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Stan* discusses entertainment
Orange County Jail Interview
*Names have been changed to protect privacy.
Jail Media: Let’s talk about entertainment in the jail – how did you pass the time? Did you play cards or anything like that?
Stan Smith: Well, I was hooked on TV before I went to jail, but you get in there and it’s just the same stuff over and over because it’s just the same channel or something. I worked out a lot and I read books.
Jail Media: Did they actually have workout facilities or were you doing your own things like pushups and sit-ups?
Stan Smith: No, they don’t have equipment or anything like that. Every race really wants to make their guys like soldiers. They’re trying to get everybody in shape in case big fights do happen so we’re all in pretty good shape. So yeah, it was a lot of pushups and sit-ups.
Jail Media: And who is actually helping you work out?
Stan Smith: See, for every race there’s what they call a “rep” – there’s one guy in charge of the dorm. And he’ll answer to a higher-up rep who is in charge of more – maybe the whole facility. That all just gets passed down from the streets. So there is contact with the outside checking on your background – say if you’re a Mexican they’ll make sure you’re from a gang.
Jail Media: So are there gangs in there?
Stan Smith: No, there’s not. If you’re from a gang all that ends when you’re in jail. Everybody is just one big gang.
Jail Media: Then when you get out you’re just back to fighting each other and everything?
Stan Smith: Yeah, exactly.
Jail Media: So what about other ways to pass the time? Anything you can think of?
Stan Smith: Yeah, there’s cards and dominoes and chess… and magazines. People can send you books.
Jail Media: Let’s talk about books for a second – how many books can each inmate have at a time?
Stan Smith: I don’t think there’s a limit. I think there’s a limit on how much you can get in one mailing – that was three books. Those have to be sent through like Amazon.com – they have to see a receipt saying it’s new from the store, you can’t get used books.
Jail Media: So most of the time people just order the books through the internet?
Stan Smith: Yeah, that’s how my girlfriend always did it for me – she would just order all my books through the internet.
Jail Media: And were there books that were a lot better? I mean, we have had inmates tell us that some books they can actually trade for commissary and stuff like that when they’re done with them. Are there particular authors that inmates in the Orange County Jail tend to like more than others?
Stan Smith: You know what’s crazy? There are a lot of James Patterson fans in there. I never read him until I was in there and everyone was just a huge James Patterson fan.
Jail Media: Well, that’s good to know for anybody who might be sending books in.
Stan Smith: One thing anybody going in to jail needs to know is that they need to go in with money. Unless you’re working and have access to the kitchen or something you’ll starve in there unless you’re ordering commissary. They don’t feed you enough.
Jail Media: So how do you order commissary? Do people just put money on your “books?” Is that what they call it?
Stan Smith: Yeah, they put money on your books and then you order it. Orange County is pretty good at it – you can order food three times a week.
Jail Media: That’s a lot – it also gets delivered three times a week?
Stan Smith: Yeah – that’s a big money maker for them.
Jail Media: That’s the most frequently I’ve ever heard of a jail doing commissary.
Stan Smith: A lot of people like it – they’ll eat Top Ramen, that’s a big commodity in there.
Jail Media: And you were saying you stayed in good shape – were you in better shape in jail?
Stan Smith: You know, I was in great shape when I got out. I went in 190 and chubby and came out 165 and pretty cut.
Jail Media: Do they give you mail every night, then?
Stan Smith: Yeah, they give you mail every night.
Jail Media: And you can’t get any types of packages except books directly from the store, right?
Stan Smith: Yeah, and you can get magazine subscriptions.
Jail Media: Oh, you can?
Stan Smith: Yeah, but it has to be like a full year subscription. They can’t just buy a couple of magazines and then send them to you.
Jail Media: Do you subscribe through the jail?
Stan Smith: I’m not sure – I think you can do that through Amazon, too, or something like that. I wasn’t there long enough to have that.
Jail Media: And are there certain magazines that are banned? Pornography and things like that?
Stan Smith: Actually, Orange County, that was a big trip for me, because they let Playboys in there. But now, I think they put a ban on that now. They don’t really want stuff like that floating around getting people all riled up, you know?
Jail Media: How often do you get to go outside?
Stan Smith: They give you an opportunity to go out every day. They’re supposed to do it every day.
Jail Media: Did it happen every day?
Stan Smith: No. It’s all dependent on the behavior of the inmates. If there are fights, they’ll put you on what they call lockdown, but normally, you go out for about an hour a day. That’s what it’s supposed to be, if everyone is behaving. One of the reasons I didn’t do it, and a lot of people didn’t do it, is because you spend so much time getting searched going in and going out that it’s not even really worth it. They’re constantly searching because then you have access to the other inmates, and they want to make sure you’re not passing anything.
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