Prison and Jail

[Zoops]

yeah, Robojunk hit the nail on the head, I think. Maybe the reason why it seems nothing can get me too upset is that I am experiencing some sort of post-incarceration emotional imbalance. Seems like nothing is the same for me mentally since I did that little bit of time.

Jeez, I can't imagine doing a major bid like 30 years. I met a guy in AA that's been giving me rides to meetings once in a while who just confided in me that he had served 29 fucking years.  When I mentioned that I had done some time as we passed the prison where I served my few years (it's in the area I live in), he just said he "did a little bit of time too."  I was thinking like maybe he did 5 years or something. After about a month he told me how much. Next, and I'm not looking forward to it, I'll find out what he did.  I sure hope it's not some sicko baby raper shit - but I think I have a pretty good radar for that type stuff and he don't fit the image, but you never know...

As a matter of fact, and I just realized this, it absolutely cannot be any child shit, because he and his wife have an adopted little girl from Korea. That makes me feel a lot better about him, that he might have just robbed a bank or tried to kill someone, or embezzled millions maybe.

[TearsofThePoppy]

I am one of the few junkies I know who has never been in legal trouble. I know I am extremely fortunate. I think part of it is good judgment, and the rest is my demographic. I think if I had been born a black man my life would be a different story.

I think the next big political issue after marijuana legalization is going to be prison reform. It's been coming up a lot lately in the national discourse, it's time for the politician "tough on crime" gravy train/the huge privatized prison industry to come to an end.

[smackNcheez]

Zoops robojunkie ...I think you guys are right about the emotional disassociation. I had done a two year set as a kid, but I don't remember feeling as disconnected then as I do now.

I went into kind of an emotional shutdown while I was in cause of all the stress from Red being (literally) out on the streets, and then his getting sideways. And that status seems to just kinda be stuck.

I know it's still pretty damned fresh (I've only been out 7 weeks), but why I still don't feel like even trying to connect with most people...I don't know. Maybe part of it is the distrust that I already had of people in general, which has become even more magnified after the betrayals by former "friends".

It's either a residual effect of the state time... or else I'm just old and jaded. Both of those are distinct possibilities.

[Griffin (OP)]

I am very happy your are out, as I am sure everyone else is. I can't imagine how hard it must of been to go through that especially knowing that people you knew had a hand in it. If you feel like it I'd be very interested to hear some of your stories about going through the criminal justice system. One of my dream careers is to be part of something that helps lower the incarceration, and recidivism rates because they are so insanely high it's disgusting.

It would be very depressing at times not being able to help people and hearing all of the shit that people have had to go through because of our system but I hope that I can make a big enough difference that the good overshadows the bad. My sociology of contemporary problems teacher used to work with newly released people and some of her stories are heart breaking, she said she had to stop bringing money and force herself to not get attached and to be distant as to not feel awful all the time.

A girl I used to date just got 4 years with a 6 year tail after her last charge from stealing a car. She had a bunch of priors and 2 cases that were deferred from stealing cars, false id to a pawn broker, b&e, poss. of stolen goods, drug dui, H poss., having a gun in commission of a felony, and a few other things that added on to her time. I am very surprised that she hasn't been to prison yet, but I think that women usually get less time for the same crime then men in the U.S.

I don't want to sound sexist I just know quite a few cases where the man and woman got arrested for the exact same thing and the woman got 1/4 of the time. One was a girl who was hooking and a guy tried to rape her and she shot and killed him, she drove away with her "pimp" and they got caught a few weeks later and the girl got 6 years and the guy got life. Priors had nothing to do with it either, and he wasn't there when it happened, and didn't force her to prostitute. His job was just to protect her in the event something like that happened.

Also what do you think would help change our system, and some of the cons and pros if there are any of the system that we have now. People who have been through it especially recently always have the best outlook and information about how it is, and things that could be done that can change it. I am glad that we have one less person out of that system and hope that you never have to deal with it again and get off paper soon good luck to you.

[smackNcheez]

Thanks Griffin, glad to be out.

The recidivism rate is ridiculous. I thought that since it had been almost 20 years since the first time that I went to prison that it was unlikely that I would be in there again. It wasn't that I was being a perfect angel, but I wasn't exactly being dumb and super risky. It was a situation where I wasn't dealing with the police and law enforcement agencies that I was familiar with, combined with a growing habit, that was further compounded by an incident at the house prior to our moving in, that I was unaware of.  Even though we didn't know it, that location was already on the radar.

I started to write the story of the whole thing but decided against it since I'm on my phone right now. Between a lack of patience and having to get ready for work soon I decided the story will have to wait till I'm at a real keyboard when I have more time.

But yes, I do think there's a lot of things that are ridiculously wasteful in our state systems and could be redirected into things that would reduce the revolving door aspect.

I'll try to make some time later tonight to sit down and write it up.

[Griffin (OP)]

Please do, I'd defintely like to read it as I am sure others would even if its just a cautionary tale. Hopefully they will stop draining our taxes into keeping people locked up, there have been some minor changes over the past few years that are in the right direction i hope they continue.

[Nice]

Did 5 days in January 2013, detailed a while back on Opiophile (RIP). It was rough, as I had been using daily for well over two years at that point, with MAYBE one or two days of forced sobriety thrown in there somewhere. I knew I had warrants, but I'm surprised they came to my house to pick me up for a misdemeanor.

I was ready (somewhat), I had a few jabs left and as soon as I heard the knock on the door I grabbed everything and ran into the bathroom and barred the door with a chair and fixed up under the assumption that I was going to be in there overnight and get a PR bond in the morning. Was pretty comical, with the cops on the other side of the door and me just doing my thing in the bathroom.

Anyway, they wouldn't PR bond me so I had to spend all weekend (it was a Thursday) and my court appearance was Monday. I didn't even get to the jail until Friday night, and by them I was really starting to hit the wall. That Friday night was the worst, and since I was only one of many, many dopesick people there I didn't stand out so bad. As soon as I got released from the courthouse I had a friend pick me up and I was high within the hour.

[Roman Totale]

With the percentage of the American population having a criminal record ever-increasing, this is going to become more and more relevant.

1 out of 4 adults, IIRC.

Equal rights for criminals who have served their time!

More of a trivia fact that anything else, but only Maine and Vermont let current inmates (no matter the conviction) vote.

[Zoops]

Some interesting stuff from the Wiki Article "Incarceration in the United States" -

A 2008 New York Times article said, "it is the length of sentences that truly distinguishes American prison policy. Indeed, the mere number of sentences imposed here would not place the United States at the top of the incarceration lists. If lists were compiled based on annual admissions to prison per capita, several European countries would outpace the United States. But American prison stays are much longer, so the total incarceration rate is higher."...and:

On January 1, 2008, more than 1 in 100 adults in the United States were in prison or jail.
Also,

A 2002 study survey, showed that among nearly 275,000 prisoners released in 1994, 67.5% were rearrested within 3 years, and 51.8% were back in prison.
Mississippi has the highest incarceration rate in the country (702/100k), while Maine has the lowest (150/100k). The national average is 698/100k.
In total, 6,899,000 adults were under correctional supervision (probation, parole, jail, or prison) in 2013 – about 2.8% of adults (1 in 35) in the U.S. resident population.

That's fucking mind-boggling!

[Delta9Tetra]

I've had a few run-ins with johnny law, that dickhead. First time, I was 17, driving around with some friends after high school smoking blunts and shit. This black SUV starts tailgating me like right up my ass, for a kid who's had his full license for less than 3 months, I get freaked out as this dick forced me to stop past the line at a stop sign. Then 2 DEA agents ZOOM outta the SUV bulletproof vests strapped and guns in hand. The kind gentleman on the driverside forcibly put the barrel of his glock to my temple, screaming at me to do stuff but I'm a 17 y/o kid with a pistol to his cranium. I took the blame for the weed they let my friends go, who then went straight to police station and paid my $100 bail. Later on my lawyer told me about that cop's history for shooting innocent people. I was like can't we sue him for putting a pistol to my head? Since he got fed connection (DEA) the best I could do was file a complaint.. (Better believe that I did tho  ) 

I've had a few more arrests since, no felonies thank god. If anyone is interested in hearing more 'Delta vs LE' tales I'll share em.

[Zoops]

I've had a few run-ins with johnny law, that dickhead. First time, I was 17, driving around with some friends after high school smoking blunts and shit. This black SUV starts tailgating me like right up my ass, for a kid who's had his full license for less than 3 months, I get freaked out as this dick forced me to stop past the line at a stop sign. Then 2 DEA agents ZOOM outta the SUV bulletproof vests strapped and guns in hand. The kind gentleman on the driverside forcibly put the barrel of his glock to my temple, screaming at me to do stuff but I'm a 17 y/o kid with a pistol to his cranium. I took the blame for the weed they let my friends go, who then went straight to police station and paid my $100 bail. Later on my lawyer told me about that cop's history for shooting innocent people. I was like can't we sue him for putting a pistol to my head? Since he got fed connection (DEA) the best I could do was file a complaint.. (Better believe that I did tho  ) 

I've had a few more arrests since, no felonies thank god. If anyone is interested in hearing more 'Delta vs LE' tales I'll share em.

I'd be interested in any unusual types of arrests you might have had. Anytime anyone shares anything like that I think it's cool. And educational.

Did you know that in many US states there are still laws on the books against swearing in public? In Virginia, there is such a state law, and I've been arrested for "Public Swearing" before!

August 2007: This was on one of the two or three occasions near the end of my marriage when the wife had kicked me out of the house for the night by calling the cops, complaining of domestic abuse (which was a COMPLETE and total fabrication - a LIE). When the police showed up and got our respective stories, they couldn't find any evidence whatsoever for any abuse, of course, so their answer was, "Mr. ___, we think it would be a good idea for you to leave the house for the night. You can come back in the morning, but we don't want this situation to escalate and get called back again tonight. If we come back, you are going to jail, no questions asked." Leaving aside the utter preposterousness of this situation, I went to a local hotel (Holiday Inn - "holiday" - hah!) and got a room for the night.

I had about 20 or 30 Ambien (zolpidem) 10mg tablets with me, gotten by phony-phone-calls-to-the-pharmacy antics. I got good and loaded on Ambien and went outside the front door of the hotel for a smoke, since the room I was in was "no smoking." It was August and the weather was hot and muggy, typical of Northern Virginia/DC during that season. I was wearing no shirt and was barefoot. So, I'm standing around the front door of this nominally "nice" hotel that caters to tourists visiting the nation's capitol, no shirt on, barefoot, smoking cigarettes, and probably acting all kinds of looped and twisted out of my mind, possibly singing songs to myself which I am wont to do when fucked up out of my mind. The front desk people must have thought I was a homeless drunk or something, and summoned the law. I don't know why else the police would have shown up and come straight to me.

When Fairfax county's finest arrived, I was still standing out front, minding my own business. It is worth noting that nobody from the hotel came out to see if I was actually a guest, which would have been awfully nice, since I was paying for the room, or to even ask me to move along - they just called the cops - probably because they were scared to death I'd do something to them. I may have appeared rather hostile to the untrained eye.

The interactions with the police are spottily recorded in my memory. I remember them giving me the breathalyzer test, and blowing 0.000. I remember getting all up in one cop's face telling him he could kiss my ass or something to that effect, because I WASN'T drunk! They could tell I was under the influence of something, however, and when I told one or both of the officers to please fuck off (I remember shouting something with "fuck" in it at them right before they handcuffed me), they jumped at the chance to arrest me.

I regained consciousness, or more like came out of the Ambien-induced blackout, in the holding cell of the  Fairfax county "adult detention center" (I would spend about 40 days there for some other mischief about 13 months  later). I had a yellow carbon-copy piece of paper that they gave me, wadded up in my pocket. It was my citation, with "public swearing" written on it in a cop's rudimentary and tortured hand. A fine of $90 was imposed. I was released about five hours later. They gave me a free white t-shirt and a pair of used "Jackie Chan" el cheapo jail shoes made in China (SCORE!). Don't have either of them anymore.

So, yes, you can get arrested for public swearing, at least in Virginia.

[St. Theresa]

^^zoops, the sad thing is the cops did you a favor for just giving you the cursing in public charge... Could have been worse if they wanted to fuck you. 

[10kites]

Yeah Zoops, you was lucky for real. That kind of antisocial behavior usually comes with a serious beat down...and sometimes even followed by a beat back up.

[Zoops]

In Fairfax county, a beat-down by the cops over some cursing would have led to a lawsuit of monstrous proportions. There were witnesses too. The police in that affluent county are pretty professional in their interactions with the public. I'll give them a little bit of credit for that.

[Delta9Tetra]

Zoops Hope you don't get offended when I say that story had me legit laughing out loud, but only because I can relate to the situation so much. But damn Public Swearing, that's an insane law to be in place, sounds like it would be in one of those '200 Dumbest Laws That Exist' books. That belongs up there with the (actual) law;  Pronouncing Arkansas incorrectly while in said state, is illegal. (although I wonder what charges they'd stick on)
Despite the obvious violating your constitutional right to free speech, thats some straight up bullshit man.Sorry you had that happen to you.

It's just crazy / depressing how I read through all these stories of people getting hassled by police, it seems like "the law" is just another weapon on their utility belt. I know I have a biased opinion due to my own interactions with police. My little 6 year old niece (she's mixed race) tells me shes afraid of cops b/c they shoot people, and I can't tell her she's wrong [& I DEFINITELY CAN'T tell her that she's RIGHT]
 I'll try and post another arrest story today, smoked way too many bongs to type.
This post alone took me like 45 min to type. 

[Indy]

I did about four months plus a week or two on house arrest starting almost exactly two years ago.

It was actually interesting in a lot of ways for someone who craves new experiences and likes to see different sides of life. The kick from a heavy PST habit was awful, I couldn't eat or sleep for a full seven days, not one tiny little bit of either. Keeping water down was a challenge, and I was so sick I had no thirst really anyway. There were a couple times I actually wondered if I might become one of those rare cases to die from dehydration in withdrawal. But I got through it, people can be strong when we have no other choice.

Anyway I don't know when I'll be able to write up the whole story, but they moved me around so much and I got to see so many areas of both jails as a trusty, especially when I was a trusty of the really old downtown jail. I would clean floors 4,5 and 1 at night, and the first floor included the holding cells and waiting area next to the courthouse it was attached to. It was nice doing that all by myself at night, no supervision, if I wanted to just sit and chill for a while I could, but mostly I was a good worker. My trusty position allowed me to move things between floors and also arrange for smuggling things into the jail, which I was wary of but did bring some chewing tobacco in on one occasion when I ran low on funds (they really don't feed you enough). Mostly I behaved myself and did not partake in anything I would fail a drug test for because I was looking to go on house arrest, and eventually was able to.

There's a lot more to it but you know how when you get clean memories from the last time you were clean come back? People love to say it's the drugs clouding your brain but that's not it, because when I have a habit I can remember anything from when I had a habit. Its called state specific memory, and it's a real thing. Its much easier to remember things when you're in the same state of mind as when the memory happened. still, I plan on sitting down and writing out my whole experience.

 that was actually the first time since catching a habit that I was clean for more than like 5 days tops. it took my a long time to recover, I honestly believe a cold turkey detox is harsh on your brain and body for a long time, I remember day 45 was a turning point but before then not really having energy for more than an hour at a time and then having to lie down. I finally did experience the "chucks" that Burroughs talked about, where you want to eat everything in sight. That would have been torture if I didn't have canteen to buy extra food, I basically bought the most filling foods I could for the least amount of money because for a while after kicking I was ALWAYS hungry. It sounds so minor when I talk about it, but really that hunger can make you so miserable and I am forever grateful to the people that helped me out.

in a way I'm glad I had the experience and I learned a lot about myself and people in general, but I will definitely never repeat it and I stay away from anything that could get me locked up again now. haven't so much as jaywalked for the past two years that I can recall, although there's probably something I did that I'm forgetting.