (currently Dr. Tatyana Moaton-Santiago, founder) reviews the full record and makes the final approval decision. Approval triggers the profile going live on insidelines.org. Rejection at this stage is rare and typically reflects a holistic concern not caught at earlier stages.
The first name, the inmate's stated age, the facility name and state, the jurisdiction (federal or state), the entry date, the earliest release date, the charges in vetted summary form, the bio in the inmate's voice, the interests, the languages they correspond in, and any vetted photos.
We do not publish: the inmate's full legal name, their date of birth, their full register number (only the facility name is shown), their family members' identities, or any details about other incarcerated individuals named in their record.
We don't moderate the content of letters once a correspondence has started. The verbatim-relay principle — neither inmate nor outside correspondent has their content edited or screened by InsideLines — is a deliberate choice. BOP already monitors every inmate communication for federal compliance; we don't add an additional moderation layer on top because that would duplicate BOP authority without legal standing and create operator liability for judgment calls that belong to the correspondents themselves and to BOP.
The exception: if a correspondent reports a letter as concerning (a threat, a request for contraband, conduct outside the bounds of consenting adult correspondence), we log it, review it, and take action up to and including removing the inmate from the platform. Reporting goes to [email protected].
Report it to [email protected] with the profile URL and the basis for the report. We will respond within two business days, re-run the vetting check, and remove the profile if the check confirms the report. Subscription refund applies.
We do not have a complete database of all victims of all crimes by all incarcerated people. Our vetting process catches the categories the exclusion rule covers (crimes against women, children, vulnerable adults), but cannot screen for every individual relationship. If you discover that someone listed here is the offender from a prior crime against you, please contact [email protected] directly. We will remove the profile and refund their subscription, no questions about the underlying case. Your contact information is held in strict confidence.
Active profiles are re-vetted quarterly. The re-vet checks for any new charges, any facility transfer, any changes to the BOP record. We don't re-vet to second-guess our prior decision — we re-vet to catch changes in the underlying record.