JM: Did you get off early based on good behavior? Karen: All inmates were rated according to past jail time, charges, and
behavior and I had the highest rating and the lowest risk factor
so I was able to go to the "honor" dorm and work in the laundry
and sewing department. I worked in the laundry department
first, washing, drying, and folding all the dorms clothes etc. I
worked six days a week and it was hard work but made the time
pass by a lot quicker. I then applied for a sewing job and that
was a lot more fun for me, even though I didn't know how to
sew when I started, the deputy (deputy Maurice) taught me how
and even complimented me on how well I could sew. We were
allowed to listen to our own music in the sewing room with
headsets, and we were served coffee and fresh baked cookies
from the kitchen. We even had creamer and sugar for our coffee.
I remember a time that we were out of creamer and I mentioned
it to the other inmates but they were all afraid to make a call to
the kitchen to request more. Well I took it upon myself to call
and talk to the kitchen manager and he informed me that they
were completely out of creamer but was willing to send a few
pints of milk. I told the kitchen manager thank you and within a
few minutes we were delivered 24 pints of milk!!! Me and the
other girls were so excited and felt so privileged to get milk. We
were drinking milk and cookies all night! The judge reduced my
sentence from 60 days to 45 days for doing labor detail.
JM: What is the most time off you can receive for good behavior? Karen: You can receive a 25% reduction of your sentence (so on a year you
will only serve 9 months).
JM: What types of actions do you need to avoid in order to get time off? Did you ever witness somebody losing time off for good behavior? Karen: Fighting, making noise after lights out, hiding food in your bunk
area, etc. Anything that was considered dishonest behavior.