Patent ID: 7742582

Claim:
A correctional facility communication system for sending an external message to an offender of a correctional facility, the correctional facility communication system comprising: a messaging system at a first location configured to: authenticate a sender of the external message, receive the external message at the first location, wherein the external message is in electronic form, check the external message against criteria specified by the correctional facility, provide a unique identifier for the external message, wherein the unique identifier triggers analysis according to a criteria specified by the correctional facility, and send the external message to a second location for automatic printing on a corresponding printer that prints the external message with the unique identifier being visible; a correctional facility system at the second location, wherein the correctional facility system: receives the external message, analyzes the unique identifier according to the criteria to determine the external message is confidential, and automatically prints the external message under seal and with an identifier, corresponding to the unique identifier, visible for distribution to the offender; and a wide area network coupling the messaging system to the correctional facility system.