[Lady Sidhe]

Originally posted by DanaC

... in a place where they are likely to experience their first rape within the first 15 minutes of incarceration or where they have to share a tiny cell with no amenities and every single act from their toiletting to their sleep being dictated and observed by people who have power overthem.

I have no idea where people get the idea that prisons are a pleasant or even habitable place to exist in. If the prisons in America are anything like the prisons over here then the inmates are barely skirting a reasonable existence. Given some of the stories I have heard I am inclined to think they are probably marginally worse.
As to the fact they get three square meals a day...the meals in some prisons in the UK simply dont bear thinking about. They look ok on paper but much ofthe food is unfit for human consumption and cases of food poisoning abound.

Imagine sharing a small, cramped and colourless space with four or five guys all of whom are pretty fucked up and desperate people......often spending 22 or 23 hours with them in the cell sharing a toilet with no privacy no release from the relentless boredom. Imagine never being able to make a choice for yourself again. Not the choice to sleepwhen you want or be awake when you want. Not the choice to read what you want or watch the tv channel of your choice. No choice in what you eat , no choice in what you wear no choice in any aspect of your life.

.....I just think that we would do well to recognise how harsh life in prison actually is.

Remember when I said I was accused of something I didn't do? Well, I spent a single night, two days, in our parish prison. It sucked, but you know what?

You don't share a small, cramped cell. There were eight of us in a single cell about half the size of the house I live in now. There were two rooms, each of which had two bunk beds each; There were two shower/bathrooms, and a central common area with a tv. There was also a phone in the cell. You could order books if you wanted. You could go to church or classes. The lights went out at ten pm, and came on at seven am. Sure, the food sucked, but mostly because it was cold. No one ever threatened me.

This wasn't a jail; this was a permanent facility. I'm not saying they're all like this, but it can't be the ONLY one that is.


Sidhe