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Stan* gives advice
Orange County Jail Interview
*Names have been changed to protect privacy.
Jail Media: Is there anything you would want a friend or family member to know, if you knew they were going to jail, before they go? Is there anything in particular you would like to tell them?
Stan Smith: For me, I really didn’t want to see my girlfriend all the time, because I thought it made it harder to be in that situation.
Jail Media: Harder on you, or on her, or on both?
Stan Smith: On both, actually. I didn’t want her to see me in there like that. A lot of people are different. They need that. I thought it was easier not to do that.
Jail Media: She could write you letters though, right?
Stan Smith: Yeah, she would write letters two or three times a week, so that was a lot better. When visits come, though, you know, you go back to your cell, and she goes home. It’s kind of a tough feeling.
Jail Media: So that’s what you would tell people? If they have a relationship to decide how they want to handle it?
Stan Smith: Yeah, and if they have kids too, do you really want your son or daughter seeing you locked up?
Jail Media: So what else would you say to a future inmate?
Stan Smith: Basically all that stuff you see in the movies and on TV, like getting raped and all that, doesn’t really happen. At least not in the Orange County Jail. That’s one thing you don’t ever have to be scared of.
Jail Media: They don’t have to worry about being sexually assaulted?
Stan Smith: No, they don’t have to worry about that at all. Nobody would let that happen. Inmates or guards.
Jail Media: Is there anything else you want to say to people who have to go through what you went through?
Stan Smith: The biggest thing is if you can afford a lawyer, definitely take advantage of that.
Jail Media: What about early release?
Stan Smith: That’s another thing – a lot of people hear this rumor that they might be getting out early or something – it’s never true. It never happens. People will never get an extra week off or anything like that. Whatever your release day is, that’s the day you’re getting out.
Jail Media: When do you find out your release day?
Stan Smith: As soon as you get in there you can ask to know it.
Jail Media: You would ask the guards, right? They don’t like being talked to very much, right? Are they rude?
Stan Smith: That’s one thing Orange County is really big on – they have these snivels, little pieces of paper you fill out. When they hand out mail they respond to you. You hand him a slip and when the mail comes they’ll hand it back to you with the answer. In LA they won’t help you with anything like that so that’s one thing Orange County Jail is good at.
