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Suffolk County Jail

200 Nashua Street
Boston, MA 02114
(617) 635-1100

Interview with Grant, Will, Deshawn and Wes

JM: How long was your sentencing for?
Grant: 2 1/2 years a year to serve the rest suspended
Will: 6 Weeks
Deshawn: 1 year in the house of correction 2 years probation
Wes: 18months

JM: Did you spend time in a holding cell after your sentencing? If so, what was that like? If you didn't where did they they take you instead?
Grant: Yes for few hours then I was transferred to the house of corrections suffolk county
Will: The holding cell in my opinion was the same as my pre-trial cell
Deshawn: Yes I spent 10 months in a jail cell, and it was not a nice thing. I felt hopeless, I felt my freedom stripped of my back. I felt lonely, depressed, I felt like the walls were closing in on me. The first time I did time I was scared who ever says that they were not scared the first time they are lieing!
Wes: yes i was already incarcerated so it wasn't that different

Jail is never a place that you want to go and the Suffolk County Jail in Boston is no exception. If you or somebody you know is heading to the SCJ, though, we share the information you need to know to help pass the time without incident.

Dealing with other inmates
One of the hardest things in jail is always getting along with fellow inmates. Older inmates in Suffolk County Jail report that getting along with other inmates is easier, but younger guys tend to have more problems, such as fighting. If you are doing a short stint in SCJ (less than a month), you should just keep to yourself.

If you are doing more than a month (it is unlikely that it will be more than a year), then just tread lightly when picking your friends. Always show respect to other inmates and you shouldn't have any problems. Try to stay out of a situation where you are likely to end up in a fight with another inmate - frequent causes of these situations are borrowing money (commissary, etc.), and gambling.

Good behavior
Ex-inmates report that you can receive 7 days off for good time each month. This means that if you are sentenced to a year in jail you should only spend around nine months actually behind bars (assuming you don't get an early release, which could cut that time down significantly). Good time is usually given automatically - the only way to really lose it is to get in fights, talk back to the CO's and just generally cause problems within the jail.

It is pretty rare to lose your good time, but also be careful of fighting because you can actually accumulate new charges while you are in jail. You don't want to find yourself locked up for a much longer sentence or being shipped off to prison because of something dumb you did behind bars.

Go ahead and browse the links on the left - they will give you more information about what life in Suffolk County Jail is like. If you have questions about anything just scroll to the bottom of the page and ask it. These questions are frequently answered by ex-inmates or other people who have knowledge about the process of going to jail.

Continue to the interview