Does anybody know of a good documentary about life in an American Prison, one that compares and contrasts the difference between life in Minimum/Maximum & Club Fed type prisons?
I know what prison is like on TV and in the movies (I loved show OZ, but if this was an accurate portrayal of life in an American prison it would be the best scared straight video you could show to 5th graders), but I’m curious to find out the reality of it. In the movies everybody is scheming, you’re going to be raped, the guards are all corrupt, , you’re going to be raped, anyone can get away with murder, you’re going to get raped, and every child molester has a death mark on him the first day he shows up. But how accurate is all of this, discounting very specific isolated incidents?
We have so many prisioners in this country you’d think I’d know more about this type of stuff, but everything I know I learned from TV and Movies.
I don’t know of any good prison documentaries but it seems like if you turn on MSNBC at any given time on the weekend you’re likely to be in the middle of a marathon of real-world prison-life shows… those MSNBC dudes are crazy for prison shows.
I will triple (or whatever) the Lockdown recommendation. Good stuff. My girlfriend and I watch it all the time. Thing is, most/all of the episodes take place in the max security type of prisons like San Quentin and Pelican Bay.
When I was a defense lawyer doing federal work, I always bought my clients a copy of “Down Time” before they went to federal prison. It’s a book, not a movie, but a great primer for what to expect and how the whole thing works.
Interesting, I’d like to read it but it’s $49 from Amazon. I’ll have to see if the library carries or can get a copy for me. I’d like to read about that stuff for some bizarre reason.
Not sure how hard it would be to get hold of, but there was a 30 Days episode where the host gets locked up in prison for a month. Don’t think it was maximum security or anything; I seem to recall it was thieves/drug offenders mostly. It was very interesting but sad.
