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Leisure Time

Interview with James, Charles, Doug, Nick, Erik, Edwin, Will, Rickey, Lee, David, Ann and Scott

JM: What types of facilities were available to help pass the time?
James: In psych (North Broward) almost none, I think 3 hours a week of recreation, Spiritual cell (Conte.) was mandated to 3 1/2 hrs a day minimum religious studies/groups M-Fr., Main Jail 4 fl. nothing. All dorms had tv's. Books were very hard to come by except religious ones. Sleep was my best friend.
Charles: Broward? Radio, chess set, checkers, cards. TV Palm beach? We made our dominoes out of "slides" (sandals they give u) chess set out of slides, chckers out of slides. Cards were the ones handed out by probation, with 1800 tips on them. Just got cable TV finally in W6 when I left.
Doug: Yard
Nick: They have newspapers and game tables. To play cards and dominoes also they have a book cart that comes around so you can get books. They also have a rec yard where you can play basketball, walk around, do push ups, run, and race. You can also work as a trustee. Watch tv but hard to hear.
Erik: in the broward county jail you are locked down more than 18 hours a day, sometimes more than that, when you are allowed out there is tv you can watch, cards you can play, rec time once or twice a day, books in each dorm and monopoly with no dice
Edwin: Thats a good question. The only place I seen That you could considered leisure time was your day room. Where you had access to a t.v. maybe some cards or board games .. you might be able to do a lil exercise and you had access to a Phone. Dont Know anything else.
Will: Only playing cards were available, and twice a week there was recreation either outside or on the 8th floor. The jail does not have much to offer in the way of recreation facilities and I don't advise anybody to go there for any reason. passing the time is not something you want to do in jail
Rickey: books
Lee: There was Television, card games, anger management classes, along with other educational and spiritual classes offered to who ever wanted to take advantage of them. We also had recreation every week, so we play table tennis, badminton, basketball, and even flag football whenever we had enough inmates up in the rec area.
David: Recreation consist of basket ball and volly ball once a day for a hour each day but not always on weekends. There is T.V. (basic channels), board games, chess, checkers and cards. The best leisure past time is to get a book and read in your cell. Other tran that there is not much recreation.
Ann: the program facilities took a lot of the time away from you,atleast it took your mind off of the problem at hand,and helped you educate yourself furtherand try to learn new ways to stay out of jail and such places,it offered a better environment with people who may have wanted to change
Scott: there were no other facilities i was just in gun club i slept half of the time because there was nothing to do and the time went by so slow and they wake you up early in the morning for people to get medicine or to go to court but i wasnt called yet

JM: Did you have regular access to the entertainment or was competition fierce? Give details.
James: What a joke for White/Hispanics. It was always channel 33, and Maurey/Jerry Springer in the a.m.
Charles: If you made it its yours, in broward no competition.
Nick: The television would cause fights on what to watch also the phone would be taken up hours at a time which would cause arguments, the game tables can be tiresome to get on because some people would never leave them even though they were losing and are monitored by the deputy. The newspaper could be a problem.
Erik: the tv is always a breeding ground for fights of course 100 men cant agree on one thing to watch but for the most part people got along, on the rec yard you just had to be careful if you were trying to workout when others where playing basketball or running
Edwin: Very little access to entertainment the South Florida jails aren't intended for any type of pleasure .they want you to suffer, they wanna make you not come back.. if They did allow for such things inmates would screw it up by not sharing and fighting over the smallest of things.
Will: competition was very here's because there was not that much to go around the place was always very overcrowded so I just stayed in myself and the entertainment recreation it was available was outnumbered probably 12 to one by the other race who is the majority. therefore yes competitions very fierce.
Rickey: yes
Lee: we had regular acces to some entertainment and the other of it we had to wait for our days. The rec days are dispursed in accordance to what ever cel and cell block that you're housed in, meanwhile some things like ping pong tables are in the immediate wings of the cell blocks.
David: I guess you had regular access to entertainment, however you almost had to fight to get to watch what you wanted to watch. A guard had to come in and change the channel but it was still the bullies who ran the T.V. If you got the channel changed to something that you wanted to watch you would have to deal with the bully after the guard left the pod.
Ann: every one had there own circle,u didnt go to play basket bal if you didnt know the guys,,most of tge card games were for gamblers only,board games were not allowd ,i was neutral with everyone so entertaining myself was not hardat all,but at times was dangerous,,many fights and arguements with nmates
Scott: when i was in there there was no entertainement the only thing there was,was a book of cards a couple pages of the newsapapers,i just layed in my bed cause there was nthing to do so i just wanted to kill time until i could go home i had to wait

JM: Did you have a hard time staying in shape while in jail?
James: You could do sit ups, push ups, or dips.
Charles: If your inventive its not a problem.
Doug: My health is not good, heart problems, lots of pain, very hard to walk or stand.
Nick: No not really I actually lost weight from the food portions to the rec yard, and working out in my cell.
Erik: not at all, it is easy because you have nothing but time to occupy and your cell stays nice and cool while you work out
Edwin: Yes, I did .. they removed the weights From most of the jails. And you only have limited room to work out...
Will: I'm pretty naturally in shape so it wasn't that hard for me to maintain that while I was in jail however I can see where a lot of people would find it very difficult because some people are locked down all the time and have no access to any facilities
Rickey: no need more food
Lee: Not at all. there's always time and space for working out or just exercising wheneever you felt like it as long as there was no lock down.
David: I did'nt have a hard time because working out was my past time, I would usually do push-ups and sit-ups in my cell.
Ann: diet is poor in jail,,but i tried to maintain a push ups and sit ups work out, and running in place
Scott: i was only in there for about a day and a half because a police offer had to come get me to take me back to a place called the stockade and get my house arrest monitor

JM: How often did you get to go outside? What did you do outside if you were allowed to? If you were not allowed to go outside what could you do for exercise?
James: At Sherriffs N., and Conte everyday, but outside is an enclosed concrete room, with window unviewable, and a concrete roof. At N. Broward twice a week for 1 1/2 hours. Main 2 and 4 floors, never.
Charles: Broward? twice a week. Palm beach? Never
Nick: We would go outside and walk also do push ups and sit ups, chin ups and running. I would work out in the cell also. Use stairs for pull ups.
Erik: never unless you are an inmate worker, the rec yard is not really outside it just has screened windows so you never really go outside
Edwin: Again I was in the county so I never got to go out side.but I would do push ups and sit ups when we allowed in the day room.
Will: we were allowed to go outside once a week for recreation and out there I would jog and walk around and do laps and do jumping jacks in calisthenics.
Rickey: not enough
Lee: I exercised both inside and out side. inside I did the basics like pushups and sit us. Outside I had more equipment so I could do more.
David: We were allowed to go to the 5th floor for recreation for basket ball and volly ball. We were in a caged on the 5th floor with no trees or grass around, just concrete. This happened for a hour each day but not usually on weekends.
Ann: we were allowd to go outside twice a week,,there was basket ball or walking around in a circle,it wasnt really outside,you had walls all around
Scott: i did not go outside,nobody was allowed to go outside the gates were locked so you couldnt even leave the flood but if u wanted to stay in shape you would have to do sit ups or crunchs or something

JM: Did the jail offer church services? If so, what were they like and when were they held?
James: A religous person(s) came weekly for Christians. Once a month for Jews, and Muslims. The Chaplain supplied Old/New Testament Bibles.
Charles: Good Jewish services all the way around.
Nick: Yes they did they were held on Saturdays in the mornings. They were like any church I have been too. Boring.
Erik: if they did I did not attend them I believe people in jail don't need to know anymore about me then the guards shout
Edwin: Yes the jail did offer church services .when they were held depended on the outside people . It gave inmates a chance to do something different.
Will: the church at weekly Jail services that were non denominational they were usually held out in the hallway or in one Church area that was like an old clothes down office with a lot of boxes of stuff around. the church services were pretty good even though they were regulated by the officers and the people that brought the church volunteer their time to bring the message to the inmates
Rickey: yes optional
Lee: Yes, church services were offered on a daily basis, sometimes we'd get to have church with free people who came in to fellowship.
David: Yes, services were offered once a week depending on your religion and services last about a hour and a half. Services are done by volinteers from churchs in the comunity.
Ann: church services were offered but hard to get into,,you had to be on a pre approved list and half the tim it was cancelled
Scott: i was only in there for a day and a half so im not sure if they did offer church services

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