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Leisure Time

Interview with Jennifer, Robert, Kathleen, Holly, Damon and Wade

JM: What types of facilities were available to help pass the time?
Jennifer: they had alot of different things to do to pass the time while your in jail. some of the things they had was going to church, aa meetings, na meeting, the gym and libary. you could also go to class for your ged and they have dsrug programs and you could even go to the work release unit and do that.
Robert: they had a drug unit, they also had aa meetings and na meetings, church services, bible studies, gym time and libray were you can go get books for the week. you have to sign up to do all of this stuff you have to get approved before you can go out and do it.
Kathleen: We had the gym and the library and other classes such as aa ged classes and other courses . You also had the working facilities such as hair care and dining . We didn't have an outside at the jail so everything was done pretty much in doors and you had to sign up for everything.
Holly: Not much really just the television and movies on the weekend.they had a basketball goal outside.they had cards chess checkers.the activitites in the newspaper.the library the hair salon if u worked that passed the time the shower doing laundry the chores we had to do passed the time.we had a little multi purpose room.
Damon: we had playing caron the yard in our cells. we had 2 day rooms with tv's and phones in them. there was a gym with a basketball court and also weights and more phones . on the yard we had more weights and another basketball court with more space to play.
Wade: In the area I was held the best way to pass time was to talk to other the other accused. There was no television or other amenities provided. The closest I came to leisurely entertainment was looking through a small jail cell door at the local station to try to catch a glimpse of the episode of "The Today Show" that officers were watching in their personal area at the time.

JM: Did you have regular access to the entertainment or was competition fierce? Give details.
Jennifer: On the weekends they have movies all weekend long and everybody could watch the movies they also had getting your hair done once a week and only 3 people could go at as time so that was always hard to get into and get your hair done the libary was another thing that was very hard to go to.
Robert: yes you have regular acces to the entertainment and there was no competition for getting the entertainment that was offered. they have movies all weekend long that you can watch from your cell block. they have hair and church on sunday that you can go to as long as your approved to do it.
Kathleen: As far as the television yes everyone pretty much watched the same thing because we didn't get many channels . For basketball yes I got regular access to the court . I always had access to everything we had tight supervision so a lot of negative things didn't arise on the tiers.
Holly: You had regular access and if you didn't you just had to wait your turn the television we watched general stuff cause there wasn't any cable.you could always go and play basketball laundry was rotated you had a specific day.the newspaper we just passed around chores was rotated as well.
Damon: yes we could go to rec as much a 5 days a week some weeks. the competition was very fierce because we didn't get too many chances to play so when we did we took that time to play hard. sometimes as many as 3 games could be going on the same court.
Wade: I did not face this issue, but generally in Baltimore County, entertainment options were limited and were strictly divided amongst racial and gang affiliation lines. If you didnt belong to a certain group and enjoyed the program you could watch as you pleased, but any attempts to change the medium to ones own benefit could result in disastrous affects if not affiliated with a group.

JM: Did you have a hard time staying in shape while in jail?
Jennifer: I didnt have a hard time staying in shape because the food in jail is nasty so it was very hard for me to eat the food. other inmates had a hard time staying in shape due to eating the food and lack of excrise.
Robert: no I didnt have a hard tgime staying in shape in jail I was only there for a week and I wasnt sitting around for months like most inmates do.
Kathleen: Yes it was hard because of the meals that are served in there. The food is gross and you have no motivation to work out.
Holly: No not at all because I didn't eat the food just drank a lot of ice water and u have a lot of time for excersise.
Damon: no because I didnt have anything to do while in my cell except play cards , sleep , workout , and eat.
Wade: No, because I was in for a single day, but even in my certain number of hours of boredom I did some exercises, less for personal body growth and more to stay awake as the process had taken many more hours than expected. Generally if one is creative, they will find a way to maintain a decent physique.

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?
Jennifer: I couldnt go outside at all for any reason. other inmates on work release can go outside and clean the parking lot and other things. they have a little room with a basketball hoop in it for excerise. which really isnt anything.
Robert: you dont get to go outside at the baltimore county detention center. you have to stay in your cell block and you can only go out when your on work release.
Kathleen: We didn't get the chance to go outside. The only way you got to go outside was if you were on the work release program.
Holly: As much as you wanted you could go outside.all you could do was blay basketball.I would workout in my cell situps jumping jacks crunches squats etc
Damon: during the spring and summer we went outside about 2 times a week. when we couldn't go outside we would usually go to the gym for a few hours for recreation.
Wade: I never spent any time outside but I believe excersize yards were available for a few hours a day during peak early morning to evening hours to those who qualified and wanted to participate.

JM: Did the jail offer church services? If so, what were they like and when were they held?
Jennifer: Yes the jail offered church services and they were held on sundays. You actually had to fill out a paper and get apporved for church before you were allowed to go to the church service. they also had the church people come to the cell block on wednesdays to hold a bible study.
Robert: yes the jail offers church services they are held on sunday and they even have bible study people come and talk during the week. you have to be apporved to go on sundays.
Kathleen: Yes they did every Sunday . I never attended or wanted to attende because I wasn't interested . I'm not a big person of religion.
Holly: Yes the jail offered chusrch services for every religion.I'm not sure I wasn't there long enough to partake in those services.
Damon: yes church services were held regularly as well as services for Muslims. they were nothing like services at home but they were okay.
Wade: Many jails offer church services and while I wasn't offered the opportunity, I am very well aware that not only are programs offered (many specializing in addiction treatment) they can be taken so an inmate can recieve some kind of increased favor-ability in their release requirements.

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