Category: Prison Rules

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?