Interview with Jack, Jerry, Sarah, Jesse, Kristie, Tim, Judith and Hector
JM: Did you find it difficult to get along with other inmates? Please give examples to explain why you did or didn't. Jack: No, only when they came in out of control and
out
into the holding cell to make bond or dress
out.... Jerry: no Sarah: Just one, whom attacked me from behind. She was
put in the hole. Jesse: No I felt bad for them, one girl had there for
freezing in a holding cell for over three days.
no shower no clothes, officer R. Tieu has a rep.
for being mean and unkind, they were afraid of
him, if you talked to him you would not get a
sandwich. Kristie: Mostly I just stayed to myself. I saw a lot of
mental illness in there and didn't want to have
any problems. I had one bulimic cellie that I had
originally gotten along with. She had driven
drunk and severely injured a group of disabled
adults at 9 in the morning. One day she started
laughing at the "retards" and said she probably
did them a favor. That combined with bulimia
forced me to beg for a cell change.. DON'T EVER
DO THAT. I'm sure to teach me a lesson they put
me in with a older black woman that had been there
for 5 years waiting on a trial for stabbing her
husband in the throat while he slept. This woman
would wash EVERYTHING in the cell in the toilet.
I'm a germaphobe and this really bothered me. She
had ideas on how I was supposed to live and I was
expected to follow them. After about a week of
wondering if I wasn't going to wake up in the
morning the guards finally showed some mercy and
moved me to the medical pod. Tim: I am white. You can not get along with the
non-whites that only want you dead or crippled. In
my 15 years in prisons in 2 states I have had my
nose broken several times, I have had my ribs
broken I have had my teeth kicked out all for
being white and in 2 cases it was because I could
read. I had one non-white try to set my bed on
fire because I am white. Judith: I only had one run-in with a bunk mate,and it was
something stupid that she blew up about.I had said
something about her girlfriend not showing up for
visitation and she freaked out on me. Hector: Many "SS" tatted white
supremecy inmates.
JM: What types of things did you have to do to avoid problems or fights with other inmates? Jack: Keep to your self and not talk about what people
were there for. Jerry: stay to yourself and not be an idiot when
another inmate was acting stupid and trying to
start a fight. Sarah: I avoided a lot od female drama and bs on a
daily basis. Jesse: Nothing they were all afraid of officer R.Tieu
they all wanted to eat. Kristie: I had to let an old lady wash everything in our
cell in the filthy toilet. I also had to deal
with a bi-polar bulimic eating all my canteen and
then throwing it up (with my own gag reflex
twerking from the sound and smell). The bi-polar
bulimic also had a negative attitude and it took
everything in me to not lash out and tell her how
the real world works. Tim: You can not avoid fights. Not ever. you suck dick,
get ass fucked or fight. I chose to fight and was
penalized for not being some niggers pet bitch. I
had my skull fractured with a lock hooked to a
belt and the nigger cops threw me in the hole then
transfered me because it kept the niggers happy. Judith: You had to share cleaning responsibilities,and they
gave you your own key to your cell so the only
people that could come into your cell was you and
your bunk mate, which cut down on people stealing
what you got at store call.They also had multiple
t.v.s so no fights over that. Hector: Nothing. They add behavioral
additives in the food to control
that.
JM: Were you able to choose an inmate as your cellmate if you knew one? How often would your cellmate(s) change? Jack: NO Jerry: no Sarah: No. Jesse: If I saw them again Kristie: They specifically would not let you have a friend
as a cellmate allegedly to prevent homosexual
relationships. They still occurred and the girls
that had guards as friends pretty much got to live
with whoever they wanted. Tim: Of course not. No white person gets to do that and
more often then not it was fight or die after the
doors were closed. You learn not to sleep much or
often and to react to every movement. Judith: My cell mates changed about twice a week. There was
the last two weeks I was there,that I met a girl
that I got along with and since we were both there
for a while, they let us share a cell together. Hector: Almost every other day.