Today’s Solutions: March 21, 2026

If you have a loved one in prison and want to contact them, generally you are allowed to call, email, or video chat with them. The only problem is prisons can charge a fortune for these services, leaving physical mail as the best and sometimes only option for people behind bars.

But mail comes with its own problems. If you send a letter, there is a very real chance that it will never reach its intended recipient. That’s the letter your sending may violate the prison facility’s mail rules, which can dictate everything from acceptable paper sizes to what the writing implements. Mails can be censored too.

To help make it easier for people to successfully send letters to inmates, British-American entrepreneur Josh Browder has designed a “robot lawyer” that automates much of the letter-sending process. All you have to do is write your message, and it takes care of the rest.

The robot lawyer is actually an AI-powered app called DoNotPay. Browder had designed it as a teenager as a way to help people get out of parking tickets — they answer questions asked by the app’s chatbot and snap a picture of their ticket, and it writes up an appeal letter for them. In the five years since DoNotPay’s launch, Browder has added a number of features to the robot lawyer — it can now help people dispute evictions, cancel subscriptions, and navigate small-claims court, all for a $3 monthly fee.

Now DoNotPay has a built-in mail feature that helps people connect to incarcerated loved ones. So, how does it work?

A user starts by entering the name of the person they want contact in the app’s search tool. The robot lawyer then scans the roster of inmates in federal, state, county, or ICE detention centers, all at once — no need to go to a specific facility’s website to find the address. The user then chooses the design they want for the letter and writes their message. DoNotPay does not read the contents of the letter, Browder told Vice.

Once you’ve written your message, DoNotPay then prints the letter, following the facility’s specifications, and mails it to the inmate along with the postage they need to send a letter back to the original writer. Best of all, there’s no additional cost for using this feature.

Solutions News Source Print this article
More of Today's Solutions

3 simple ways to promote longevity in your body

On a podcast from MindBodyGreen, Harvard geneticist David Sinclair explained that what drives the aging process is the lack of stress our bodies experience. ...

Read More

Mastering workplace conflict: how to handle tense conversations with confidence

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Workplace conflict is inevitable, but it does not have to be destructive. Whether you are gearing up for ...

Read More

How to stay safe during extreme rainfall and flooding: expert tips to prepare...

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM When it comes to extreme weather, preparation is everything. With climate change driving more frequent and intense storms, ...

Read More

Kenya on track for universal electricity access by 2030, powered by clean ene...

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In a decade, Kenya has more than doubled its electricity access rate — rising from just 37 percent ...

Read More