Ask The Inmate. Real answers from people who've been there.

This is a genuinely complex question and the answer depends on several factors including the jurisdiction, the nature of the offense, whether there was violence involved, and whether your son pleaded guilty or went to trial. Federal versus state The pathway to early release looks completely different depending on which system he is in. Federal and state prisons operate under entirely separate rules and what works in one system often does not apply in the other. If he took a plea deal If your...

The short answer is "generally no". But the food is far from gourmet. In the county jails and state prisons, the meals are simple and heavy on carbohydrates (breads, pasta) and lots of weird looking bologna sandwiches. In the federal system, the meals are on a national schedule, for instance Wednesday lunch is "burger day". All things considered, the food is bearable, BUT it's nice to have money in your commissary to be able to supplement the food an inmate...

Because space is limited, it is difficult to transfer inmates. Inmates are assigned to facilities based on their custody level, safety and security issues and available space. In addition, an inmate may have their own reasons for not wanting to be transferred. For example, he/she may be making progress in the programs they are currently enrolled in; or he/she may have concerns about being housed with certain people at another facility. Some inmates find it easier to separate from their...

The journey ahead seems impossible right now. That feeling is real and it is shared by almost everyone who has ever faced a significant sentence. But here is something worth knowing: not knowing is actually worse than being there. Once you arrive and begin to understand the environment, the human spirit finds a way to adapt and prevail. The most important decision you will make in the first weeks is who you are going to be inside. Everything that follows flows...

The telephone is a big profit center for prisons and jails and the services that run them. Local calls run about SIX cents per minute, long distance starts at 23 cent per minute and may exceed $1.00 per minute or more. The only way around these ridiculous rates is to use a Discount Service that specializes in prison phone calls. InmateAid has partnered with some credible ones, any that you choose will be cheaper than NOT using...

College coursework completed inside a correctional facility operates under a layer of oversight that makes cheating significantly more difficult than it would be in a traditional academic setting. The prison's education department serves as the intermediary between the inmate student and the college or university, and that relationship comes with direct supervision built in. Examinations are proctored by facility staff, meaning the inmate sits for the test in person under direct observation with no access to outside materials or assistance from...

State prison systems do not offer RDAP, which is a federal Bureau of Prisons program. However, most state systems have their own sentence reduction pathways and in some cases they are more generous than the federal system. Good time credits The most universal sentence reduction tool in state prison is good time credit earned through good behavior. The range varies dramatically by state. Some states offer as much as 67% good time, meaning an inmate only serves one third of their sentence...