I'm going to prison!!!

yikes...

well, they have to have good restaurants to support the prison industry

Lol! I can't think of a better combination.

keep in mind when you go that over 50 percent of the ppl you see are nonvilent corn affenders. these privatley owned prison corporations trade there stock on wall-street with there stocks value based on the amount of prisoners they have. america "the land of the free"
makes up for 2% of the worlds overall population but 20% of the worlds prison population.
enjoy the bbq though

My sister runs the dining and catering service of a county jail that houses federal prisoners (the county leases the space to the feds). It's still a jail, but it's pretty high-tech.

I used to deliver pizzas in college. One of my deliveries was to the prison in town. I get there at like 10:00, and no lights are on in the entryway. Then I hear a voice over the loudspeaker, "just bring it on up!"

What?? Where the heck is up? And where the heck are you?

I was freaked the heck out.

Thats probably more so in state prisons with the charges. Federal crimes against fed law. In Atlanta it would be more Tax and organized crime and hold overs until court or transfer. Although Atlanta is not private You are right about the private prison, plus very cruel to there inmates. More programs for the inmates cost more money and no return for the owners.

This is more on state prison then anything. In Indiana they privatized prison services. I worked in a max security prison and got out because of the private cutbacks. The inmates got 1200 cal diet in two meals only a day. They hired a Dr that cannot practice in 3 states and was an OBGYN at mens prison. The cut out unions and under pay private staff in return there is more violent crime in the prison.

The sad thing is the programs that are cut work. An offender getting psych service, education, and substance abuse treatment is 30-45% less likely to re-offend when released. But we are not a country that thinks about long term problems or solutions for that matter.

Okay, so here goes (wow! I just looked at this post on the preview, and it is REALLY long!):

First, let me say that it was really interesting, and not exactly what I expected. It is the Atlanta Federal Penintentiary, which is a medium security federal (obviously) prison. I didn't think to ask about the breakdown of what kind of crimes the inmates had committed, but I imagine there's a pretty fair amount of druq crimes (not so much your friendly neighborhood corn dealer . . . my guess would be a lot of folks who got caught on those speed boats bringing large amounts of substances into the country, probably a fair amount of crack traffickers; oh, and I would bet that there are also a good many people with "felon in possession of a handgun" charges. . . but, like I said, I don't know for sure).

There was also an outpost camp that was minimum security for folks who were serving less than 10 years and did not have violent convictions or histories. Those guys were assigned jobs like grounds maintenance, where they pretty much got to walk around out in the open and do, well, grounds maintenance. We actually saw a couple of inmates out walking by themselves within about 30 feet of the open gates. Their supervisors only have to check on them every two hours. We didn't actually go over to their living facilities or anything, though, so I don't know what that was like.

We saw one cell block that they can't use anymore because it is not up to code (and it would take millions of dollars to renovate it so that it is). It was kind of what you think of, the row of tiny little cells (maybe 7' x 5') with a single bunk, a sink, and a toilet. The cells were also stacked on top of each other, I think 13 high (because he said something about 13. . . I thought it only looked like 7 or 8 high, though). It had the cage fronts that all shut and lock at the same time.

We also saw a cell block that they do still use. There were only a few inmates who were in the cell block at the time because, during the day, they are not in the cell block unless they have the day off of work or something. The ones who were in there were just kind of quiet and stood around (out in the open area, not in cells) and watched us. I think they only have to be locked in the cells at night.

The cells themselves were still pretty small (maybe 8' x 8') with a sink and a toilet, and 2 bunks (stacked, of course), and the beds didn't look very comfortable. It was pretty much like a really tiny dorm room. They didn't have the cage fronts. They just had regular solid doors with a little window.

As far as the common areas, they had 4 or 5 tv rooms (a sports room, a news room, a movie room, etc.) that they could choose from. They also had a microwave to heat up stuff from the commissary (I don't know why, but that struck me as particularly interesting). Oh, and they had a single-man shower with a solid door, so no big group showers like on Oz!

All of the inmates are required to take 240 hours of GED classes. After that, they can drop out, but if they stay in, they get good time credit on their sentences and higher wages on their prison jobs. If they have a high school diploma or GED, they have the option of taking classes for things like HVAC repair, for which they can get certified (with a certificate that doesn't say anything about the federal penitentiary on it). They also have access to a law library from 8 am to 8 pm daily, and they can apply for extra hours if they have a deadline approaching.

All of the inmates are required to have jobs. The coveted jobs were the ones in the factory. Of about 2700 inmates, 500 work in the factories, and there are waiting lists of about 400+ more who want factory jobs. This particular prison had a mattress factory (the only federal prison mattress factory in the country), a drapery factory, and a combat uniform factory. All of the factories only contract with the federal government. Depending on things like their level of experience, they make anywhere from $40 to $300 a month.

Okay, sorry for all this rambling, but I thought all of this was really interesting. I know we were on a tour, so we only saw what they wanted us to see, but it appeared really well maintained and organized. I'd still rather not spend any time there, but I could certainly imagine worse things. (And I hear that state prisons and county jails are a whole other thing.)

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. You know that judge guy who's been in the news lately with Bill Cosby because he made all the white people get out of his courtroom (or maybe it's just been in the news here)? We saw him at the BBQ place. He stopped and talked to my boss for a second (just a short hello kind of thing).

I've gotten the joy of visiting the Federal Jail in Peking Illinois. My younger brother is one of those poor souls who got caught with too much of a rock form of candy and got hit with the Federal minimum sentencing of 25 years. He had gotten transferred to Peking from Colorado under the Project Exile for having some weapon. He has spent probably all but one year since 1985 in some secure facility. He fell into the wrong crowd as they say and got associated with the OG Crips (walked with a cane and everything) in Denver and still sports his colors.

Okay, enough background. When we visited, I was with my dad and my son. My dad had visited him every couple months and the guards actually knew him. I had never been to any of the facilities where he had spent time. We get there and things are a little crazy, the computer system is down, so they are having difficulty clearing visitors.

They ask if I was on the approved visitor list, my Dad quickly says yes, knowing that is not factual. So, they pass the three of us through the security gate and it's a little chaotic. So my dad and son go into the secure area, where they stamp your hand and a couple other things. They are trying to get whatever is setting off the metal detector on my clothing and I finally get cleared to go with them. I am running late, so I did not hear the order to get my hand stamped, the guard that knew my dad was helping me.

So, we go through the entry process where the visiting family members are on one side of the room in a line and the inmates are in a line on the other. then, the family members are all seated on one side of the tables and the inmates on the other side. So, the inmates all face one direction towards the guards.

My brother speaks in such a low voice that I can't really hear what he has to say. But, the visit goes on and then it is time to leave. The guards have changed during the time we are visiting my brother. So, we get in line to leave through the security screening process to make sure no inmates are trying to leave. My dad and son get through just fine.

The new guards suddenly realize that I am wearing tan pants (duck brown Carhartt's) that are very similar to the clothing that inmates wear, AND as they scan my hand for the invisible stamp, they find none. Suddenly, I find myself wearing clothes that are similar to those the inmates wear and do not have a stamp on my hand indicating that I am a civilian.

Finally, they let me through and out of the security area. Three things could have kept me there. Not being an approved visitor, wearing prohibited colored clothing and not having my hand stamped.

I really did not like the structure of the whole scene that I saw that day. I have not visited since then, and do to the whole prison scene, not wanting to go back.

My brother hopes that he can get a reduced sentence, but since he can't vote, his party of choice - the GOP - has no benefit from him. so, if you read this and look over at my picture and wonder who, what, how, why. He was adopted in 1968 by my parents and is multi-racial. Someone who looks like me probably would not have been accepted by this gang group.

From working mental health and addiction treatment in prison I HAVE visit you brother. It makes a difference on if he makes it or not. from my experience he will not get a reduced sentance. They dont do that for that sentance. The sucky thing is I have seen child molesters get 5-8 years and d rug convictions get 20 and more (this is state sentance). I once had a client I went to school with the sold in his house that was governemt housing and he got 25 years at the age of 19....

Visit your brother it helps they guys and gals a lot...

Mind boggling - Extremely CONSERVATIVE Republican. Trying to also become a biblical scholar (lots of time on his hands). Most conservative republicans in Federal prisons are white-collar criminals.

I come from a very interesting family. My little sister, also adopted, is a Police officer. During college, mid 1980's, I would entertain friends with updates of the weekly family soap opera. Siblings always joked that we should write these stories down, but nobody would believe them. Really fun trying to explain the family to drunk people. Confuses the crap out of them.

This is going to sound very WV or UT, but my son's mother is my step-sister. We adopted her child. I am my sons uncle.......We comment that we do not have a family tree, but a thicket.

I believe that there is more Nature in the whole Nature-Nurture argument.

I do not know if he will see a benefit of the changes to the sentencing. He/I don't always work well with the system. I am on the outside of the bars - he on the other.

My dad thinks that they have gone hard on him because he refused to cooperate with Federal authorities trying to break a major rock candy ring. Added to all the things in the past years, he continues to have run ins with the law. Let's see in the last year - running numbers or something using playing cards as makers. He got certain privileges suspended and now people have to funnel money to him through others. He had some sort of relationship with a female staff member, and got transferred out of the Federal facility for a short time. Not the poster child for rehabilitation.

He has probably spent close to 24 of his soon to be 40 years on the inside. I wish that he had not gotten hooked on substance - any and all - back when he was a teenager. He is too smart for his own good. If he gets out, I really believe that it will be only a matter of time. When he gets out, he will turn to things he knows best to get money, like he done before.