Updated 9/20/2024

Privacy Policy, Terms of Use, Terms of Service

The following TERMS OF USE and PRIVACY POLICY are subject to change at any time and at the sole discretion of the Site owner and operator. Please visit the site regularly for updates.

Please read the following terms of use relating to your use of this site, and all the sites listed below, carefully. By using these sites, you agree to these terms of use. We reserve the right to modify these terms at any time, so please check this page periodically for changes. By using these sites after we post any changes to these terms, you agree to accept those changes, whether or not you have reviewed them or been notified about them. If at any time you choose not to accept these terms of use, including the use of “cookies” on the sites, please do not use this site or any of our sites.

Disclaimer: 

Please read this Disclaimer carefully. You must not access our websites or use our services if you do not wish to be bound by this Disclaimer. Your continued use of our websites, programs, products, and/or services constitutes your acceptance of this Disclaimer.

The content on this site is made available free of charge, thanks to generous support from Prison Professors Charitable Corporation, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to helping justice-impacted individuals achieve better outcomes.

Any prior consumer offers and/or products/services mentioned or displayed in historical Prison Professors content or on any platform–whether online and/or audio and/or video or in print, are no longer available. Prison Professors is part of the Prison Professors Charitable Corporation. Our non-profit organization does not offer any fee-based services to consumers.

Prison Professors content is free and intended for educational and/or informational purposes and should not be construed as legal advice. We do not provide legal advice, nor do we provide medical, health care, nutrition therapy, or coaching services to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any kind of physical ailment or mental or medical condition. You must consult licensed professionals for your specific needs and circumstances. You expressly agree that you are responsible for the outcome of your actions and/or results in connection with our free educational content.  

Although we strive to provide accurate general information about the Bureau of Prisons’ policies and procedures, the information presented is not a substitute for professional advice, and you should not rely solely on this information. We explicitly state, and you acknowledge, that we do not authorize any representative of our company to cite statistics or offer guarantees on the outcomes of decisions made by the Bureau of Prisons, or by judges. 

You are encouraged to perform your due diligence and research. You are solely responsible for your decisions. Therefore, you agree not to hold us and/or our officers, employees, successors, shareholders, joint venture partners, or anyone else working with us liable for any of your successes or failures directly or indirectly related to the information on this website.

You accept and agree to be bound by this Disclaimer along with all other Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policies.

Owners and Collectors of Information

This site is owned and operated by Prison Professors Charitable Corporation, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

These terms of use apply to your use of all the Sites and services owned, hosted, or operated by Prison Professors Charitable Corporation (collectively “we,” “us,” or “our”), including any other site that we have owned or operated, do own and operate, or may own or operate in the future including social media sites (collectively, the “Sites”).

Unless we say otherwise, all references to the Sites in these terms include all such Sites. These terms do not apply to your use of unaffiliated and/or third-party Sites to which any of the above-listed Sites may link or direct you.

If you have any questions about these terms of use you may contact us at

Prison Professors Charitable Corporation
Attn: Compliance
32565 Golden Lantern, B1026
Dana Point, CA 92629

Please note that the “Terms of Use” are different and separate from the “Terms and Conditions.”

Site visitors acknowledge that:

  • We are not a law firm.
  • We do not dispense legal advice.

Restrictions

The contents of our Sites are protected by copyright and trademark laws. Unless otherwise noted, you may access and use the information and materials within the Sites for your personal use. You may not change, modify, delete, display, transmit, adapt, exploit, or copy for distribution or sale any information, material, trademark, or copyright on the Sites. You must obtain written permission from us or any other entity that owns intellectual property on the Sites before you may publish, distribute, display, or commercially exploit any material from the Sites. By using the Sites, you agree to abide by all copyright notices or other posted restrictions.

Users of our Sites hereby understand that the tools, processes, strategies, materials, and information presented on our Sites are copyrighted and proprietary, so users agree not to record, duplicate, distribute, teach, or train from our information in any manner whatsoever without our express written permission.

Any unauthorized use or distribution of our Sites’ proprietary concepts, materials, and intellectual property by you or your representatives is prohibited, and we may pursue legal action and full damages if these terms are violated.

Under the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act), penalties for misuse or infringement include:

Civil Penalties:

  • Injunctions: A court order to stop the infringing activity.

Damages:

  • Statutory Damages: Ranges from $750 to $30,000 per work; up to $150,000 for willful infringement.
  • Actual Damages: Compensation for the copyright owner’s financial losses.
  • Costs and Attorneys’ Fees: Infringers may be required to pay the copyright holder’s legal costs.

Criminal Penalties (for willful infringement):

  • Fines up to $500,000 and up to 5 years in prison for first-time offenders.
  • Up to $1,000,000 and up to 10 years in prison for repeat offenders.

Circumventing DRM Protections:

  • Civil fines of up to $2,500 per violation for noncommercial purposes.
  • Criminal penalties can also apply for circumvention done for commercial gain.

Repeat Infringers:

  • Service providers must terminate accounts of repeat infringers to avoid losing safe harbor protections under the DMCA.
  • Penalties can be significant, especially for willful violations or commercial exploitation.

These terms of use apply only to our Sites, and not to the Sites of any other companies or organizations, including those we link to. We do not maintain, create, endorse, or take any responsibility for the contents, advertising, products, or other materials made available through any other site, including those we link to. Under no circumstances will we be held responsible or liable, directly, or indirectly, for any loss or damage that is caused or alleged to have been caused to you in connection with your use of any content, goods, or services available on any other site.

Other Sites may link to our Sites by permission only. To seek our permission, you may contact us at the information above. We reserve the right to rescind any permission granted to you or any organization in which we approve linking to our Sites, and to require termination of any such link to any of the Sites, at our discretion at any time.

Submissions

We will not review or consider any unsolicited creative submissions. Accordingly, we must ask that you not send us any original creative ideas, suggestions, or materials.

Forums

A “forum” means any message board, chat room, user review forum, or other interactive service appearing on any of the Sites and includes both public boards and private folders. You must register in accordance with the instructions that you will find on the Sites to contribute to any forum.

You may not post on any forum, or send to any other forum user or our staff, any material that is abusive, vulgar, threatening, harassing, libelous, defamatory, obscene, invades a person’s privacy, violates any intellectual or other property rights, or that would otherwise violate any law. You may not use any forum in a commercial manner.

You may not post material that solicits funds, or that advertises or solicits goods or services.

You may not post material known to be false. You may not post messages that contain stock touts. You may not post or transmit any information, software, or other material that contains a virus or other harmful component.

We are not responsible for material appearing in any forum on the Sites, except for material signed by one of our identified representatives. We are not responsible for screening material posted by users for libel, obscenity, invasion of privacy, copyright or trademark infringement, accuracy, or for any other reason. We retain, however, the right to modify or remove messages or other material that we, in our sole discretion, consider infringing, offensive, abusive, defamatory, obscene, stale, or otherwise unacceptable. We also reserve the right to edit materials for any other reason.

Whether or not we modify or remove such material, users remain solely responsible for the content of their messages or postings. By posting on the Sites, you grant (or warrant that the owner of such rights has expressly granted) us and/or relevant affiliated companies the worldwide, perpetual, nonexclusive right to use your questions, comments, and postings, in their original or edited form, in television programs, books, articles, commentaries, or in any other medium now known or later developed.

You also warrant that you own or otherwise control all the rights to the content you have posted and that the public posting and use of such content by us will not infringe on the rights of any third party. Additionally, you warrant that any “moral rights” in posted materials have been waived. You are not entitled to any compensation for any materials you may post on the Sites.

Registration

We may, at our discretion, suspend or terminate the registration of any forum user or general user who violates any of these terms of use of use, any of the forum member guidelines, or for any other behavior that we in our discretion believe is inappropriate.

NEGOTIATION and ARBITRATION CLAUSE

I. Negotiation in Advance of Arbitration

  1. The parties shall attempt in good faith to resolve any dispute arising out of or relating to this Agreement promptly by negotiation between executives who have authority to settle the controversy. Any party may give the other party written notice of any dispute not resolved in the normal course of business. Within 15 days after delivery of the notice, the receiving party shall submit to the other a written response. The notice and response shall include with reasonable particularity (a) a statement of each party’s position and a summary of arguments supporting that position, and (b) the name and title of the executive who will represent that party and of any other person who will accompany the executive. Within 30 days after delivery of the notice, the executives of both parties shall meet at a mutually acceptable time and place.
  2.  Unless otherwise agreed in writing by the negotiating parties, the above-described negotiation shall end at the close of the first meeting of executives described above (“First Meeting”). Such closure shall not preclude continuing or later negotiations, if desired.
  3.  All offers, promises, conduct and statements, whether oral or written, made in the course of the negotiation by any of the parties, their agents, employees, experts and attorneys are confidential, privileged and inadmissible for any purpose, including impeachment, in arbitration or other proceeding involving the parties, provided that evidence that is otherwise admissible or discoverable shall not be rendered inadmissible or non-discoverable as a result of its use in the negotiation.
  4. At no time prior to the First Meeting shall either side initiate an arbitration or litigation related to this Agreement except to pursue a provisional remedy that is authorized by law or by JAMS Rules or by agreement of the parties. However, this limitation is inapplicable to a party if the other party refuses to comply with the requirements of Paragraph 1 above.
  5. All applicable statutes of limitation and defenses based upon the passage of time shall be tolled while the procedures specified in Paragraphs 1 and 2 above are pending and for 15 calendar days thereafter. The parties will take such action, if any, required to effectuate such tolling.
  6. If the matter is not resolved by negotiation pursuant to paragraphs 1-5 above, then the matter will proceed to arbitration as set forth below.
  7. Users waive their right to file a lawsuit in court or have a jury trial.

II. Arbitration

Any dispute, claim or controversy arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the breach, termination, enforcement, interpretation or validity thereof, including the determination of the scope or applicability of this agreement to arbitrate, shall be determined by arbitration in Orange County, California before one arbitrator. The arbitration shall be administered by JAMS pursuant to its Streamlined Arbitration Rules and Procedures, which may be found at https://www.jamsadr.com/adr-rules-procedures/. Judgment on the Award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. This clause shall not preclude parties from seeking provisional remedies in aid of arbitration from a court of appropriate jurisdiction. You agree to pay JAMS’s administrative fee and any required deposit or retainer of professional fees, see

www.jamsadr.com/arbitration-fees for more information. The parties agree to abide by the arbitrator’s decision as to which party will pay professional fees.

Limitation of Liability

Under no circumstances, including but not limited to negligence, will we or any of our licensors or suppliers be liable for any special or consequential damages that result from the use of, or the inability to use, the materials or information on the Sites, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

We shall not be liable for any damages arising from unauthorized access to or misuse of your personal information.

Applicable law may not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability or incidental or consequential damages (including but not limited to lost data), so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you. In no event shall the total liability to you by us or any of our licensors or suppliers for all damages, losses, and causes of action (whether in contract, tort, or otherwise) exceed the amount paid by you to us, if any, for accessing the Sites.

Under no circumstances will we be held responsible or liable, directly, or indirectly, for any loss or damage that is caused or alleged to have been caused to you in connection with your use of any advice, goods, or services you receive from a guest speaker on our Sites or at one of our events.

We are also not responsible or liable for any loss or damage that is caused or alleged to have been caused to our guest speakers in connection with the display of their photo, name, or biography posted on our Sites or in our marketing materials.

No Professional Advice

The information contained in or made available through the Sites (including but not limited to information contained on message boards, in text files, or in chats) cannot replace or substitute for the services of trained professionals in any field, including, but not limited to, financial, medical, psychological, or legal matters.

You should regularly consult a doctor in all matters relating to physical or mental health, particularly concerning any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention. We and our licensors or suppliers make no representations or warranties concerning any treatment, action, or application of medication or preparation by any person following the information offered or provided within or through the Sites.

Neither we nor our partners, or any of their affiliates, will be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, special, exemplary, or other damages that may result, including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness, or death. You alone are responsible and accountable for your decisions, actions, and results in life, and by your use of the Sites, you agree not to attempt to hold us liable for any such decisions, actions, or results, at any time, under any circumstance.

AI Technology Disclaimer

In our commitment to providing innovative and efficient services, we incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Models (LLMs) as supplementary tools in our writing, editing, and content creation processes. These technologies assist our team by generating preliminary content drafts, providing linguistic analyses, and suggesting stylistic improvements.

Please be aware that while AI technologies contribute to our service, they do not replace the expertise of our professional writers and editors who guide the creation process, ensure accuracy, and tailor content we publish.

AI-generated content may reflect biases inherent in the training data used to develop these models. We take steps to review and modify any content to align with our commitment to accuracy, fairness, honesty, transparency, and integrity. Customers who retain us bear final responsibility for content accuracy, legality, and appropriateness, especially in cases where the final content is significantly edited or used outside our recommendations.

By using our services, you acknowledge and agree that AI-generated suggestions are inherently probabilistic and should be critically assessed. We disclaim any liability for errors or inaccuracies in the content provided to the extent allowed by law.

Non-Academic Institutions

Please note that neither Prison Professors nor Prison Professors Charitable Corporations are accredited academic institutions. We do not issue diplomas or academic certifications or degrees. We do not accept student loans or provide student aid under any programs.

We are a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving outcomes for justice-impacted individuals.

Earnings Disclaimer

We don’t believe in “get rich” programs – only in hard work, adding value, building a real and professional career, and serving others with excellence and constancy.

Nothing on this page, any of our websites, or any of our content or curriculum is a promise or guarantee of results or future earnings, and we do not offer any legal, medical, tax, or other professional advice.

Any financial numbers referenced here, or on any of our sites, are illustrative of concepts only and should not be considered average earnings, exact earnings, or promises for actual or future performance.

Making decisions based on any information presented in our products, events, services, or website, should be done only with caution and always consult your accountant, lawyer, or professional advisor before acting on this or any information related to a lifestyle change or your business or finances.

You alone are responsible and accountable for your decisions, actions, and results in life, and by your registration here you agree not to attempt to hold us liable for your decisions, actions, or results, at any time, under any circumstance.

Parental Permission

The Sites are not directed to children under the age of 13 and we will not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13. We strongly recommend that parents participate in their children’s exploration of the internet and any online services and use their browser’s parental controls to limit the areas of the internet to which their children have access. We may, at our discretion, require users under 18 to obtain the consent of a parent or guardian to view certain content, and we may limit access to certain content to users above a specified age. You agree to abide by any such restrictions, and not to help anyone avoid these restrictions.

Explicit Language & Mature Content

On our Sites we will occasionally discuss mature topics and language relating to personal and professional growth, law, prison, and social media that may use explicit language.

We strive to use professional language. On occasion, we quote others who use explicit language. Users who are uncomfortable with such topics or language should not use our Sites.

PRIVACY POLICY

We are committed to protecting your privacy and security and our sites. Visitors to our Sites bear the responsibility for setting their individual cookie preferences prior to using our Sites. We control this site from offices in the United States of America. We do not represent that materials on the site are appropriate or available for use in other locations. Persons who choose to access this site from other locations do so on their own initiative, and are responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable.

Outside Sites (Their Privacy Policies May Be Different)

The Site contains links to other websites, like our sponsor’s websites or links to booksellers, that may offer products or services that our customers might find useful. These sites may request information from you. In such instances, the collection and use of your personal information will be governed by the privacy policy applicable to that site. We do not control the privacy policies, contents or links that appear on these sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites or services before providing any of them with your personal information.

Cookies and Tracking

We use a popup cookie management tool that allows users to opt-out or customize their cookie preferences. A cookie is small amount of data that is transferred to your browser by a web server and can only be read by the server that gave it to you. It functions as your identification card and enables us to record your passwords, purchases, and preferences. It cannot be executed as code or deliver viruses. Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies. You can set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie, giving you the chance to decide whether or not to accept it. (For some web pages that require an authorization, cookies are not optional. Users choosing not to accept cookies will probably not be able to access those pages. We will not discriminate against users for exercising their right to opt out.

As a visitor to our Sites, you can engage in many activities without providing any personal information. It is completely optional for you to engage in these activities.

If you supply us with your contact information you may receive periodic e-mails or mailings from us with information on important issues, or upcoming events. If you wish to be removed from any postal, email, phone, or other lists, please write us at the contact information above. You must provide us with your exact name, email address, mailing address, and phone.

When you use our Sites, we or our authorized technology services provider may also collect certain technical and routing information from you to facilitate your use of the Site and its services. We use this information to administer the Site and to understand and measure traffic patterns on the Site so that we know which areas of our sites are favorites of our users, which areas need improvement, and what technologies are being used so that we may continually improve our sites. This information is collected in aggregate form, without identifying you or any user individually. We may use this aggregate, non-identifying statistical data for statistical analysis, marketing, or similar promotional purposes. This data is often tracked by us or our technology services provider by using “cookies” during your visit.

We will comply with California law (California Civil Code 1798.82), in the event of a data breach.

Exceptions to Privacy Policy

While we are committed to keeping your information secure and private, we have the following exceptions to our privacy policy: We will release specific information about you or your account to comply with any valid legal inquiry or process such as a search warrant, subpoena, statute, or court order. We will also release specific information in special cases, such as if there is an attempted breach of the security of the Sites, or a physical or property threat to you or others. We may also transfer user information, including personally identifiable information, in connection with a corporate merger, consolidation, the sale of related assets or corporate division or other fundamental corporate change.

Further, the information you enter if you make an online donation will be shared with payment processors, financial gateways, and your credit card company to authorize credit card payments. Such information may also be shared with necessary third parties solely for the purpose or carrying out the transactions. Please note that if you give out personal information online through a discussion board or posting site, that information can be collected and used by third parties. Although we strive to protect our users’ privacy, we cannot guarantee the security of information you post in these forums. You disclose such information at your own risk.

Miscellaneous

These terms will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without regard to any principles of conflicts of law. You agree that any action at law or in equity that arises out of or relates to these terms will be subject to mediation in the State of California, in Orange County.

If any of these terms of use are found unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision will be considered severable from the remaining terms of use and will not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions. These terms may be modified only by our posting of changes to these terms of use on our Sites.

We Have Updated Our Terms And Conditions

We have updated our Privacy Policy, Terms of Use, and Terms of Service page. To review the latest version, please click on Terms of Use. If at any time you choose not to accept these terms, please do not use this site.