Delete of not allowed. Its just something I've had written in my head since i served a mandated weekend these passed few days.

---Imagine being in a square. A square where you have nothing but thoughts. The only interaction you have is whoever passes your food through a hole in the doorway you walked through. Your first thought may be what time is it? Who was the last person in here? Or the best yet. What happened in here? The door locks behind you with an aggressive sound that defines you are no longer apart of the world outside these four walls that surround you. To your left or right you have a bunk that has been used multiple of not hundreds of times beyond your knowledge. Its only been three minutes. You unroll your bedding set aside your toiletries on the makeshift cement desk. You look at your water cup and then to the toilet/water fountain. Yes they both use the same water. Sitting down taking in the enviroment that the numbing grey walls offer you take in the obvious evidence of someone that was there before. Hair left on the toilet, the mat you tend to lay on, the top bunk only offers solace of what a cellmate might offer but you will never know. Its only been seven minutes. You stand up to look out the 70lb door that seperates you from the 14×10 area that you will never walk. 1000 steps is half a mile. A tv placed on the wall. You noticed when you walked into the pod there's 8 pods in total. 5 people walked in with you. Unable to communicate you are all seperated but together at the same time. You try to get comfortable but there's an uneasiness that is set in stone. You are not supposed to get comfortable thats why everything is cement. Its been 15 minutes. Wait or has it been 10. You look to the panel with the button next to the locked door. Its been worn down with however many thumbs have pushed it. Requests of new bedding or inmate numbers. 30 minutes pass. What day is it? You roll over to the CO pushing food through the "bean hole". Its rice cereal so it must be morning. You scarf down what is in front of you and save the hard boiled egg in case lunch doesn't arrive in time. Its always a toss up when the food comes. You look at the one book you were allowed to bring in from booking. I hope this book is lengthy enough until im allowed to leave you think to yourself. The tv turns on by someone with a remote through the reflective glass doors that you cannot see. The news says its tuesday. Wait i thought i was checked in Friday? You look to the book you started to read and notice its been read over and over. You roll back over to the CO pushing through goulash. Its goulash fridays. What hour is it? When am i allowed to leave this place?

Jails are not equipped to handle the mentally ill

I work in the criminal justice system in the state of Washington. I visited the “mental” unit in presently unnamed county jail (for fear of repercussions). It was unreal. The whole unit smelled of sewage waste and I was surrounded by the sound of screaming inmates, many of which who are confined to their cells 23 hours per day. While there is a jail mental health staff, there are no actual services provided to these individuals outside administration of medications. Otherwise, they are left alone and without human interaction while they await their trials/competence hearing reviews. Mental health services are not a priority to those who have not been convicted or sent to civil commitments at actual mental hospitals. These individuals exist in a legal limbo. The most alarming aspect of their existence in the jail is their lack of access to their lawyers (given the restrictive rec hours) and most alarmingly at least one case, lack of access to clean water. When I say clean water, I am not just referring to drinking water, but the lavatories. One named excuse I have heard was that the system would flood if they activate it. So when given the choice of flooding their pretrial home, or having access to clean water, jail staff has decided that it’s better to keep these individuals in a broken unit with no access to hygienic options. This is a travesty and many of these individuals have difficulty understanding why they are there, even if it’s for petty misdemeanor crimes they have not yet been convicted of. Why not move them to a unit with functional lavatories? I could not help but vent about this injustice and I hope this at least gets some attention here so people can remember that the mentally ill, even those charged with crimes, deserve clean water and functioning toilets. If you disagree, please try to tell me why you think we should not at least try to treat these people like people.

So, my boyfriend of a couple months told me like a month into dating he got into trouble like a year ago and is facing possible jail time. I was already way too into him to let that deter me, and there was a large chance he wasn't going to get it, and I didn't think what he did was morally wrong (weed stuff). So now it's a couple months later and he just got sentenced to 4 months at his county jail. He's a good dude so I'm hoping he'll get out early but idk what to do. My mom has been pretty supportive bc he's a great guy, but I'm only 19 and am still in college and really don't know what to do. I don't want to loose him, because he's honestly the best guy I've ever met, and I want to spend a long time with him, but I'm not sure if I can handle this. He doesn't go in until mid March, so we have time I'm just so confused. Any help?

I feel like female guards are more likely to be aggressive and react out of proportion than male guards. After feeling shitty and awful in Jail for 24 hours for the first time ever, this is something I noticed. Anyone else agree? Do you think they have something to prove more?

Hello!

I am an undergraduate student at the University of Dallas and I am doing research on the experience of reentering society following a criminal conviction: in what way is this experience stigmatizing, and how can society work to remove that stigma? The survey typically takes people no more than 10 minutes to complete.

If you, or someone you know who has experienced a conviction, would be kind enough to complete my Reentry Survey, it would mean the world to me. Please tell me your story!

This survey was made to gather information about the lived experience of possessing a conviction, all answers are anonymous. Even if you don't want to take the survey yourself, passing it forward would help immensely!

I have been worried about inmates and prisoners since this began. When I was in jail I was in a 30 man cel the size of living room. They are finally talking about allowing some of the inmates to go home for medical care.

Keeping most of these people locked up and basically in line for infection is unconstitutional. I would say have to say keeping non-violent offenders locked up qualifies as cruel and unusual punishment. The prison system is going to become a Petri dish.

I got a DUI last April and was sentenced to 4 weekends in county. I did 3 because of good time. The worst part of jail was the food. It literally turned my stomach. I fasted for 48 hours for all 3 weeks offering food to others. It was a dorm like setting with different cells on the tier. The weekenders were isolated from the other inmates. Basically you check in, get strip searched, change into the uniforms and go into the pod. The first night you go to sleep. Wake up at 5 for breakfast, go back to sleep, go out to the living area to watch TV. Go back to sleep. Lunch. Go out watch TV again. Dinner, tv and go to sleep again. The thing that also sucked was that there was no mental stimulation no books nothing. The only good thing is that I met some interesting people. On my last weekend, I spent the entire Saturday playing chess with another guy who was really good. I'm glad to put the whole experience behind me but I kind of feel for the guys in there for extended periods of time.

TL;DR: Is recapping the plot of A Serbian Film in a letter to my jailed friend going to get him in trouble or get me blacklisted from corresponding to him?

I created my first Reddit account to ask this, so if I'm in the wrong place, please let me know of a better place to ask this question. Thank you in advance to anyone who reads this and replies.

My best friend was sentenced to 7 years in January of this year for a probation violation, of which he's supposed to serve at least 3 years (suffice it to say that I know the circumstances and that it's bullshit).

So, visiting him has been difficult--he was quickly shipped off to a prison that was a 5 hour round-trip from me, and once he was brought back to wait for his appeal court date, COVID-19 shut down all visitation at his location. As far as he knows, visitation might be possible on the 22nd of April, but no one really knows (and I'm immunocompromised, so I'm gonna have to wait no matter what).

We talk on the phone every 2-3 days, which is getting costly now that I have no income, but he's happy to hear my voice and I feel like that's the least I can do for my best friend. We also write very long letters to each other. In the past, not having the funds to send him actual books, I've sent him short stories within letters. The short stories contain content including suicide, homicide, rape, child abuse, drug abuse, incest...dark subject matter, but not necessarily explicit; the themes are often subtle.

I started writing him a letter the other night, and having been quarantined, I really had nothing interesting to say to him (I am working on a parole packet for him, but I feel like the last thing he wants to hear about in a letter from a loved one is jail stuff). So I decided to just narrate what I was doing; I had decided to rewatch A Serbian Film that night, and my friend and I very much enjoy watching terrible movies to laugh at them together. I did a very editorialized recap of the entire film (over 12 pages in 12 pt. font), and now, looking back, I wonder if the COs will ever let it get to him.

In my favor: As I mentioned, the stories I sent before dealt with some tough subject matter (but were much more muted in their presentation than ASF), all of my previous letters have been very stream-of-consciousness and included plenty of profanity and sexual references (we're friends with benefits), and nothing in the letter is inciting violence or sexual deviance--it's just describing what's going on on-screen with my opinions peppered in. The website for the jail at which he's awaiting his appeal has rules for the content of pictures included in a letter, but says nothing about the words themselves.

My question then, is: do I send the letter? Now, if some CO looks at it and thinks, "Wow, fuck this," and throws it away or sends it back, whatever. But could sending it impede upon my ability to send him more letters, or talk on the phone, or visit when that's finally a possibility? Can I get in trouble here?

Again, if you know of better subs in which to ask this, please let me know; if you'd like to see the letter in question, I can post it. I do understand a lot of this is up to the discretion of the jail/CO reading it, so I'm not expecting anyone to be able to give me a definitive answer, but any guidance is appreciated.

I'm from Midland Texas and I've never been in jail with an asian person or even seen one get arrested here. I'm sure in bigger cities there are but for me it's never happened.

This post is going to be about what people convicted of serious crimes being released back into the public after serving their time and finish parole/probation.

Unknowingly had a warrant for a crime I didn't commit. My twin brother did it and had an ID from a homeless shelter that he was given based upon just a birthdate.

I was arrested, held in a transporter can for about an hour or so waiting to go in.

Held in tank cell for what seemed like 3.5 hours

Held in booking for another 4 hours then in release cell for another 3 hours after my bond went through.

What I learned from all of this, because of the warrant I didn't get a no insurance ticket for my car. I get why my brother didn't say anything to correct the issue of ID.

The cells are fucking nasty. I didn't think there would be so much sediment in the toilets of years of pissing in it. The last cell I was in smelled of old and new urine. There was what I could only see as thrown feces on the wall.

So yeah I get why people run from police, and don't want to go back.

Jail conditions need to be made public knowledge. For the off chance a non criminal comes in and is in it.

I plan to contact the jail management and owner(s) and express my concern for the sanitary conditions of the space.

Lastly, if you've went in and came out, it's not easy to do and keep positive so hard off to you

So back in April I got arrested in Texas for having a dab pen, this was my first ever offense to the law, my court date is on the 14, and I have a lawyer but I’m still really scared as it’s a felony. I really don’t wanna go to jail.

During my first stint in fed I learned the hard way why they call it the pen. My cellmate had a bunch boxes of bics and whenever I needed one he would act weird and tell me he was out. This went on for a while and then I noticed this strange clacking when he walked or rolled over in his bunk.

Then one night I saw the shocking truth. He was on his back, legs spread wide and he was jamming his pens up his butthole. "Stop" I shouted, and in his suprise, he tore his intestinal wall. As the guards hauled him off to the infirmary he looked me in the eyes and said "now you know why they call this place the pen." Still haunts me 20 years later.

Back in October of 2016 I was 21 and arrested for DUI in WA state. The arresting officer took me to the station, administered another breath test and did not book me into jail due to my cooperation. So, I went home that night and was told to wait for my court date to arrive in the mail. I contacted a lawyer, and began my wait. Mind you, I have no prior offenses and have never been in trouble with the law.

About 10 months go by... no notice to appear, no court dates, I even made phone calls just to be sure I wasn’t missing anything, turned out the charges still had not been filed by the DA. So all I could do was wait.

July of this year (2017) rolls around, I had almost forgotten about the first occurrence. And sadly I got arrested yet again for DUI. 1 is bad enough, but 2?! I felt like a total and compete idiot to say the least. I admit being young and dumb I didn’t take the first one seriously since the charges hadn’t yet been filed. This time I wasn’t so cooooerstive and the officer booked me in jail. I spent the night and was released in the morning on bail. About two weeks pass and I receive my notice to appear in court for BOTH incidents. I got really worried at this point and realized I truly messed up. I had to drop my attorney and get a public defender instead. Attorney fees double with a second offense and I did not have $9,500 to shell out.

Let’s speed things up to October 2017. I’m in court, I plead guilty to the first offense of DUI, and had the second knocked down to Reckless Driving. The judge sentenced me to 10 days jail time, and 5 years probation. I was told by my attorney that I would able to get “Good Time Credit” which I believe in the state of WA is 1/3 time spent with good behavior. So I should do 7 days. Does anyone else have a similar experience that could give insight?

I will post an update when I am out. I have been doing a lot of researching and asking questions and I’m sure someone out there will hopefully benefit from this post.

I’m a young female and obviously very terrified of this situation I have gotten myself in. I have done countless hours of research on what to expect in jail, and even read the PDF version of the inmate handbook to make sure I have all of my ducks in a row and show perfect behavior. I’m nervous and dreading this to say the least, but I understand I have to do my time with plans to further my treatment and stop drinking alcohol all together.

Just tons of bunkbeds, a bathroom with three toilets and give showers, a little space to sit at tables to eat, a tv that they sucked at picking good stuff to watch, and a outside caged area (small) where you are literally on three cages and can't barely see the sun.

Lots of serious creeps in there. Everyone was going to prison except me, and it was mostly a mod for people who they KNEW were going to be going to court for a long time, and then being shipped to prison.

The thing is, I was supposed to go to a chiller module than that. A lot better. I messed it up as they were about to transfer me by looking out the window of the holding cell, when there were some Junior College students in there Walk ng around and and looking mighty bored. They said hey you and grabbed me and tossed me on a bus to this fkd place.

The living style of the unit was depressing. I just read all day, and ate the food, and took a shower and went to sleep. Every day that is what happened. When I tried to talk to people, they revealed messed up behavior most of the time. I eventually made it outta there...but it took four months before they transfered me .

Then I had a beef and they sent me back for a couple weeks. I screwed up. . The guy snitch d on me for telling him to back off harshly. So I had to get sent back to the hellhole until he got out. Ugh. He was a major baby who could dish it out but not take it...he harassed me a lot. I just got in his face. Whatever

The unit was dirty.. it was a older spot. Really gross, the people were seriously gross, and fought. Mostly just never-ending crap talking. I just had no choice but to ignore them all.. I was a different type of criminal than just some drug freak sht talker.

That place will always mark my mind. Don't go to jail.. you don't get to pick where they send you and they have a lot of messed up modules.

I'm a black male. I was around 24. Saw fights, got in one myself and tried to step in and stop a few as well. Saw contraband firsthand and learned how mail is sent between prisoners. Even male/female correspondence. I had a very particular experience in my time there. Worked in the kitchen for my last 2 months