# Ask the convicted felon. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 13, 2002, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-convicted-felon/142460 "2002-12-13T06:32:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Guy\_Montag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Guy\_Montag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Montag)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-convicted-felon/142460/1 "2002-12-13T06:32:27Z")
Okay, you all know the format: Ask me any questions you might have of a (first and last time) convicted felon. I’ll answer the obvious ones right of the bat: I was conviced of “Robbery by sudden snatching” (purse snatching) in Jacksonville, FL on Nov 9, 2001. I was sentenced to 10 months in Duval County jail, of which I served 267 days–I was released on Aug 2, 2002. I never saw or heard of anyone being analy raped, nor was I raped myself. Although, there was quite a bit of consentual sex (of which I did not partake) I _did_ see a man killed. He was stabbed in the neck three times for refusing to give up his bread. He bled to death in the center of the dorm, right before my eyes. This man was to be released only a few days later. I saw _many_ instances of brutality by the guards (or corrections officers as they like to be called) I’ll post more on that later, as my wife wants me to come to bed now. Ask away folks! Nothing is sacred. ---
**Author:** ![Alietta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecb155/32.png) [@Alietta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alietta)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-convicted-felon/142460/2 "2002-12-13T06:48:58Z")
Do you feel the prison system succesfully rehabilitates its prisoners? ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-convicted-felon/142460/3 "2002-12-13T07:16:06Z")
Why do you think this is a Great Debate subject? You are not asking for any debate. Slee ---
**Author:** ![Kalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Kalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalt)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-convicted-felon/142460/4 "2002-12-13T07:22:55Z")
Question: did the NAACP try to register you to vote while you were in prison? If so, 1. are you black? 2. did they try to influence who you voted for (i.e. democrat)? 3. did you let them know that as a felon you can’t vote? if so, did they care? ---
**Author:** ![SmileyDeath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@SmileyDeath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmileyDeath)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-convicted-felon/142460/5 "2002-12-13T07:26:34Z")
Was the prison full of monkeys, monkeys so monkey like that not even god could not turn into a monkey? Also, what is the speed of dark? ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-convicted-felon/142460/6 "2002-12-13T07:47:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sleestak \* > \*\*Why do you think this is a Great Debate subject? You are not asking for any debate. > > Slee \*\* Neither did any of the other “Ask the \_\_\_\_\_” threads. Marc ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-convicted-felon/142460/7 "2002-12-13T12:53:32Z")
Do you have other convictions? Why did you snatch her purse? How did you get caught? I would understand completely if you did not care to answer any or all of these questions. But welcome to the SDMB. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-convicted-felon/142460/8 "2002-12-13T13:18:36Z")
If you can be so objective, do you think your sentence was fair? How can prison brutality (by both inmates and CO’s) be reduced? Should it? Should the amount of illict brutality in prison be taken into account during sentencing? Why didn’t you engage in sex while in prison? Why did other men? Would these men identify as strict herterosexuals on the outside? ---
**Author:** ![MrO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@MrO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrO)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-convicted-felon/142460/9 "2002-12-13T13:45:58Z")
I’ve always been fascinated by three things: prison, prostitution, and war. I think it’s because they are such reversals, or at least upheavals, of conventional morality. County jail may not be prison, but 267 days is still a long time to be locked up. My main question is related to why I am fascinated by those things. In what ways were the concepts of right and wrong distorted in jail? I mean, was there any instance in which you had to (temporarily) alter your view of right and wrong to get by? I would also be interested in the circumsances under which you snatched a purse in the first place, and what you thought about during your stretch. Finally, why does the name **Guy Montag** seem familiar to me? I used to be a fireman too–does that have something to do with it? ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-convicted-felon/142460/10 "2002-12-13T13:47:20Z")
Are you remorseful? Did you feel any guilt while you were committing the crime? Would you have hurt someone if you had needed to? What was the worse thing about being in prison? ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-convicted-felon/142460/11 "2002-12-13T14:11:13Z")
I am also a convicted felon. Same year actually. Mens prisons must be worse than womens. I saw no violence (but I was only in 4 days). There was comraderie among the inmates. The guards, they didn’t care; if you said you were sick, they said wait 2 days til the visiting nurse comes in. But i can answer that last question. The worst thing about being in prison is not being able to go out. And I didn’t know when or if I would be out. ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-convicted-felon/142460/12 "2002-12-13T14:46:20Z")
> [@](#): > > Question: did the NAACP try to register you to vote while you were in prison? If so, > > 1. are you black? > > 2. did they try to influence who you voted for (i.e. democrat)? > > 3. did you let them know that as a felon you can’t vote? if so, did they care? I smell an agenda… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-convicted-felon/142460/13 "2002-12-13T14:47:57Z")
People go to jail all the time. I’m much more interested in how you got to that place than what happened inside. Why did it seem like a good or necessary idea at the time to steal a woman’s purse? To get to the point where respect of another person’s personal property is less important than your desire for it is an interesting place to have arrived, well outside the usual ethical and moral boundaries most people internalize as social actors. You are a seemingly intelligent and literate person with the potential to make a hell of a lot more money in gainful employment than occasional petty theft, and with lower risk as well. Looking at it from a detached, analytical perspective (which may be impossible), how did you get to the point petty theft seemed like the best choice of available options in your situation at the time? ---
**Author:** ![In\_Conceivable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@In\_Conceivable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Conceivable)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-convicted-felon/142460/14 "2002-12-13T15:02:33Z")
Would you snatch a purse again if you knew you wouldn’t get caught? Is the threat of jail for 297 day enough of a deterrent to crime? What was your typical day like in jail? What did you do to pass the time? Did you make any friends? Did your family/friends from the outside keep in contact with you? ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-convicted-felon/142460/15 "2002-12-13T15:12:21Z")
Purse snatching a felony… in Ohio, and I assume everywhere, felonies have degrees. For instance, concealed carry of a gun is a fourth degree felony. Breaking and entering is a fifth (or so I was told by someone in jail for B&E). Murder, of course, is a first. Do you feel _the label_ of your crime was appropriate? Did you hurt the lady (I’ll assume it was a lady) to get it? If you never want to go back to prison again, do you feel it is because of the conditions there, not because you miraculously accepted society’s ways? ---
**Author:** ![roadrunner70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@roadrunner70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roadrunner70)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-convicted-felon/142460/16 "2002-12-13T15:13:53Z")
Were drugs/alcohol made available to you? Do they really use cigs for money? Since you didn’t have sex with anyone there, was there anytime/anywhere you could be alone to smack the flesh ketchup bottle? ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-convicted-felon/142460/17 "2002-12-13T16:08:24Z")
How do drugs get into prison? ---
**Author:** ![smam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/46a35a/32.png) [@smam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smam)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-convicted-felon/142460/18 "2002-12-13T16:20:43Z")
You know the thing where people say that when you get ‘sent down’ the first thing you should do is walk up to the hardest , meanest looking con in the prison canteen and smash him right in the face? Supposedly this is supposed to mark you out as a guy whos a little bit crazy and wont take any shit, and this keeps most of the lags off your back Do you see any application for this type of thing in a non-jail type situation? The reason I ask is because I am starting a new job soon, and I want to rise to the top asap. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-convicted-felon/142460/19 "2002-12-13T16:35:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vanilla \* > **I am also a convicted felon. > Same year actually. > Mens prisons must be worse than womens. > I saw no violence (but I was only in 4 days).** Were you in prison, or in jail? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ace\_of\_Swords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@The\_Ace\_of\_Swords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ace_of_Swords)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-convicted-felon/142460/20 "2002-12-13T16:39:02Z")
How do you feel about education and job training as a method of rehabilitation? How do you feel about psychology appointments for same? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-convicted-felon/142460.md?page=2)