In the 80s, I was a scrappy kid with a dare-devil, partner-in-crime younger brother.
We rode bikes all over town, menacing the elderly neighbor-ladies who called the phone attached to our kitchen wall to tell our mom that we were jumping our bikes off the buckled sidewalks again.
Back then TV time was minimal for us (cuz 4 channels), but one thing was certain: We sat cross-legged on shag carpet once a week, engrossed in the ruckus caused by the Dukes of Hazard County.
Funny thing, it never occurred to me that I was rooting for two cousins on probation. Back then, county jail seemed benign.
It was even funny.
My son’s county stay would be a tad less entertaining.
Before any prisoner enters a (capital p) Prison, they have usually been birthed into a new life via county jail with all of the shit and blood of an actual birth.
The documented purpose of the local American jail is to make certain of two things:
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You are not a danger to others.
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You do not flee before you can be seen in court.
Any person in this pre-trial circumstance is to be considered an innocent citizen, as recognized under the due process clauses of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution. We, Americans, cannot be deprived of freedom unless we have been found guilty of the crime which we have been accused thereof.
Or…
You are too poor to afford bail.
Or…
A probation/parole agent or ICE says that you cannot go home.
Or…
The court is backlogged due to Covid shutdowns (or other delays).
Like most law-abiding citizens, I used to think it was pretty straight-forward:
If you do something “bad,” you get arrested. Then, you get fingerprinted. You get a hot meal and a cot; like a hospital admission, only you’re in trouble. You get to make a free phone call and an attorney will hurry down to see you. On the next day, in front of the discerning judge, you get clear instructions and next steps. You can post bail (even if you have to borrow the money) and then you go home to wait for your court date. Later, reasonable people will make reasonable decisions about your fate.
How cute.
Did you know that a person can sit in county jail for, in some cases, up to five years awaiting trial? One man in Georgia spent 10 years waiting. My own son has survived approximately 12 months of his one, precious life in a county jail.
In spite of being considered “innocent until proven guilty,” the booking process post-arrest is several hours of degradation. You will, at some point, strip naked; lifting and spreading wobbly bits in order that every hole in your body can be witnessed by a stranger.
They didn’t show that on the Dukes.
Of course, there is the expected cold concrete, locked doors, and a BO scented jumpsuit. There might be a cold sandwich and a scratchy blanket. And, of course, you will get that adventure snapshot for mom (and the rest of the public) to commemorate the special occasion.
If you are poor and unknown, this is when the real games begin.
When attempting to climb onto his first bunk, my son was swiftly redirected. His skin color had pre-determined segregation. When he called home, I could hear all kinds of fun things being shouted in the cell. I could even hear women screaming from another area in the jail, muffled only by the constant banging. Jail is, if nothing else, deafening.
Getting a shower is, indeed, another hazard, and not for the reasons that you might assume. Dirty mop water has smeared together the remnants of puke, feces, blood, and/or urine on the floors. Staphylococcus and MRSA infection runs rampant.
In an extra-unlucky twist, my son did his local time during the heightened panic of Covid, which, no surprise, overtook jail populations en mass. He tested positive 3 times, and was lucky to receive an OTC Tylenol while writhing in isolation. My worries then included whether or not someone would contact me if something went really wrong.
I worried non-stop.
Only a week after the court date described in Confession 4, social media and news outlets were chattering about the overdose of 3 inmates at his jail. 1 had died. I waited through an entire workday to hear that he was not one of them.
For those caught in addiction or alcoholism, county jail is not designed to help in anyway. In some cases, you may very well die waiting for medical assistance. Go ahead. Google deaths in American county jails. Just please know that the numbers are grossly under-reported. Making it to a hospital before the time of death means the death did not technically happen in jail.