Beware of Charlatans – by an Inmate

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Rufus-Jenny Triplett — No Comments ↓

Beware of Charlatans
The definition of a charlatan is” a person falsely claiming to
have special knowledge or skill; a fraud. The charlatans of the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries peddled health elixirs and alchemic shortcuts
to wealth, while moving from town to town.
As prisoners, we have an insatiable need to desire to believe
in things that give us hope and make our lives better. This makes us
prone to gullibility and easy targets for greasy swindlers peddling their
get-rich-quick schemes,too-good-to-be-true legal assistance packets
and questionable ABC’s-of-law books. These later-day defrauders are
everywhere, trying to peddle their gimmicks and line their filthy pockets
with prisoner’s money. They think it’s as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.
But it doesn’t have to be. Prisoners can protect themselves from these scams by simply being aware and gather
information before buying into them. If someone is promising to show you how to make a thousand dollars a week from your cell, they’re
likely a charlatan. There is no magic formula for wealth, it is acquired through intense concentration on goals and continued hard work until those goals are attained.
If some organization offers legal assistance packets for a price, they are probably charlatans. There are hundreds of non-profit organizations that offer free legal assistance to prisoners, who receive
grants and donations that are tax-deductible. See them and you’ll find them, without paying for something you can get for free. And lastly, there are a lot of ABC’s-of-law books out there,
promising to make law into something super-simple. Most are self-published by charlatans who never even litigated a criminal case. Be wise, do your research. Anyone who ever practiced law left evidence
of their work. Type their name into your law library’s computer and see what experience the individual has in litigation. If there are no results, it’s probably written by a charlatan who believes “Prisoners are suckers;
they buy anything.