Quote from: ayesha201006 on June 16, 2015, 09:23:02 PM

Quote from: ChiliPowder on June 16, 2015, 07:34:00 PM

As Orange is the New Black has made its return in Season 3, I was jsut wondering what "real" jail is like.

I know in Orange the prison is all female, but I would like to hear about both.

How much time did you serve?
Is the food that bad?
Does rape still happen?
Is it necessary to join a gang?

Are there any truths from the show? How does the shows prison differ from real prison?

OK so I never went to jail, but I know a little bit because I read about things like this. First let me make it clear that the jails/prisons in USA are on par with those in 3rd world countries, and most places don't have such bad conditions for prisoners.

I don't know about the food, but yes rape happens. However it is supposed to be that most of the sex is consensual. Think about it, if you had a 20 year sentence you might start batting for the other team. Why not, you gotta get your rocks off somehow. For joining a gang, I think it depends on what prison you are in, some yes and some no.

Many of the prisons in the USA are run by private companies, can you imagine? The idea is that they can save money, but as you might imagine you can't get blood from a turnip and those savings have to come from somewhere. Severe overcrowding is the most obvious symptom of this.

But the worst part is that private prisons lobby for harsher penalties for crimes, and against things like the decriminalization of drug addiction. If alcoholism is a disease and needs to be treated, why not meth addiction?

Anyway as usual letting private industry into something that should only be run by the government fucks things up as much as you might imagine.

Sweet. At 6 posts in, the thread went political.