# Prison stories (many really depressing) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 10, 2008, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-stories-many-really-depressing/476587 "2008-12-10T18:26:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-stories-many-really-depressing/476587/21 "2008-12-11T13:48:47Z")
I’ve been a probation officer for 11 years. That story is ridiculous bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-stories-many-really-depressing/476587/22 "2008-12-11T14:53:18Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I’d find it really hard to plead guilty to something I wasn’t guilty of. When I was a criminal, I wouldn’t even plead guilty to things I had done! > [@control-z](#): > > I also feel from reading all those stories that I’d rather be a fugitive than go to jail. :eek: And, the whole point of not being in jail is so you can relax and be with your loved ones. You can’t do that as a fugitive. Depending on what you’ve done I suppose, the best thing is to face the music and get it out of the way. The old saying, “If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime!” is very applicable, sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-stories-many-really-depressing/476587/23 "2008-12-11T14:56:22Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > One fellow insisted that since his last incarceration, he’d had a sex change operation where they’d implanted a working uterus into him, which is why he needed the sanitary pads he’d been requesting. But it wasn’t proper for me to examine him down there, since he was now a gal and I was a guy. And it wasn’t proper for my female nurse practitioner to examine him down there, because while he was now a gal, he was still attracted to women. Hesitating to ask, but why did he want sanitary pads? ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-stories-many-really-depressing/476587/24 "2008-12-11T15:41:05Z")
Gah. My husband is an electrician in a state prison, and some of the stories…Fortunately, most of the inmates assigned to work for him are in for non-violent charges, like drug possession, and multiple iterations of DUI and/or driving on a suspended license. He has had some real hard-core guys working for him before, though. He finds it best not to know what they’re in for. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-stories-many-really-depressing/476587/25 "2008-12-11T15:43:20Z")
From the stories it sounds like the quality of prison life varies GREATLY. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-stories-many-really-depressing/476587/26 "2008-12-11T16:09:24Z")
That’s true, **control-z**. It varies by state, and by security level. There are different rules on working, visiting, possessions you’re allowed to have in your cell. All kinds of variations. Some prisons have decent CO’s and some have horrible ones. Some are barely suppressed seething hives of violence and gang activity, and some are a little more laid back. It just depends. (My husband works in the prison all day, and then watches the darned tv shows about prisons in the evening. :rolleyes:) ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-stories-many-really-depressing/476587/27 "2008-12-11T19:34:34Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > Hesitating to ask, but why did he want sanitary pads? A guy told me that if you smoke them you can get _really_ high. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-stories-many-really-depressing/476587/28 "2008-12-11T19:48:21Z")
> [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](#): > > I’ve been a probation officer for 11 years. That story is ridiculous bullshit. Can you do an “Ask the Probation Officer” thread or would you be violating confidentiality laws? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-stories-many-really-depressing/476587/29 "2008-12-11T21:48:23Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I’d find it really hard to plead guilty to something I wasn’t guilty of. > > I also feel from reading all those stories that I’d rather be a fugitive than go to jail. :eek: Oh yes you would > **[Murder of Lesley Molseed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Kiszko)** > > Lesley Susan Molseed (14 August 1964 – 5 October 1975) was an English schoolgirl who was abducted and murdered by Ronald Castree on 5 October 1975 in West Yorkshire. An intellectually disabled man who lived near Molseed's residence in Greater Manchester, Stefan Kiszko (/ˈkiːʃkoʊ/ KEESH-koh), was wrongly convicted of her murder and served sixteen years in prison before his conviction was overturned. His mental and physical health had deteriorated in prison, and he died twenty-two months after h... A more US centered article, though a bit biased and lacking in legal knowledge, > **[Innocent people confessing is American justice working as designed.](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2002/12/innocent-people-confessing-is-american-justice-working-as-designed.html)** > > DNA evidence unavailable at the time has now proven conclusively that five teenage boys sent to prison 12 years ago for raping and almost killing a... A study in Finalnd showed that people would confess if the interrogation was oppressive or they saw a way out. “Look you might be innocent, but its gonna be a year till trial which might last few months. Just say you did it, and we’ll give you a lesser sentence, you’ll be out in 6 months, it’ll be all over”. Happens all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-stories-many-really-depressing/476587/30 "2008-12-11T22:27:25Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Can you do an “Ask the Probation Officer” thread or would you be violating confidentiality laws? Opened in MPSIMS. [Linky.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=10560611#post10560611) ---
**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:** [December 12, 2008, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-stories-many-really-depressing/476587/31 "2008-12-12T00:26:15Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > Hesitating to ask, but why did he want sanitary pads? He said it was for his period. He never changed his story. He never got the pads either. Just another day at the Big House for the medical staff. ---
**Author:** ![MissIntent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/97f17d/32.png) [@MissIntent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissIntent)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-stories-many-really-depressing/476587/32 "2008-12-12T00:53:45Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Worst thing is the guy in the first story seems to have went to prison because his GF stole his cell phone and made a drug deal on it. I found it interesting that the guy who claims that was all he did… gave an account of like 6 different prisons all across the nation. Yeeeah, I don’t believe that he’s an innocent victim, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-stories-many-really-depressing/476587/33 "2008-12-12T03:28:58Z")
Where is our ex-convict doper when you need him? Seriously, what’s his name? ---
**Author:** ![fifty-six](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fifty-six](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fifty-six)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-stories-many-really-depressing/476587/34 "2008-12-12T04:27:10Z")
I am probally the convict you are looking for. If you like here is my [Ask the former prisoner](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=443540) thread. Before anyone reads it I would like to say that I feel I did not put prison health care workers and public defeneders in the proper light. Some of my the questions were emotional and I fell I did not even represent my own feelings properly in those two areas. Health care varies mostly in areas of access. I feel most health care workers are professionals. And public defenders are generally super hard working. Many better than a paid attorney. The access is frustrating. That is about all I have to add for now. It has bothered me for a year the fact that i may have put PDs and prison health workers in a bad light without proper time and explanations of my specific cases. I have been sober for 11 years now. Been free of nicotine for over 3 months now. My life is wildly different now. My past haunts every day. OK as far as that story I could not even read more than half. It was mostly bullshit. His accounts of prison life were worthless and the GF phone story was a waste of server space. As for the rest tl;dr. Edit: Go ahead and revive the old post if there are more questions. Or whatever is allowed as far as rules go pertaining to old posts. I am an open book. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-stories-many-really-depressing/476587/35 "2008-12-12T06:06:35Z")
> [@fifty-six](#): > > I have been sober for 11 years now. Been free of nicotine for over 3 months now. My life is wildly different now. > . . . > I am an open book. A good book. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-stories-many-really-depressing/476587.md?page=1)