To the best of my knowledge, Pennsylvania doesn’t have correctional facilities that incorporate addiction programs with felons to the degree that California does. We have felons and addicts housed in same prison facilities to learn trades that can lead to jobs upon their release, but when I looked at the San Quentin project, I am pretty certain nothing like that exists here.
Ever Been Thrown in the Clink?
- Thread starter Beezer
- Start date
Tommy
Senior Member
- Location
- New Hampshire
It was 1969 and a friend and I were returning from a weekend visit to a university in Illinois. We were on I-80 about 50 miles from our home school when our last ride dropped us off at a rural exit near Elkhart, IN. We knew hitchhiking on the interstate was prohibited, but it was cold, raining, and getting dark, so we decided to risk standing at the bottom of the on ramp.
The first car to come by was a Goshen County Sheriff's deputy. He drove us about ten miles to a small residential house on a country dirt road and left us sitting in the car while he went into the house. The garage door went up and we were escorted into the garage where a middle aged man in pajamas and a bathrobe sat behind a folding table. This man was apparently a Justice of the Peace.
The deputy described our crime. The JP told us not to do it again and assessed us each a $10 fine. We didn't have even $10 between us, so he changed it to 10 days in jail.
As I recall, the Goshen County Jail was a concrete room about 12'x25' in size with no beds, no real toilet facilities, and several inches of garbage covering the floor. We shared it with another 20 or so criminals. After about 36 hours, I received permission to call my father and he wired the $20 for our release. We walked to the Michigan state line and hitched from there.
Beezer
Senior Member
Teacher Terry
Well-known Member
It’s a small world, Aunt Bea because my husband is from a small town five minutes away from Cortland and we lived there for two years in the 70s. It’s a beautiful area, but winters were rough. We left after a few years because the wages were much higher in Wisconsin and the cost of living lower.When I was 17, in 1971, I was arrested with two friends in nightclub called The Bank on Main Street in Cortland, N.Y. for drinking underage.
Not exactly public enemy number one but my parents did have to come and collect me.
Later, I had to appear at a hearing before the state ABC board and make a statement about our purchases, who served us, etc…
Cortland is a college town and apparently this particular club was under surveillance for repeatedly serving minors which was precisely why we were there!
No, I’ve never been in the clink!!
Been There
Senior Member
- Location
- Florida
Not me, but I have bailed a few Marines out of the clink.
Nathan
SF VIP
- Location
- High Desert- Calif.
CRC-Norco has an interesting history and background, at present is a typical Level 2 prison, all the inmates are felony commits, some are addicted to drugs(Heroin, Coke and Meth mostly), although the vast majority of inmates worldwide are drug users, to some degree. At CRC there are no SHU or "max" units or ad-seg housing, just dorms. If an inmate is a discipline problem he would be sent to a close by prison, CIM that does have ad-seg housing.
There is one dorm housing unit at CRC where drug addicted inmates are housed that are within six months of their release date. I don't know what kind of drug rehab they are receiving, every time I was in that dorm to do work they all seemed very agitated and loud.
CRC does have Voc-Ed classes to teach inmates such trade skills as electrical, plumbing and automotive. There are also classes to earn a GED, as well as other academic pursuits. I worked in Plant Operations, a 'village' of shops of the various trades that do maintenance and construction aorund the institution, which has areas that are close to 100 years old. I was a Correctional Maintenance Mechanic, proficient in most trades, I was assigned to the Welding Shop. My 26 years with the Sheriff's Dept. was pretty much the same, except that the maintenance mechanics would perform duties of all the trades, on a regular basis.
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jujube
SF VIP
My mother was the office manager at a company that repaired and painted the large water tanks that you see in towns, the big ones that kids climb up and paint their names on.
The crews that were sent out were usually pretty rough guys and come Friday night when their pay was handed out, they'd head for the nearest bar for a night of drinking that would often result in a fight. On more than one occasion, the entire crew got thrown into jail for fighting.
Mom would have to go bail them all out so that they could go back to work the next day. It was a lot cheaper (and faster) to bail them out than to have to round up a new crew. A donation to the "police fund" might also result in the charges being dropped.
The crews that were sent out were usually pretty rough guys and come Friday night when their pay was handed out, they'd head for the nearest bar for a night of drinking that would often result in a fight. On more than one occasion, the entire crew got thrown into jail for fighting.
Mom would have to go bail them all out so that they could go back to work the next day. It was a lot cheaper (and faster) to bail them out than to have to round up a new crew. A donation to the "police fund" might also result in the charges being dropped.
Fritz
Member
- Location
- Yellow brick road
Never been arrested. I really didn't cause trouble that was worthy of the law cracking down on me. I was a fairly well behaved child. Mostly mouthy and defiant.
squatting dog
We don't have as far to go, as we've already been
- Location
- Arkansas, and also Florida
Oh... a time or two... maybe three or four.
One that stands out. The Burlington correctional facility in Vermont. 2 men to each room. No bars, guards wore civilian clothes so as to not intimidate the inmates. Oh yeah, movies with female prisoners allowed in the theater.
A not so pleasant stay was the Hampden county jail in Massachusetts. Real crap hole, 3 tiers high, 5x8 cell, one blanket. miserable place. Glad to hear it was replaced with a more modern facility.
One that stands out. The Burlington correctional facility in Vermont. 2 men to each room. No bars, guards wore civilian clothes so as to not intimidate the inmates. Oh yeah, movies with female prisoners allowed in the theater.
A not so pleasant stay was the Hampden county jail in Massachusetts. Real crap hole, 3 tiers high, 5x8 cell, one blanket. miserable place. Glad to hear it was replaced with a more modern facility.
PA does have a few prisons with dorm units and cell blocks. The dorm units are housed in buildings separate from the cell units. Pennsylvania’s problem is our rate of recidivism is high, mostly over 50%. I don’t know enough about the prison system to make precise comments. I know that most prisons offer trade education, GED programs and college programs.
I don’t have enough information to make precise comments on our prison system, but I know it could be a lot better. I can say that the older prisons have been abandoned and we downsized the number of prisons about 10 years ago. Some of them weren’t worth the money to rehab, so they were torn down.
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Timewise 60+
Senior Member
I grew up in a small Colorado mountain town, until I was 13. We then moved to a big city. In the small town the sheriff's son was a friend of mine. His dad would not have hesitated grabbing me for anything I did to warrant it. Fortunately, I never had the experience even though I did a few things that might have qualified me! Sometimes being lucky is better than being good...