Interview with Raymond, Brenda, Reta, Ronnie, Germz and Jimmy
JM: How often could you receive visitors? Raymond: Every Saturday or Sunday depending on your last
name. Brenda: every weekend. most people didnt get visits
because it was to far away from there hometown we
were in San Diego and some people were from shasta
county so there wasnt many visits. Just the local
people had visits. Reta: I think it was a couple of times a week. I only
got one visitor while I was there. Ronnie: You would get two a week, for half an hour. Germz: you can have 2 visits a day 3 days out of the
week and one visit on the weekend Jimmy: I believe it was twice per week, but I was not there
long enough to have anyone visit.
JM: Was the check-in process lengthy for those who came to see you? Raymond: It was like a couple of hours. Brenda: no not at all because the visitor were mainly
repeat visitors the officers get to know the
visitors and dont hold them up at all. Reta: Pretty long. Maybe an hour or so. Ronnie: Pretty quick maybe about 15 minutes. Germz: in some places they had to go through alot one
time my girl friend had to leave and come back
when she took out all her piercings one she
couldnt take out so she had to get stripped out
ie she wanted to see me Jimmy: There were lots of forms to fill out, especially if
one wanted to give something to an inmate. I
remember trying to drop off a book for a friend
inside and being told that it was forbidden.
JM: What was the visiting environment like? Raymond: They had like, picnic tables made of steel. Brenda: we had an out door visiting area with picnic
benches and BBQ. when it rained we went in to the
cafeteria, Reta: Common area for contact visits. Ronnie: It was plexiglass with phones. Germz: the visiting area was discusting. it was a wall
of windows with partitions seperating each one.
the windows were always dirty and there would be
used napkins all over the place from inmates
doing what they gotta do while looking at there
women. the phones rarely work they are always
really staticky Jimmy: I never saw the visiting area, apart from the
entrance hall, which was staffed by a rude, cruel
old hag. It looked very institutional (surprise!)
and bleak. It was certainly not the sort of place
that looked appropriate for family visits,
especially not for inmates with children. The
whole place seemed to be designed to keep people
out.