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
Subject: Prison discipline
No good! Cell phones in prison or jail is a new charge, a felony thanks to the Obama Administration. If they are in federal, the punishment is probably 6-12 months in the SHU (disciplinary segregation), no phone privileges, no visitation, no commissary and at the end of the SHU stay, they will be shipped to a higher security facility most likely hundreds of miles away from the nearest family member to add another hardship to the folks that care about...
Read moreSubject: Prison discipline
In California, the legal landscape around marijuana has shifted dramatically since legalization, and that shift has filtered into how prison disciplinary systems treat it, though it is still contraband inside a correctional facility regardless of its legal status on the outside.
Additional prison time specifically for a marijuana possession infraction is unlikely in most California cases. The disciplinary response is typically handled internally rather than through new criminal charges, particularly for simple possession of a small amount. The penalty lands more...
Read moreSubject: Prison discipline
There is no way to know for sure. He will be allowed to write you, so ask him why he's there and for how long. I was in the SHU for one day, every minute felt like it was an hour - it is hell. I had my DHO hearing and was luckily released back into gen pop. There was another guy in there for eight months for having a cell phone. Rumor was he got a year in solitary and then...
Read moreSubject: Prison discipline
It means that they have lost some of their privileges for disciplinary reasons or general population inmates who refuse to accept or perform in a work/training assignment. There is a negative stigma associated to inmates in "C" Status.
Lost privileges may include: no visitation, limited if any commissary, emergency only phone calls, no recreation, no entertainment, no personal property packages
Subject: Prison discipline
Blackout? Or are you referring to lock down?
A lockdown in prison basically means that you are confined to a cell for 24 hours a day. There is no outside recreation, church, library, school, or work for most individuals. The only people that work during a lock down are what are called critical workers for jobs that are considered essential to running the prison. Some examples are kitchen workers, infirmary workers, some "orderly" positions that clean (sweep, mop, showers) the housing units....
Read moreSubject: Prison discipline
No. Accidentally declining a call or contacting the prison from your end does not put your inmate's phone privileges at risk. Phone privilege loss is tied entirely to the inmate's own conduct, not to actions taken by people on the outside.
In Arkansas and everywhere else, inmates lose phone access for specific infractions they commit themselves. Saying something prohibited on a recorded call, causing a disturbance while using the phone or waiting in line, misusing or damaging the phone equipment, or...
Read moreSubject: Prison discipline
Not likely, unless you said something that would have triggered a response like that. He could lose phone privileges for a number of other reasons, but not this.
Subject: Prison discipline
The most likely explanation is that your son is in the SHU, the Special Housing Unit, which is the federal Bureau of Prisons term for disciplinary or administrative segregation.
When an inmate is placed in the SHU, privileges are significantly restricted across the board. Phone access is typically suspended or severely limited, often reduced to one fifteen-minute call per week. Commissary is restricted. Movement is essentially nonexistent. The fact that video visits are still available while phone calls are not is...
Read moreSubject: Prison discipline
A major disciplinary infraction close to a release date is a serious setback, but the exact impact depends on what the offense was, whether it constitutes a new criminal charge, and how the facility classifies it through their disciplinary process.
On the release date, a major infraction can affect things in a few different ways. If it results in loss of good time credits, the release date moves back by however much credit is taken away. If the infraction is severe...
Read moreSubject: Prison discipline
Absolutely, and it is one of the more straightforward paths to the hole that exists in any correctional facility.
Guards are there to maintain order, and an inmate verbally assaulting a staff member is a direct challenge to that order. It does not matter whether the words were said in anger, frustration, or as a heat of the moment reaction. Disrespecting or threatening a corrections officer is a serious disciplinary infraction at every facility, and the standard response is removal from...
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