During the past year, you may have noticed a lot of news stories about the trend of “smash and grab” robberies in California. During the height of the most recent Christmas shopping season, there was a hit on a Louis Vuitton store in San Francisco’s Union Square. There were also incidents at Burberry and Bloomingdales.… Continue reading Can You go to Prison for Theft?
When you are sentenced to a long-term prison sentence, or even a year in the county jail, your life is no longer in your own hands. Just about everything in your life is decided for you, from what you eat to what you wear to where you live to how you spend your time. When… Continue reading Do Inmates Prefer to Share a Cell or Have One All to Themselves?
For most people, the first question that comes to mind when they see someone in prison is—what did they do to end up behind bars? Did they kill someone? Did they commit assault? Maybe they stole something? Our minds tend to land on major “violent crimes,” like murder, rape, and assault, as the reason that… Continue reading Can you go to Prison for Not Paying a Phone Contract?
Millions of people in the United States have spent time behind bars over the past 40 years. Between the 1,566 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 2,850 local jails, 1,510 juvenile correctional facilities, 186 immigration detention facilities, and 82 Indian country jails—as well as the military prisons, civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in… Continue reading Can You Leave Prison Early?
In late 2021, the movie Belfast from writer/director Kenneth Branagh—and starring Jamie Dornan, Caitriona Balfe, and Judi Dench—hit theaters nationwide. The film is a coming-of-age drama set in Northern Ireland during a period known as, “The Troubles,” which lasted from the late 1960s until the late 1990s. “The Troubles” was a violent conflict between nationalists… Continue reading Can You Visit Maze Prison?
Prisons are part of the multi-billion dollar correctional industry in the United States, and it takes thousands of people to operate these facilities throughout the country. While the inmates do most of the manual labor in a working prison, there are also paid employees from the free world who are needed to make sure things… Continue reading Can You be a Prison Officer With Epilepsy?
The oldest prisons and jails in the United States were built approximately two hundred years ago. The oldest,New Jersey State Prison, dates back to 1798, but that’s nothing compared to the origins of some prisons around the world. If you’re a prison history buff, you may have heard of the infamous Newgate Prison. Located in… Continue reading Can You Visit Newgate Prison?
There are a lot of misconceptions about what being in prison is like. As with most things in life, you can’t really know or understand it unless you experience yourself. Thankfully, most of us have to rely on TV and movies to get a glimpse of prison life, but Hollywood rarely gets it right. While… Continue reading Can You Stay in Your Prison Cell?
There are thousands of prisons and jails in the United States, and each one of them is different. From their security level to design to inmate management system, every detention facility looks unique and does things their own way. When you venture outside of the United States, things are even more different in the world… Continue reading Can You Visit Mountjoy Prison?
Something that many of us take for granted in the free world is the ability to choose our housing. In America, we can live where we want, and we can rent or buy a house or an apartment. When you are convicted of a crime and sentenced to prison, the luxury of choosing your housing… Continue reading How Are Cells Assigned in Prison?
It’s tax time once again, and no one is exempt–not even prison inmates. With the United States having the highest incarceration rate in the world, nearly one percent of residents age 18 or older are currently behind bars. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, that adds up to approximately 2.3 million people confined to prisons… Continue reading How Does an Inmate File Taxes?
I’ve talked before on this blog about the communities that are behind prison walls. Inmates at every facility have their own social hierarchies and create their own economy. Without inmate workers, the place couldn’t function. Everyone in the general population works full-time or goes to school. Then in the evenings, people will hang out at… Continue reading Why Do Inmates Especially Hate Child Sex Offenders?
I recently ventured outside of the United States prison system for the very first time in this blog to talk about visiting Dartmoor Prison in the UK. That facility dated back to the early 19th century, and its history included an American connection. That centuries-old prison actually housed American prisoners of war from the War… Continue reading Can You Visit Kerobokan Prison?
When someone is sentenced to life in prison, that often means a sentence of about 25 to 30 years. Many violent crimes result in a life sentence without the possibility of parole, or someone is sentenced to multiple life sentences running concurrently. Both of those scenarios means that the inmate will die in prison. You… Continue reading Can You Die in Prison?
When I talk about prisons and the criminal justice system on this blog, I’m almost always referring to American facilities and cases, but today, I’m going to change things up a bit and talk about Dartmoor Prison in the United Kingdom (UK). Officially known as HM Prison Dartmoor, this facility—known for its high granite walls—is… Continue reading Can You Visit Dartmoor Prison?
I’ve talked a lot in my blog posts about the life of inmates behind bars, but I rarely write about prison workers–the officers, administrators, and volunteers who supervise the facility and enforce the rules. I don’t have any experience working in a prison as a non-inmate, but I did watch these people very closely for… Continue reading Can You be a Prison Officer With Tattoos?
When you get sentenced to time in prison, the purpose is to segregate you from society as punishment for your crime. While you sit behind bars and wait for each day to pass until you reach your release date, the world goes on without you. Staying in touch with friends and family is a good… Continue reading Can You Leave Prison For a Wedding?
The past two years have changed the way many of us interact with other people—even with friends and family members. The days of handshakes and hugs were replaced with social distancing and masks, and in many parts of the world that’s still the case. The pandemic hit less than three years after I was released… Continue reading Can You Hug Someone in Prison?
Joliet Correctional Center — aka “Joliet Prison” — opened in 1858 and was operational for more than a century and a half. Located in Joliet, Illinois, the facility was originally known as the Illinois State Penitentiary. It often gets confused with the nearby Stateville Correctional Center — located in Crest Hill, Illinois — which operated… Continue reading Can You Visit Joliet Prison?
Prisons are supposed to keep meticulous records about everything that goes on inside, especially when it comes to the inmates. They have to know who is in the facility and how many inmates are in camp. But that’s not all — they have to know where each inmate is located at all times. Head counts… Continue reading Can You Search Prison Inmates?
Jodi Arias became a media sensation in 2008 when she was arrested for the murder of her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander. At the time, she was a blonde-haired vixen who smiled in her mugshot, flirted with officers, and sang O Holy Night while in police custody. She denied having anything to do with Travis’ murder, and… Continue reading Can You Visit Jodi Arias in Prison?
The most common question that I get from people when they find out I spent four years in prison is — what is prison really like? I’ve talked before about how my knowledge and impression of prison was informed by pop culture. The only exposure I had to prison life was through TV shows and… Continue reading What Is Prison (Really) Like?
The blog topics that I write about on Prison Insight are based on the most commonly-asked questions we get about prison and the criminal justice system. Today’s topic has been on my list for a while, but I’ve avoided it because it hits so close to home. And, I’ve got to be honest, it makes… Continue reading Can You Get Life in Prison for Drugs?
When you are sentenced to time behind bars, chances are you won’t be using your regular name while you are there. The guards and other members of the prison staff will use your last name or your inmate ID number. As for the other inmates, they will either call you by your last name or… Continue reading Prison Nicknames – A Real-Life Look at Examples
Like millions of other Americans, I am a proud parent of two sweet fur babies — my Shih Tzu, Titus and my kitty cat, Dale. My pets are members of my family, so it’s hard for me to write content about animal cruelty. A common question people have about prison is associated with that topic.… Continue reading Can You go to Prison for Killing a Dog?
When I was sentenced to prison to serve two 15-year sentences (concurrently) for marijuana possession, I had no idea what I was walking into. The only thing I knew about prison was what I had learned in TV and movies. I quickly discovered that a pop culture prison education wasn’t based on any kind of… Continue reading Prison Slang – A List of Terms You’ll Hopefully Never Need to Use
When someone is sentenced to prison, their experience behind bars depends on a number of factors. To begin with, prison experiences vary greatly among different countries because every sovereign nation has their own method for handling people found guilty of committing a crime. When we focus on prison inmates in the United States, someone incarcerated… Continue reading What Is Military Prison Like Compared to Civilian Prison?
When you are convicted of a felony and sentenced to prison, you lose a lot of your constitutional and human rights while you are incarcerated. In some states, some of those rights aren’t automatically reinstated upon an inmate’s release, and it’s possible the former inmate won’t ever get all of their rights back (most notably,… Continue reading What Rights Do Inmates Have?
I used to think that everyone who was in prison deserved to be there, but when I was put behind bars, I discovered that I couldn’t have been more wrong. The majority of people in prison are there for a non-violent offense. Oftentimes, the only victim of the “crime” is the state, in my opinion. … Continue reading What Happens if You are Found Innocent After Being in Prison?
Tattoos are a common part of prison culture. In my experience, the majority of inmates already have ink before they start doing their time, but some don’t get their art work done until they are behind bars. No, prisons don’t have tattoo parlors where you can drop some cash to get professional work done. Instead,… Continue reading What Are The Meanings of Prison Tattoos?
We all know that when someone is convicted of the crime of murder, they will end up in prison. It’s the most violent crime in the criminal code, and it comes with the harshest penalties. Taking someone’s life usually results in a lengthy prison sentence. In many states, there’s no possibility for parole. In some… Continue reading Can You Get Life in Prison for Manslaughter?
We’ve all been in situations where we’ve lost our temper. But sometimes, things can get out of hand, which can cause the law to get involved. If you have knowingly inflicted or attempted to inflict serious physical injury to someone, that’s considered assault. And if you get charged with the crime of assault, things can… Continue reading Can You go to Prison for Assault?
The United States has between 1.5 million and 2 million people behind bars at any given moment, which means it incarcerates a larger proportion of its citizens than any other developed country in the world. If you’ve never lived or worked inside a prison, you really don’t know what life is like on the inside.… Continue reading Why Inmates Join Prison Gangs?
I have written in the past about the mass incarceration problem in the United States. In my opinion, one of the reasons our prisons and jails are so crowded is because we lock people up for non-violent “crimes” that often have no victims. The truth is, the 50 states that make up our great country… Continue reading Can You go to Prison for Criminal Damage?
A common phrase I heard from the prison guards during my four years of incarceration was: “if you don’t like it, you shouldn’t have come to prison.” One of the white shirts (the guard in charge) used to say that line in response to every inmate complaint. Sometimes, it was an appropriate response, but as… Continue reading Can You Sue Prison?
The crime of kidnapping is defined as the illegal act of taking a person and transporting them against their will with force, fear, and/or intimidation. The laws in the United States date back to the 1930s after the highly publicized Lindbergh baby kidnapping. The Federal Kidnapping Act authorized the FBI to investigate kidnapping based on… Continue reading Can You Get Life in Prison for Kidnapping?
If you are being abused by your partner, you can contact the National Domestic Abuse Hotline at 1-800-799-7233. Domestic violence cases are a commonly misunderstood area of the law because of the stigma associated with the concept of abuse. Obviously, domestic violence is disgusting and those who are guilty of committing such a crime should… Continue reading Can You go to Prison for Domestic Violence?
When you are sentenced to prison, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are going to be locked in a cell 24/7. Unless you have a super-violent history and are housed in a SuperMax, or maximum-security prison, chances are you will either be assigned to a work detail or required to attend classes. When you are assigned… Continue reading What Kind of Labor do Prisons Make Inmates Perform?
When Demi Burnett was trying to win Colton Underwood’s heart during season 23 of The Bachelor, she revealed that her mom – Tina Jean Jordan – had recently been released from prison after serving a sentence for embezzlement. But as it turns out, there’s a lot more to the story than that. Keep reading to… Continue reading Why Did Demi Burnett’s Mom go to Prison?
The purpose of child support is to provide for your child’s needs – housing, food, clothing, medical, extracurriculars, etc. – even though you are the non-custodial parent. It’s not a payment that you make in exchange for child care. Most custodial parents rely on the child support payments from the non-custodial parents, but that doesn’t… Continue reading Can You go to Prison for Not Paying Child Support?
Johnny Cash is one of the most famous outlaws in Country music history. Known for numerous hits like Folsom Prison Blues, I Walk the Line, Ring of Fire, A Boy Named Sue, One Piece At a Time, and Hurt, the “Man in Black” had a career that lasted nearly five decades. When he died in… Continue reading Why Did Johnny Cash go to Prison?
There are more than two million people in the United States who are currently behind bars, and their crimes range from non-violent marijuana possession to mass murder. I’ve talked before about how the United States has approximately five percent of the world’s population, but a whopping 25 percent of the world’s prison population. The data… Continue reading Can You go to Prison For Not Paying Taxes?
Ten years ago, Abby Lee Miller burst onto our television screens in the Lifetime reality show Dance Moms. For eight seasons, the founder of the Abby Lee Dance Company was famous for yelling at her students in practice sessions and motivating them to excel in dance competitions. The show produced three spin-offs – Abby’s Ultimate… Continue reading Why Did Abby Lee Miller go to Prison?
Every American has the fundamental right to defend themselves. This is pretty common knowledge. But the term “self-defense” in a legal context doesn’t necessarily apply in every case of unwarranted aggression. When do you have the right to “self-defense?” When someone is badly injured or loses their life and the aggressor claims self-defense, who decides… Continue reading Can You go to Prison for Self Defense?
Growing up, many of us watched Bill Cosby on The Cosby Show. He was the TV dad who raised his kids with love, discipline, respect, and humor. He was also the guy in the Jello commercials, as well as the star of Fat Albert. If you were a kid in the 80s, you knew who… Continue reading What Prison Is Bill Cosby In?
This information is for educational purposes only and is not legal advice. We are not lawyers. We have many laws in this country.. At the federal level, no one actually knows how many laws there are in the United States! Of course, we’ve been accumulating laws well over 200 years, but there have been many… Continue reading Can You go to Prison for Speeding?
It’s always fascinating when a celebrity gets caught up in the criminal justice system. I think it really catches our attention because as an unspoken rule, it’s the poor who end up behind bars. When you have money, you can afford a legal team who can work wonders when it comes to getting a good… Continue reading Why Did Martha Stewart go to Prison?
When the time comes for a person who’s been convicted of a crime to receive their sentence, the punishment he/she receives can often seem quite random. Believe it or not, judges don’t have a lot of power when it comes to sentencing. Most of the laws in the federal criminal code – as well as… Continue reading How Long is a Life Sentence in Prison?
Texting is part of our everyday life in the free world. It’s become so common that it’s almost weird to get a phone call. Much less a voicemail. But how does it work when you are arrested and sentenced to some time behind bars? Do inmates have cell phones? Can you text in prison? In… Continue reading Can You Text in Prison?
One thing I took for granted before going to prison was haircare and beauty products. I had always lived in a world where I could buy any kind of shampoo or conditioner I wanted to. I could also buy gel, pomade, and hairspray whenever I wanted, as well as any kind of ponytail holder, clip,… Continue reading Can You Dye Your Hair in Prison?
The words commonly used in the criminal justice system tend to get conflated from time to time. We often refer to people as “criminals” when they are convicted of a crime. But, there is a big difference between crimes classified as felonies and those classified as misdemeanors. Many people also tend to use the words… Continue reading Can you go to Prison for a Misdemeanor?
America has five percent of the world’s population and 25 percent of the world’s prison population incarcerated. The correctional industry has made some people a lot of money. There are famous prisons that have become part of popular culture. From Alcatraz to the Ohio State Reformatory, you can even tour these famous prisons and buy… Continue reading Where is Sing Sing Prison?
Whenever a celebrity gets caught up in the criminal justice system, it always seems to garner a lot of attention. When they end up going to prison, their case becomes even more intriguing. It can also be an opportunity to shine a light on how America’s never ending amount of laws can so easily put… Continue reading Why Did FPSRussia go to Prison?
I have a confession to make. I’m a pop culture nerd. In fact, I love movies and TV so much that I write about them for a living when I’m not writing content for Prison Insight. For this week’s blog post, I thought it would be fun to mix together my love of movies with… Continue reading Where is the Prison from The Shawshank Redemption?
When an inmate has a chance for parole, it’s a really big deal. Honestly, it’s all you think about. At least it was for me. When I was sentenced to thirty years in prison (two fifteen-year sentences, running concurrently), I had the chance to get paroled after a serving fifteen percent of my sentence, or… Continue reading How to Write a Letter to Help Get Someone Out of Prison
The number of women in prison has risen dramatically in recent years, and it’s happening all over the world. Since 1980, the number of women incarcerated in the United States has increased by more than 700 percent. In the past decade alone, the number of women jailed has increased by more than 100,000. New data… Continue reading Can You Keep a Baby in Prison?
When advocating for criminal justice and prison reform, I often hear people claim that prison inmates are living the good life. For some reason, there are people who believe that prison inmates have got it good because they get three meals a day and a place to sleep at night. I also hear people talk… Continue reading Can You Claim Benefits in Prison?
When President Trump signed the CARES Act last spring, part of the legislation featured $1,200 stimulus payments to citizens who make less than $75,000 per year. As we all know, a second round of checks for $600 was included in the most recent stimulus bill. And, it looks like President Biden will be signing more… Continue reading Can Prison Inmates Get Stimulus Checks?
Keeping up with current events – in your community, country, and around the world – is a normal part of daily life for many of us. Especially in this current political climate. Thanks to modern technology, we now have immediate access to more information than we can accurately process. Unless some major tech company tries… Continue reading Can You Get Newspapers in Prison?
While the debate rages on in America about free and fair elections – and which candidate actually won the Presidential election – it got me thinking about prison inmates and felons in relation to the electoral process. It’s no secret that when you go to prison, you give up some of your rights. There is… Continue reading Can You Run for President in Prison?
Life is all about choices. Making good ones can lead you on a happy, successful path in life. But making bad ones can result in consequences that you might never be able to overcome. Having the freedom to make your own choices – no matter how big or small – is one of the best… Continue reading Can You Choose Which Prison to go to?
In previous blog posts, I have mentioned just how important it is for an inmate to receive letters from friends and family. For a prison inmate, communication with the outside world is extremely limited. If they don’t have access to a TV or radio, the only way an inmate comes in contact with the outside… Continue reading How to Write an Inmate a Letter
In previous blog posts, I have written about how much I love my pets. My cat Dale and my dog Titus are my fur babies, and they are an important part of my family. Dale is three years old and Titus is four, so they didn’t become part of my life until after I left… Continue reading Can Pets Visit You in Prison?
I’ll be honest, my pets are my children. My sweet little Shih Tzu Titus is 4-years-old and a champion snuggler. My cat Dale is 3-years-old, and he rules the house. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love my pets and always joke that they are my emotional support animals. The truth is that… Continue reading Can You Have Pets in Prison?
When you are sentenced to time in prison and placed into custody, the process of stripping away your personal identity immediately begins. Officers take away your clothes and all personal belongings and give you a jail uniform to wear while you wait for your transfer to prison. In prison life, conformity is key. Prison officials… Continue reading Can You Wear Jordan’s in Prison?
When I was in prison, one of the best moments of the day was mail call. Every weeknight, an officer would come onto the wing and hand out inmate mail. Sometimes, I would get letters or emails from home. Other times, I would receive letters from people I had never met, but who had read… Continue reading What Can You Put in Prison Letters?
When people ask me about my prison experience, one of the most common questions I get is about clothing. People are always interested in what inmates are allowed to wear. When we see prison inmates on TV and in movies, we usually see them in an orange jumpsuit or a khaki two-piece. This is actually… Continue reading Can You Wear Jeans in Prison?
Earning money is just as important for an inmate in prison as it is for someone in the free world. In addition to “three hots and a cot,” the state provides an inmate with an absolute minimum number of supplies – a few items of clothing, a sheet and towel, and hygiene items. Other than… Continue reading How Can You Earn Money in Prison?
One of the most glaring differences about living your life in prison compared to the free world is that you have almost no control over who you spend your time with. When an inmate arrives for processing into a prison, they are assigned a cell and a bunk. Inmates have no influence on where they… Continue reading Can You Keep to Yourself in Prison?
For most prison inmates, regular communication with friends and family in the free world is essential to surviving their segregation from society. Thanks to modern technology, inmates no longer have to rely on handwritten letters and phone calls to communicate with their loved ones. These days, friends and family can communicate with their incarcerated loved… Continue reading Can You Swear in Prison Letters?
Did you know there is prison inside of a prison? You may have heard it called “the hole” or “the SHU” or “solitary confinement.” But all of those names are referring to one place inside of prison walls – administrative segregation (AdSeg). The specific name depends on the facility, but administrative segregation is always a… Continue reading Protective Custody in Prison
There is an old saying that claims “necessity is the mother of invention.” The overwhelming evidence that proves that saying is true can be found behind prison walls. Inmates have extremely limited access to items that people in the free world take for granted. This means that everything is repurposed and nothing goes to waste. … Continue reading What is Prison Hooch and How do Inmates Make it?
When I went to prison, I had no idea what to expect. My only exposure to life behind bars was from TV and movies. And, as I’ve explained numerous times on PrisonInsight, Hollywood gets it extremely wrong. To my surprise, prisons aren’t filled with evil murderers and rapists. But please don’t misunderstand me – there… Continue reading Is Prison As Bad as People Say it is?
During most blog posts here on Prison Insight, I talk a lot about the things that prison inmates are not allowed to do. I also discuss the rights inmates lose when they are incarcerated as well as when they are released back into society as felons. Today, I am going to talk about something else… Continue reading Are Prisoners Drafted For War?
Whenever I choose a blog post topic, it is usually based on the questions we receive from our readers. But sometimes, I get inspiration by looking at the Google search trends to see the most frequently asked questions about prison. Today’s blog post is a result of those questions on Google. I chose this topic… Continue reading Why Are Inmates so Muscular?
There aren’t many things that are universal in American prisons. Every facility has their own way of doing things. Operations and inmate interactions depend on things like the facility’s security level and the housing set-up. Unfortunately, the one thing that you will find in every prison is violence. But inmates don’t usually fight with each… Continue reading What Happens if You Fight in Prison?
When you are preparing to visit someone in prison for the first time, you will most likely have a lot of questions. When you walk onto a DOC or BOP property, it’s a completely different world. There are rules about absolutely everything – even for the visitors from the free world. Before making it to… Continue reading Can You Record Prison Visits?
It’s not a secret that plenty of crime goes on inside of prison walls. Some inmates are able to run criminal enterprises from their cell and smuggle drugs and cell phones, while others may have inappropriate relationships with officers, resulting in pregnancy. As a former inmate in a women’s prison, I can only speak to… Continue reading How do Inmates Manipulate Correctional Officers?
For the past five decades, America has fallen in love with the idea of mass incarceration. The prison population in this country has skyrocketed since the beginning of the drug war, and one of the main reasons the numbers have gone down recently is because of COVID-19. We lock up a greater share of our… Continue reading Can a Disabled Person go to Jail?
This week, the Federal Bureau of Prisons was scheduled to execute the first federal inmate in over 17 years, but a federal judge postponed it because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Just three days ahead of convicted killer Daniel Lewis Lee’s execution, Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson from the Southern District of Indiana sided with the family of… Continue reading Why do Inmates go on Death Row?
When you are sentenced to prison after being convicted of a crime, you will be in a corrections environment for at least one year. Prisons house inmates who commit felonies, and those types of crimes can have a sentence ranging from one year to life without the possibility of parole. This means that when you… Continue reading How do You Let go of The Prison Mentality?
One of my favorite episodes of The Office is titled, “The Convict,” and it features Michael Scott (Steve Carell) finding out that a new employee at Dunder Mifflin has a criminal record. The funny thing is that I watched the episode well before I actually went to prison, and I watched it again after I… Continue reading How Does Prison Change a Person?
I know it might seem like the beginning of summer isn’t the right time to be talking about Christmas, but I disagree. In my world, there is never a bad time to talk about the holiday. And, considering how difficult the first part of 2020 has been, I can only imagine how grateful we will… Continue reading Can You Visit Someone in Prison on Christmas Day?
It’s no secret that criminal justice reform and the role of the police in our society have become hotly-debated political topics in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. As a criminal justice reform activist, I am excited that American citizens are having this discussion. One of the arguments I have heard regularly from those who… Continue reading What Criminals Are The Most Hated in Prison?
When I was in prison, there was nothing that brought me more joy than a visit from a loved one. I looked forward to every visit with crazy anticipation, and when the moment finally arrived, those four hours flew by way too fast. Most prisons have visiting hours on the weekends, but the number, length,… Continue reading Can You be on Two Inmate Visiting Lists?
For the past couple of months, prisons all over the country have shut down their visiting rooms due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yes, this is a safety precaution, but the damage this decision does to an inmate’s health and well-being can’t be understated. Visits are crucial for a prison inmate, and they are encouraged by… Continue reading How Can I Find Out if I am on an Inmate’s Visiting List?
After the arrest of George Floyd led to his death at the knees of an officer in the Minneapolis Police Department, protests have broken out all over the globe. But, as everyone knows, many of these peaceful protests have been hijacked by violent looters, and that has resulted in the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP)… Continue reading George Floyd Protests Trigger BOP Lockdown
When I was growing up, my parents taught me the golden rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” I was also given little nuggets of wisdom like “you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.” I consider myself to be a pretty nice person. In fact, I can… Continue reading What Happens to You in Prison if You’re Nice?
I don’t consider myself to be a big talker, but my family might disagree. Even with a journalism degree and a podcast, I feel like I do most of my talking through the written word instead of speaking. When I do have conversations with my friends, I prefer going deep on an interesting subject instead… Continue reading What Do You Talk About When Visiting Someone in Prison?
I recently celebrated the third anniversary of the day I walked out of prison. I spent four years at the Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic, and Correctional Center in Vandalia, Missouri, for a first-time, non-violent, marijuana offense, and my time behind bars opened my eyes to the realities of the United States prison system. I have… Continue reading Why Do Inmates Get Free Food?
Ever since the drug war began in the early 1970s, prisons have been filled with non-violent drug offenders who have problems with addiction. Many of these are people who are victim to themselves and their families. The sad fact is that prison doesn’t usually help people with addiction issues. Unless the inmate has a strong… Continue reading How Does a Drug User Get Clean if They Are in Prison?
Today’s question is a difficult one to answer. I was so upset and beat down after I was put in prison, that happiness wasn’t even a thought. I’ve got to be honest – I didn’t think I deserved to be in there. The common joke is that everyone in prison will tell you they are… Continue reading Can You be Happy in Prison?
When you are living in the free world, there can be numerous reasons why you would move to a new home. People move because they get a new job, or get a raise and can afford a larger home. Or, on the flipside, people can downsize due to job loss or retirement. Other people move… Continue reading Why Would an Inmate be Moved to a Different Cell?
Today’s blog post will be a little bit different than what we usually do here at Prison Insight. Instead of answering a specific question about life as a prison inmate, we wanted to create a guide to the Presentence Investigation (PSI) Report. The Presentence Investigation Report is a document that gives you the chance to… Continue reading Guide to The Presentence Investigation (PSI) Report
I’ve never been a big holiday person, so when I was sentenced to 15 years in prison for a first-time marijuana offense, I was surprised to find out just how much being incarcerated on a holiday affected me. I realized on the inside that when I was in the real world, holidays were pretty great.… Continue reading What Are Holidays Like in Prison?
Ever since I was incarcerated for nearly four years for a marijuana charge, one of my biggest pet peeves is when people conflate the words “jail” and “prison.” Yes, they are both legal confinement facilities, but there is a big difference between a jail and a prison. I’m not sure why using the two words… Continue reading Jail vs Prison – What’s The Difference?
Once someone gets sucked into the judicial system and prison system, it can be extremely difficult to get out of it. We have a dangerously high recidivism rate in America, which is the percentage of inmates who return to prison after being released. When someone is released from prison, the rules we have set up… Continue reading Why Inmates Return To Prison
As I write this blog post, people around the world are under shelter-in-place orders or on full lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials at jails and prisons all over the United States are trying to figure out what they can do to help stop the spread of the virus. Many have decided to release… Continue reading Why Would an Inmate be on Lockdown?
Whenever you are preparing to visit a prison inmate for the first time, there are definitely things you need to know. If you don’t arrive at the prison fully prepared, it could result in the prison staff denying your visit. And, since most people have to travel to visit their incarcerated loved one, you definitely… Continue reading Visiting an Inmate For The First Time – 10 Things to Know
Coronavirus. We’re all dealing with it in one way or another. For most of us, it requires us to work from home, or maybe you’ve even lost your job over it. It hasn’t been easy for anyone and no one is safe. Regardless of your situation, there is a population of roughly 2.3 million people… Continue reading Coronavirus in the Prison System
