Misconceptions About Prison
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- Опубліковано 11 лип 2024
- Prisons are common, yet misunderstood institutions. So what does popular media like Orange is the New Black and Shawshank Redemption get wrong? Why do prisoners wear orange jumpsuits? Do prisons operate the same way around the world? How many prisoners are incarcerated for marijuana possession?
Join host Justin Dodd as he breaks down some common myths and misconceptions about the prison system.
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00:00:00 Intro
00:01:30 You only have one phone call
00:02:41 Pumping iron is a common activity
00:04:08 Riots happen a lot
00:05:47 Prisons are full of murderers
00:06:16 Prisons are full of people convicted for marijuana possession
00:06:54 U.S. prisons jail people at about the same rate as other countries
00:07:58 Most people in jail have been found guilty of crimes
00:08:22 Prison and jail are the same thing
00:08:57 Prison is the same around the world
00:09:36 Prisons have decent libraries
00:10:37 Incarcerated people earn good money working prison jobs
00:11:10 “Don’t drop the soap” is a concern
00:12:03 Prisons have to provide nutritionally complete meals
My grandfather was a cop. He told me long ago about the BASIC difference between "jail" and "prison" by this quote: "I can take someone to jail..Only a Court can send someone to prison".
I have been in jail. You are 100% correct. It's basically where offenders go to learn of their fate. If you go to jail you will not serve more than a year in 99% of cases. If the judge decides you aren't fit for probation or the severity of your crime is determined to be "bad" enough then you are sent to the state prison.
@@Shadestep93: actually "jail" is where you go to await trial, PRISON is where you're sent upon conviction!😒
@@jrooksable You can be convicted and also be sent to jail but this only happens if you are sentenced to a year or less. Here in the state I live in NH they wanted to send a tough message and send Habitual Offenders to prison if convicted so they made the sentence a mandatory 1 year & a day which makes it so they have to go to jail. Even felony drug offenders can go to a jail if they get a sentence of a year or less. Yes, people do go to a jail to await trial if they are refused or can't afford bail.
@@cygnals524:New Hampshire is for people with low I.Q.s!😒
@@jrooksable Sure, that is an intelligent comment because of course someone's IQ is directly linked to where they live. I'm sorry but not true at all but I will say there is an equal lack of intelligence that runs through the entire US and equal in all 50 states. I have met low IQ people who reside in and are from major cities, NYC, LA, Chicago, Boston, DC, etc... and I have met extremely intelligent folks from backwoods small towns in the middle of rural areas. Intelligent & Low IQ people live everywhere not just certain areas. I am not sure what this has to do with the conversation we are having here. It sounds like you may be board & like to troll. I suggest trying a hobby. There are many different options for this as well.
You don't go to prison when you first are arrested, usually it's county jail. Not the same thing as prison. For one, the food is much worse, usually.
I have to imagine that the reason that the Black and White stripes were common was because no matter where an escaped prisoner may be hiding or running, they're not likely to blend in with the environment. Like outlining white text in black so that the text can alwyas be seen no matter what it's sitting in front of.
The French Navy also used to wear stripes so any sailor overboard would be easier to spot in the water.
George W Bush "LIED" prisoners into those God-awful uniforms!(Democrats said so!)
the last one is nice to hear. i hope it catches on. growing your own food is such a calming and rewarding experience.
The last part about the garden would have a range of benefits. Too many to list all but Not only to off set the costs and better nutrition but gardening is considered therapeutic for the most part and puts people in a better state of mind which would probably reduce the violence in prisons. I'm sure they could use it as a type of reward for well behaved prisoners. Also, the stuff they grow in the summer can be canned and used year round to name a few. I'm actually surprised that most prisons don't do this.
That would hurt their profit margin if they couldn't charge the state or county for the dog shit quality food they already provide.
@Taryn Tots I agree 100% and it actually makes sense. Many decades ago all state run psychiatric hospitals had their own gardens and farms. This is where the nick name "funny farm" came from. The patients worked in the garden or the farm. Now they just get horrible cafeteria style food. I worked at a psych hospital for 8 years so I have seen enough of that food. Having a garden would give many inmates something to look forward to as birds and other various types of wildlife visit gardens and the inmates would be outside more often which is something most of them want. The problem is most of the prisons are for profit and are to concerned about making money. They would not want to take the cheap inmate labor away from the jobs they do for several corporations making pennies an hour so the prison can make millions. It is actually sad how the system works.
@@cygnals524 Looking into it, it appears that a decent amount of private prisons have been closed with more scheduled to close soon as well. I would think that would be a brag for the current administration but I haven't even heard them barely mention their part with it. Maybe they feel ashamed because they are not all gone yet?!? Idk. But at least things are going in the right direction.
The county jail where I live serves dry bologna sandwiches 3 meals a day every day.
I live very near Attica.
I've heard so many people say they were vegetarian in prison just to get slightly better food (at least, avoid unknown mystery meats). They really aren't treated like whole people, but I know some areas are improving and offering mental health support to inmates, which is one of the most beneficial things, as it can often get to reasons why someone did something, and how they can move on and improve. Everyone I know who has been arrested or incarcerated has had mental health issues, and often going off their meds (or not following the label) before doing something, not being on meds at all (largely due to diagnosis and healthcare costs), or in some way, being untreated for an issue that was left to get worse. Of course not everyone is like that, but it is a valid concern, and knowing myself and my intrusive thoughts from before I saw a therapist and a dietitian, they can be hard to resist when you don't know where those voices and harmful ideas are coming from.
We here in America are a society obsessed with punishment, not to ourselves, but to others that we see as lesser. We thrive vicariously on the pain and suffering of others. It's a massive problem here, which explains why we have so many prisoners with such long sentences and do so few for them. At the end of the day, they are human too, and as you said, most of them are innocent and are simply awaiting trial
Well said. We have the highest incarceration rate in the world, the highest recidivism rate (due to so many having criminal records preventing them from being upwardly mobile), and we know for a fact that when you give someone a record or incarcerate them, they become four times more likely to become career criminals, so locking up more individuals and giving more individuals records (they often do not deserve) makes us LESS safe. Americans are just insanely cruel people.
I think you're missing the money.
A Privatised Penal system means that there is incentive (profit) in having beds filled and longer stays.
@@CraftAero That's also a very good point, and definitely something to be said in the initial message as well. Also you get free labor out of it.
@@CraftAero Very true. There are a lot of private, profit-based "state" prisons where they have actually requested more individuals be arrested prior "end of quarter" in order to remain profitable. However, our criminal "justice" system itself is becoming more and more profit-driven be through home incarceration fees, ankle bracelet fees, monitoring fees, fines, etc. It's absolutely disgusting, and I will never understand how anyone could work in the criminal "justice" system. I had a friend from a deplorable family who was a corrections officer and he stated that when he became a counselor that he had to make sure he could still respond to beat up inmates in that position before he took it. Americans are ALL deplorables.
There is another major reason, which is also a big problem, privately owned prisons get paid per inmate.
I'm not gonna do the math, but if riots _per capita_ have gone down since the '70s, we could very well be seeing more _total_ prison riots, considering the insane skyrocketing of the number of incarcerated Americans since that time.
La vida es un riesgo Carnal!! Love from México
I’m sorry, but could you please explain the wallpaper theme behind you? I mean bridges, cars, sharks etc…. but what’s with the dinosaurs?
The reason the US looooooves prison is because of the 13th Amendment. "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, EXCEPT AS A PUNISHMENT FOR CRIME whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." Need slaves? Makes more laws so more people break them. Want slaves of a certain demographic? More heavily police their areas and target laws towards crimes you think they're more likely to commit, and then prosecute at a disproportionately higher rate for longer sentences...
Watch out some people might think you're talking about CRT.(sarcasticly)
I don't think it is specifically the 13th amendment. Most countries do not have a clause worded that way but still can have shockingly brutal conditions and lots of poorly paid labour.
The US is a country that has limited a lot of the oversight of prisons in general, and has become rather vengeful for things it sees as crimes. The way it was worded too, Congress also did have the power to interpret it and enforce it by legislation, but they didn't view prison labour that is neither specifically to punish the crime or badly paid or not paid at all to be violations even though they could have made a good case for it in a legislature just as Romans sentenced people to slavery in the mines for certain crimes.
The Congress has the power to enforce the amendment thus way, but it chooses not to.
Pretty much. Which is why I ASK inmates to do stuff whenever I can. Sometimes an order has to be an order. I allow them to say no.
@@robertjarman3703 It IS that way, but things are changing. Way to slowly in my opinion though.
Dude, grow up. That's not even it.
I never thought I'd ever question whether I'm interested in what happens inside a jail or prison. Turns out I'm not.
We (thankfully) fired the hell out of our former contractor who fed our inmates. Its was ~90% carbs. They now get better quality food, but fruits and veggies! Fruits are a little less available due to its ability to turn into hooch.
The Orange is the New Black book (memoir?) was extremely eye-opening . . . and infuriating.
In my prison majority of sentences were for fraud. I was in for car accident due to a stupid law change 2 weeks prior to the accident. I'm no criminal in was in wrong place at wrong time. My prison had great resources, education and medical services. We lived in real houses with singular bedrooms on a farm. It was actually a great place. It's not quite Norways Halden prison but it was great none the less.
We had a food allowance and got to choose, order and cook for ourselves.
Where was this at?
In many of the older prison movies they had some inmates called Trustees that would be given more freedom than the others. It sounds like a creation of the movies. Also, how often do jail breaks occur?
We call them runners at our prison, and some of them do have a bit more freedom then others, but it's usually at night. It is 100% a thing! (We got some butt heads, but I am often very thankful for them. They help a ton)
Last prison break in NY was 8 years ago
We had someone jump the fence like 6 months ago
It's not a movie misrepresentation. Older prisons did have trustees, and modern prisons have privilege groups whereby inmates are categorized based on behavior, adjustment, and risk factors. Being able to spend more money at Canteen, having a good prison job, having quieter and more private housing, and number of visits are determined mostly by adjustment and behavior.
I know from the lack of hits on my channel that within ε that nobody cares at all, but I was in federal political prison for 7 years, having been physically tortured and issued what my paralegal agreed was a written death threat (you can see it in the little circle to the left) and convicted on a bogus charge. Since nobody cares, I can tell the truth about things, knowing it will not have any effect whatsoever. So...
1:30 Phone calls don't only vary widely from state to state, but also jail to jail. I got lucky in my third jail, as they gave two phone calls. Otherwise I would not have been able to instruct my pubic offender to appeal (by leaving a voice message).
2:41 There was a weight pile, and some of the stuff was certainly purchased after 1997.
6:16 One of my friends (I did his §2255) was a marijuana-dealer, but he was convicted for a murder he had nothing to do with. He was in jail for about 5 years trying to get a trial. They deported his public offender, who was Canadian, and gave him another. The prosecutor didn't want to go to trial because it was his birthday, and the judge didn't want one either because hunting season was coming up. The guy who fingered him wrote a letter to the judge saying he lied. None of that mattered. Nobody cares about this.
9:36 All the books in the prison "leisure library" were donated, mostly by prisoners. But there are some really great organizations who send books free to prisoners. Give them some money. The best is the Prison Book Program at the Lucy Parsons Bookstore. Other good ones are the Prison Literature Project at Bound Together Books. There's also the DC Books to Prisoners project and the Appalachian Prison Book Program. If you give Lucy Parsons money, tell Lee and Ellen that Eric sent you. I still write them.
11:10 _Drop the soap_ is just a trope, but there is prison rape. The Prison Rape Elimination Act made things worse, by indirectly preventing condoms. Americans love this stuff! One of my friends (I did his §2241) was at another prison. Guards put him in isolation and swapped out his cellmates until they found one to rape him repeatedly. There was no doubt this was deliberate; the guards shouted "Is he too much for you, ?" so that the words would pass through the ventilation. If anybody cares, give money to Just Detention International. Tell Leelyn Aquino and Edward Cervantes that Eric sent you.
Oh, and if you by some miracle do not like this, *DO NOT* give any money to the national ACLU. Give it to the Center for Constitutional Rights instead.
More information upon request, but since nobody watches my videos or reads my articles on the American Prison Writing Archive or my book on prisonsfoundation.org, I am entitled to presume you just want _Orange is the New Black._ Enjoy believing the feds won't ever in a billion years destroy your life because of your political writings, while it lasts. History has shown oblivion does not keep you out of the ovens.
Wao😮
Whoa, rewatching this, at 8:15 "The main difference is length of stay" that is not the main difference, the main difference is conviction. People who are in Jail are almost all awaiting trail, meaning that they haven't been convicted with yet and are in being held as still innocent people awaiting trial and sentencing. Sure a small portion of people in jail are in transit waiting to go to prison but the vast majority of people sitting in jail, sometimes for years, have not been convicted of anything and could still be deemed to be innocent.
Jail holds people who have sufficient evidence as deemed by police that they could be guilty, or that police have simply decided are guilty and is supposed to hold these people and prevent them from fleeing the authorities in the period before trial. For this reason jail comes with bail as that is a way to "prevent" people from fleeing while awaiting trial, but prison doesn't because people in prison have been convicted of a crime and are criminals in the eye of the government.
I have seen prison clothes in dark green.
Slavery still is legal in the US: if you're a prisoner.
I've heard the cheese has a label that's says "Not for Human Consumption" on the packaging. Can anyone confirm that for me? Sounds like BS but I've never been Prison
Slave labor was never completely outlawed.
Enslavement of anyone who commits a “crime” is not only legal but makes up the backbone of many of our major industries.
Ever wonder why candy is so cheap?
641
I'm quitting this halfway through because it's so poorly written. In the item about violent offenders he says most prisoners aren't in for violent offenses based on the Federal prison population. But most violent crimes are state crimes, and there are 5 times as many people in state prisons than Federal. THAT'S where the murderers are. When discussing whether incarcerated people have been convicted, he says and I quote "People who have been found guilty ... are more likely to be found in Federal prison." Again, wrong, most convicted people are in state prisons. It's not as if they don't know state prisons exist or were doing an episode about Federal prisons only; he mentions state prisons, but the thinking is totally disorganized. There was an intelligent, informative episode to be done on this topic, but this isn't it.
I see there are still misconceptions about the misconceptions surrounding prison life.
TIL: Commit a crime in Norway! 😜
I feel like we can’t just gloss over “demands included the right to shower daily and access to basic hygiene items like toothbrushes.”
And finger nail files?
FYI: dropping soap is not much of a problem because federal prisoners must buy soap from the prison commissary, along with toothbrushes & toothpaste at radically inflated prices. Those who who have family/friends on the outside pay for it. Those who don't have such resources simply have water. There are no "treatment programs" for the incarcerated. No educational programs. Yes, there are jobs that pay less than a migrant fruit picker, but these are few & the only source of income for prisoners. Let's not forget the "food" that is clearly labeled "NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION". Maybe we should talk about the corruption of suppliers who sell the "food" to local restaurants & are caught yet not prosecuted (Sheridan), while prisoners were fed 3 meals a week (yes, NOT the 21 meals a week the average American eats).
So, years of no soap/toothpaste/toothbrushes/education/drug treatment, with poor food & not much of that, produces a near-feral mentality upon release into society.
Or as one interviewee put it, "the only thing I learned in prison was how to be a better criminal".
The one about the phone call doesn't relate to prison but instead just being arrested. It's actually not a right at all
5 acres is paltry.
Confusing title when they inter mingle jail and prison but than say jails and prisons are different. Maybe they should visit some prisons before doing this video. Some prisons are full of murders. The one near me is about 50% are in for murder. It’s because they are higher level prison and hold most of the violent guys. The prison has a very good library, they even have a full time librarian. Some of the jobs at prison pay minimum wage depending on the job. Most make very little but there are high paying jobs. Many are able to pay off fines and pay child support working these higher paying jobs. The prison has a dietician that must approve all meals. I know many prisons are bad but there are good ones. The prison also offers college classes, cd treatment, vocational classes, gym time with workout equipment, cable tv, and many other things.
I was in jail for a few weeks (not prison) and it was worse than anything I have seen on TV. The worst thing was the fact that there was no library and no books to read (unless you had someone on the outside ordering them for you). The smell was always terrible even after washing down the pod, and the food was literally inedible (I don't mean "bad," I mean inedible). My "offense" was a sarcastic comment I made off the top of my head online regarding the most criminal and terroristic pharmaceutical company in the world. It was called a "terroristic threat" despite being a sarcastic comment with a context protected by the 1st Amendment (the second charge was what is referred to as "stacking the deck" where you either did not break the law or committed a far lesser offense, but the prosecutor wishes to ensure that you are punished as harshly as possible). I have multiple education degrees I am over $35,000 in debt for and have hardly worked in seven years as I only work in academics and no other field (I am also being blocked from apply to positions online possibly because those doing it do not want me to reveal what was done to me for me to get the record I do not deserve). I have decided to go back to school and get more degrees as I refuse to work in any field outside secondary English education based on principle alone (only sociopaths and psychopaths think it just to destroy someone's career over a sarcastic comment made towards a pharmaceutical company with the worst criminal history of any drug company. Even now, I know this comment won't show as there should be many more (so I will add it to my videos as even more evidence that my 1st Amendment rights are being violated). Regardless, I will get justice and get my life back 100% one way or another.
You obviously do not know that the 1st Amendment is or what speech is protected. You can not say whatever you want, or make threats to anyone and call it free speech. I will have to assume that there was more to this sarcastic comment then just the comment. I would assume it was also having to do with how you handled yourself after.
Play stupid games...Win stupid prizes.
You final sentence just goes to show why you should have been arrested lol.. There is only one way to get justice. The right way.. Your last line reads like another threat.
@@tisjester No it doesn't. First of all, the biggest terrorists in this country are pharmaceutical companies that illegally price-fix and severely price gouge medications which directly result in the deaths of 50,000 to 70,000 American per year due to lack of access to preventive care due to cost and lack of access to costly medication. I am guessing you are another cowardly, corrupt, HIGHLY undereducated cop or member of the criminal "justice" system who thinks having arbitrary laws forced arbitrarily resulting the U.S. having the highest incarceration rate in the world. I am also guessing you think you have deniability or are protected despite my magical "conditions" that showed up when I refused to work with redneck trash in a redneck trash area. Whatever, you are going down and going HARD -- you're just far too stupid to know that yet. Oh, and I'm sure the civil courts will love my years of videos showing the harassment the "neighbors" put me through to get a reaction out of me. Give up. You've only proven me and the studies showing how sociopathic members of America's law enforcement and criminal "justice" system are. I'm going to win -- and I am going to win BIG. Tell the extremist judge and/or prosecutor that. Oh, and sarcasm/parody/satire ARE protected by the 1st Amendment. No one would have done what you sociopathic a**holes did and are continuing to do. but keep having your fun and see where that lands you. I'll see you when I'm back in education -- later.
Watch out for gangstalkers. They could be watching you this very minute. Ever see someone look at you funny while outside? Be careful and always on alert. They could be in your walls... listen for weird noises in your house.
Nothing to debunk, but if your 90s video doesn’t mention the two years of neon nylon garbage we had to put up with then you’ve failed.
Just here to see if they correct any shower misconceptions or if all of those prevalent notions are true.
Prison should be a place of rehabilitation and personal growth, prisoners deserve the same rights as everyone else.
"Prison is a terrible place. It's full of criminals!" ----- Ozzy Osbourne
the fact that jails house the non-convicted, yet are usually far worse for inmates, really pisses me off.
I'd be curious to know about misconceptions about Europe that decade (the 1990s)?
Which decade? This covers (depending on topic) 1886 to present.
Why the long sentences? Racism and classism .
In the 90s, we didn't all wear bright contrasting colors all the time. Nor did we all wear flannel and jeans.
Most of the girls in my school *DID* have huge hair, though. Man, I miss that style.
First?
yeah I guess so
No. As you are aware, this is a "mirrored site" you are using through law enforcement software which covers the actual post (keep violating my rights and see how it works out for you).
@@adolphsanchez1429 lol now we see why you were arrested. You just love to make threats.
@@adolphsanchez1429 Dude, please get some help. I am not making fun of you, but man it sounds like you need it.
Yet the bible is celebrated...
And states whose populations are known for a traditional adherence to said bible are often the worst offenders of inmate's rights.
You're so wrong about this you have way more wrong than you have right I myself to two-and-a-half years in California State Prison I have family in California prison right now I know people in New York prison Texas prison and Mississippi prison you're just so so so wrong about almost every single thing you say it's ridiculous how wrong you are
If anyone can sit through the intro alone and not realize prison is fundamentally broken...I don't like them