Understanding Inmate Visitor Rights and Legal Appeals
A Response from Robert A. Banks, Esq.
”Because I have taken you off my visitors’ list. I’m not being spiteful, I’m trying to figure out how to live with this new reality.”
**Roy O. Hamilton Jr. (PRA 4856932)**
**Parson Correctional Center**
3751 Lauderdale Woodyard Rd., Jemison, LA 70648
**Dear Mr. Banks:**
This will be your last act as my **criminal defense attorney**. Please initiate the **legal process to remove a visitor** from my approved list: **Davenport, Celestial Gloriana**.
Sincerely,
Roy O. Hamilton Jr.
—
**Robert A. Banks, Esq. | Legal Counsel & Litigation**
1238 Peachtree Rd., Ste. 470, Atlanta, GA 30031
**Dear Roy:**
This is a formal response to your letter regarding your **legal representation** and **visitation rights**. Without violating **attorney-client privilege**, I have consulted with the Davenport family. They have confirmed their intent to **retain legal counsel** and keep me on your case. Unless I receive a conflicting **power of attorney** directive, I will continue my duties on your behalf. As requested, I have drafted the **legal documents to amend your prison visitors’ list**, though I strongly urge you to reconsider this decision.
Roy, in my years of **practicing law**, I have handled many **high-stakes court cases** and **wrongful conviction appeals**. None have been as distressing as yours—not only because it has left my niece disconsolate, but because of the systemic damage done to you. You remind me of Celestial’s father; we both know the “grit” required to survive. We worked the graveyard shift at a factory just to afford **higher education**. Franklin achieved his success through sheer determination, a trait you both share.
I understand it was disheartening to have our **post-conviction appeal denied** by the **state appellate court**. However, our fight for **justice and legal reform** does not end here.
### The Path to Justice: Federal Court Appeals and Inmate Advocacy
**A Response from Robert A. Banks, Esq.**
”Is disappointing but not surprising. I know Mississippi is the favored contender for ‘worst of the South,’ but Louisiana isn’t far behind. The **federal courts** are much more promising because there is a chance of encountering a **federal judge** who isn’t drunk, corrupt, racist, or some unpleasant cocktail of these variables.”
There is hope. Do not give up on your **legal defense**.
Pride should not cut you off from the Davenports. **Incarceration** and **long-term prison sentences**, as you know, are very isolating. You are staring down the barrel of a long sentence, and while I am working as your **appellate attorney** to find a solution, I urge you not to disconnect from the people who remind you of the life you once had and the life you want to live again. That said, I am including here the **legal document** I mentioned that will **bar a visitor** from coming to visit. If you choose to post it yourself, you may. As your **retained legal counsel**, our **attorney-client correspondence** will remain strictly **confidential**, but I felt that I must offer my professional advice.
Sincerely,
Robert Banks, Esq.
—
### Reinstating Legal Counsel: A Letter from Roy O. Hamilton Jr.
**Roy O. Hamilton Jr. (PRA 4856932)** **Parson Correctional Center**
**Dear Mr. Banks:**
I know that you are right, and with this letter, I am “unfiring” you as my **defense lawyer**. I will leave Celestial on my **authorized visitors’ list**, but I am asking you, as my **legal representative**, not to mention this to her. Should she come to visit me, she will find her name there. But to tell her implies that I’m asking for a visit, and I’m not asking her to do anything.
These years have been rough on her, I am sure. But the **impact of incarceration** has been rougher on me. I try to see her side of things, but it’s hard to weep for anyone who is out in the world living their dream. All I wanted from her is that she honor the promise we made when we said “to have and to hold.” I asked this of her, but I won’t plead anymore.
Please continue pursuing my **wrongful conviction case**, Mr. Banks. Don’t forget me in here or think I am a **lost cause**. You warned me not to be surprised by the outcome of the **appellate court ruling**, but how can I keep hope alive if I’m not allowed to be optimistic? I feel like people are…
### Financing a Legal Defense and Managing Inmate Correspondence
**Official Correspondence: Roy O. Hamilton Jr. to Legal Counsel**
”Constantly asking me for things that are impossible. And, Mr. Banks, I know that your **professional legal services** are not free. Any **attorney fees** the Davenports pay you, I’ll repay to them, and after that I’ll give you the same sum as soon as I am able.
You’re my only hope for **post-conviction relief**. I never thought I would be saying this to you, someone I really don’t know that well. My mother is gone and my father is here, but what can he do? He’s a hardworking man with values but without the **financial resources** for a **private defense lawyer**. Celestial seems to have moved on. All I have is you, and it pains me to know that you’re being paid with her daddy’s money, but you’re right: it’s stupid to put pride ahead of common sense and **legal strategy**. So this is my letter saying thank you.”
Sincerely,
Roy O. Hamilton Jr.
—
### The Emotional Impact of Incarceration on Marriage
**Archive of Inmate Mail and Marital Communication**
**Dear Roy,**
Today is November 17, and I am thinking of you. Maybe on this anniversary of our first date, you will answer my letter. When it was our “safe word,” we used it to bring communication to a halt. Now I hope it can restore our **personal connection** in some small way. This isn’t how I want things to be between us. Let me care for you in the way that I can, as one human being to another.
Love,
**Celestial**
**Dear Roy,**
Merry Christmas. I haven’t heard from you, but I hope you are okay. I am still here if you need to discuss your **visitation rights**.
**Celestial**
**Dear Roy,**
If you don’t want to see me, I can’t force you. It is unkind that you would cut me off because I can’t be exactly the way you want me to be. I’ll say it again: I’m not abandoning you. I would never do that, despite the **strains on our marriage**.
**C**
**Dear Celestial,**
Please respect my wishes regarding **inmate-requested no-contact orders**. Up until now, I have lived in fear of this happening. Let me be. I can’t dangle from your string.
**Roy**
### Overturning a Wrongful Conviction: A Path to Federal Justice
**Correspondence: Celestial to Roy O. Hamilton Jr.**
”Dear Roy, Happy birthday. Banks tells me that you’re fine, but that’s all he will say. Will you give him **legal permission** to give me news?”
**C**
”Dear Roy, You will get this around Olive’s anniversary. I know you feel all alone, but you are not. I haven’t heard from you in so long, but I want you to know that I am thinking of you.”
**Celestial**
—
### Breaking News: Conviction Vacated Due to Prosecutorial Misconduct
**Letter from Roy O. Hamilton Jr. Regarding Release and Legal Victory**
**Dear Celestial,**
Can I still call you Georgia? That will always be my name for you in my head. So, Georgia, this is the letter I have been waiting five years to write, the words I have been practicing. I even scratched it into the paint on the wall beside my bed.
Georgia, I am coming home.
Your **defense attorney** came through. He went over the heads of these local yokels and filed a **federal court appeal**. The ruling of **“gross prosecutorial misconduct”** basically means they cheated during the **criminal trial**. The **judge vacated the conviction**, and the local **District Attorney (DA)** didn’t care enough to seek a **retrial**. So, as they say, “in the interest of justice,” I will soon be home free.
**Robert Banks, Esq.** can explain the **legal details of the appeal** to you in more depth. I have given him permission, but I wanted you to hear it from me, to see it in my own handwriting, that I will be a free man one month from today, in time for Christmas.
I know that things have not been right between us for some time now. I was wrong to remove you from my **prison visitors’ list**, and you were wrong not to fight me about it. But this is not a time for blaming each other for what we cannot change. I regret not answering your letters. It has been a year since I have received any word, but how can I expect you to keep writing when you thought I was ignoring you? Did you think I forgot you? I hope I didn’t hurt you with my silence, but I was hurt myself, and also ashamed.
Will you hear me when I say that the last five years are behind us? It is water under the bridge. (Remember the stream in Eloe, the way the bridge makes a song?)
I know that we can’t “start love over.” But this is what I do know: you have not filed for **divorce** or **legal separation**. All I want is for you to tell me why you have chosen to remain my wife.
### Marital Commitment and Legal Bonds: A Final Letter from Roy
**The Reality of Being a Lawfully Wedded Wife During Incarceration**
”Lawfully wedded wife. Even if someone else is occupying your time, you have chosen to keep me as your husband through these many years of **legal separation** and physical distance. In my mind, I picture us at our same kitchen table, in our same comfortable house, passing quiet words of truth.
Georgia, this is a love letter. Everything I do is a love letter addressed to you.
Love,
Roy”
I’m taking a heart break from the reads for a few days.
Thank you.
Very moving. Thank you for posting this.