Much of what we think we know about prison comes from movies and the media, often reduced to clichés that paint a one-dimensional picture. But there’s so much to it that rarely gets acknowledged.
So, one curious Redditor asked former inmates to share what most people aren’t typically aware of when it comes to life behind bars. The question sparked plenty of responses, and we’ve gathered some of the most intriguing ones. Find them below—you’ll likely learn something you didn’t expect.
You’ve heard of for-profit prisons, but it starts well before and ends well after prison.
Everything has a cost: parole (you pay a parole fee), community service (you pay a community service fee), court costs, you owe the state for part of the cost of you being in jail. Restitution (paying back the people hurt by your crime). Ankle monitor, on your tab. Can’t pay? Parole revoked, back to jail with no chance of re-parole / you must serve your full sentence because you violated conditions of your parole.
The biggest scams are the halfway houses. They were about $1500 a month in my town to share a dormroom with, well, another ex-con. Can’t pay? Parole revoked, back to prison.
And remember that you’re supposed to be paying all this on whatever job you can get **as a felon**. Do you know how many jobs, like Wendy’s or even Kroger, tell you to GTFO when you answer that you have a felony conviction? I couldn’t work at a *library*. What, you think I’m going to steal a library book?
If you have a substance-related conviction (and sometimes, even if you don’t… eg me), you have to do regular d**g testing. You’re paying for that, of course. Can’t pay? Back to prison. It was like $128 a month for 2x month d**g testing. And again, my conviction wasn’t d**g related.
My roomie did have a d**g-related conviction, so he had to do three random d**g tests a week (that he had to pay for). He almost got sent back to prison (2 of 3 strikes) for testing “dilute”; that is, his urine was too watery. He was walking home in 95* heat (can’t have a car at this halfway-house) and was, you guessed it, drinking water.
I did the math and I owed about $2200 / month in mandatory court expenses, that if I did not pay I would go back to jail. That was something like 200 hours of work / month, *before taxes and not even considering food*. And I had a fairly good job, *especially* for a convicted felon.
But the best part was the judge that sentenced both of us **owned the halfway house**. He was a partial owner. Talk about cash 4 kids.
The system is absolutely, 100% designed to send you back to prison. There is simply no way a normal ex-con can get out of the “cycle” on their own.
edit: this was in one of, if not the most, progressive towns in the country. I cannot imagine what it would be like in the Sheriff Joe Arapaio places of the world.