# Exonerated inmates and prison gangs **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 2, 2015, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exonerated-inmates-and-prison-gangs/708798 "2015-01-02T20:08:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JSC14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb9ed0/32.png) [@JSC14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSC14)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exonerated-inmates-and-prison-gangs/708798/1 "2015-01-02T20:08:24Z")
Has there ever been a person who joined say, a Nazi/white supremacist gang for safety while in prison for a serious crime like rape or murder only to later be exonerated by DNA or similarly convincing evidence and have to adjust to the outside world covered in swastika tattoos (or what have you)? To be clear, I’m talking about someone who had no serious run-ins with the law before his wrongful arrest and conviction and joined the gang solely for protection and despite the gang’s racist views? ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exonerated-inmates-and-prison-gangs/708798/2 "2015-01-02T21:14:04Z")
Are you saying that someone in prison who joins such a gang gets a tattoo while in prison? ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exonerated-inmates-and-prison-gangs/708798/3 "2015-01-02T21:19:55Z")
I don’t think it quite works like that. It’s pretty permanent from what I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exonerated-inmates-and-prison-gangs/708798/4 "2015-01-03T02:06:24Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > Are you saying that someone in prison who joins such a gang gets a tattoo while in prison? Although it is illegal,[there is a lot of tattooing going on in prison](http://www.convictedartist.com/prison_tattoos.html). Prisoners improvise tools and supplies. It is often done in unsanitary conditions and quite dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exonerated-inmates-and-prison-gangs/708798/5 "2015-01-03T02:35:25Z")
Some tattoos can be removed with a laser. And you can have them “overwritten” by another tattoo. But now that I think of it, why would a white prisoner have to get an Aryan Nation/Nazi type tattoo? Wouldn’t it be fairly evident to all the other cons that the guy is neither Black, Hispanic, or Asian? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exonerated-inmates-and-prison-gangs/708798/6 "2015-01-03T03:01:25Z")
Wrongly convicted? Don’t know any. But I did know a guy who did 10 years, joined a gang in prison, got the usual tats and then turned his life around. Most he kept to remind himself that he had been actually that dumb. The more visible and offensive he had removed or changed. PS - breaking with the gang after release was no cakewalk. One of the things I give him major credit for. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exonerated-inmates-and-prison-gangs/708798/7 "2015-01-03T03:34:04Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > Although it is illegal,[there is a lot of tattooing going on in prison](http://www.convictedartist.com/prison_tattoos.html). Prisoners improvise tools and supplies. It is often done in unsanitary conditions and quite dangerous. Oh yeah. A great way to spread hepatitis C. I’ve seen some of the cruddiest artwork in the world from seeing prison tats.