Prison Discipline — Ask the Inmate
Every correctional facility operates under a disciplinary system that governs inmate behavior and imposes consequences for rule violations. Understanding how that system works is essential for anyone trying to navigate incarceration successfully, because a disciplinary record can affect housing assignments, program eligibility, good time credits, halfway house placement, and parole decisions. This section covers what types of disciplinary infractions exist and how they are classified, what the disciplinary hearing process looks like, what rights inmates have when facing a disciplinary charge, what sanctions can be imposed including loss of privileges, solitary confinement, and good time forfeiture, and how to appeal a disciplinary decision. The guidance here is written for inmates who want to understand the rules clearly enough to avoid violations and for families who want to help their loved one protect their record. See also our sections on Prison Violence, Survive Prison, and Sentence Reduction
A facility shakedown is where the inmates are sequestered in an area for hours while the guards go through the facility, cell by cell, room by room, searching for contraband. They will turn beds upside down, they go into the ceiling where there is access, they check the kitchen, bathrooms, chapel... everywhere. After they have finished, the collection of contraband is displayed in some form to show the inmates that they will eventually find everything. If they can tie anything
Read moreA knife??? If he was on work release, he must have had a short sentence. That is likely to change. He is looking at spending a good deal of time in the SHU for starters - our guess is at least several months. Then he is going to then get transferred to a much higher security facility that what he was in. The knife is a weapon and the additional charges could get ugly. The marijuana is serious, but not
Read moreThere is really no difference. They are all segregated custody from either an Administrative Order (AO) or a Disciplinary Order.(DO). The SHU is short for Special Housing Unit, Security Housing Unit or Segregated Housing Unit. and PC is "protective custody". It sounds like something happened that caused the administration to declare him for PC on an DO. We interpret this to mean he was threatened (or threatened someone else) and it is being determined is he is a safety issue in the
Read moreSHU inmates are restricted to ONE fifteen minute phone call per week
Read moreThe RHU is the same thing as the SHU, it's all about solitary confinement. I have been in there three times in federal, you're not gonna get BS from me. I don't know about horror stories, but isolation is no picnic. What are your expectations, for someone to tell you it's great? Inmates get sent to the SHU for a variety of reasons. In most cases, it is a merited punishment for some rule violation. The more serious the infraction, the
Read moreWe do not know the mandatory minimums for these charges. There charges are very serious - smuggling weapons into a facility is going to cost him big time in our opinion
Read moreHe could be facing an additional five years, maybe ten. It will depend on his cooperation and what his record is. Work release is so close to the door, WHAT WAS HE THINKING?!?!?
Read moreThe inmates are all treated basically the same. The ones that have a harder time inside are making it hard on themselves. If you look for conflict and confrontation, you are in the right place. There is plenty of trouble to get into if you act up. Generally speaking it's not like you see on television - you get three square meals and a bed to sleep on. You have a menial job and lots of time to kill. Boredom is the
Read moreYes, this might help slow down the introduction of drugs into the prison system. But they are in a union and getting "strip searches" approved as a daily function of their job is VERY unlikely to happen. The inmates that keep them in business are equally to blame. We would rather promote how an inmate can use their time of incarceration to lift themselves above what got them in there in the first place. Staying in the drug
Read moreYes, this is a common sign of an inmate that is either operating a "store" or an inmate that is invloved in gambling or smuggling of contraband. Inmates use commissary items as a form of payment for services and other things that go on inside. The reason he is in the SHU is that another inmate, probably one that owes him money, has dropped a ticket on him. The COs then did a shake down but were focused mainly on
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