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Stan* discusses clothing
Orange County Jail Interview
*Names have been changed to protect privacy.
Jail Media: Let’s talk about clothing – you wore jail issue, right? Was that like a jumpsuit or more like scrubs?
Stan Smith: It’s a jumpsuit – then when they make you a worker they give you a pair of jeans and like a Dickie’s shirt, like a button down shirt.
Jail Media: So you just work in that or you sleep in that?
Stan Smith: That’s all you have so you’re washing your own clothes all the time.
Jail Media: So you have laundry in the barracks?
Stan Smith: No, this is the bad part – you wash your clothes in the toilet.
Jail Media: You’re supposed to wash your clothes in the toilet?
Stan Smith: Well, they have a toilet that they don’t use for anything but washing clothes. I mean, you can wash your clothes in the sink but there are deputies who don’t like seeing you wash your clothes. So it’s really hard when you’re trying to keep up the hygiene issue and the deputies won’t let you.
Jail Media: You just hang up your clothes to dry?
Stan Smith: Yeah, you just hang them up to dry.
Jail Media: I guess it’s kind of nice for the workers to wear jeans – were you ever a worker?
Stan Smith: Yeah, I was a worker – every time I’ve been to jail for some reason they always make me a worker. I don’t know if it’s because I don’t have such a bad record or what it is, but they always want me to be a worker.
Jail Media: Do you like being a worker?
Stan Smith: It makes time go by faster.
Jail Media: And you get to eat while you’re doing it?
Stan Smith: Yeah, you get to eat a lot more. A lot of people go in there and they just want to lay in their bed all day because they’re depressed, but I don’t mind working because it makes time go by a lot faster.
Jail Media: Do they give you a long sleeved undershirt or can you buy them on commissary?
Stan Smith: No, you can’t buy them. They’re floating around, but they’re hard to get. They’re there, though. Not everybody gets one. Some guys get brand-new boxers, and some guys get brand new undershirts, and some just get ones that a thousand guys have worn before. It’s all about making connections in there and knowing people.
Jail Media: Did you guys ever talk to the women, or see the women inmates?
Stan Smith: No, but that’s a big difference between LA and Orange County. In LA, they have female deputies, but in Orange County, they just have female nurses. Every time a female walks by, you have to turn around and face the wall. You’re not allowed to look at them.
Jail Media: Is that in LA or Orange County?
Stan Smith: That’s in Orange County.
Jail Media: So every time a nurse walks by, you have to turn around? You’re not allowed to look at them?
Stan Smith: Yeah, you have to face the wall.
Jail Media: So what happens if you don’t?
Stan Smith: Then a deputy is going to jack you up.
Jail Media: What do you mean by that?
Stan Smith: These guys are a lot different from LA. There’s bigger criminals in LA. You get mixed in a lot with guys that may be going upstate. There may be a guy in there for a DUI, and his bunkmate may be going up for attempted murder. In Orange County, you’re actually separated by your crime status, so they know that, and they know that they don’t have to be afraid of you. They don’t even have a flashlight or anything like that. They just carry pepper spray. They’re big, six foot something two hundred pounds corn fed white boys and sh**. They’ll kick your ass.
Jail Media: Did you ever see them use the pepper spray?
Stan Smith: Yeah, a few times. There are a lot of techniques they do. They’re not afraid to lay hands on you.
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