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

Call the facility right now and do not wait. Someone passing out repeatedly and then going silent for two days is a situation that warrants an immediate welfare check, and you have every right to ask for one. When you call, ask to speak with the unit team secretary first. Explain clearly and calmly that your girlfriend has been calling you daily, that she had been reporting episodes of passing out, and that you have not heard from her in two...

Refusing to take a urine test in an Arizona state prison is treated as disobeying a direct order, which makes it a major violation. The classification is intentional. Without the ability to enforce orders, staff lose control of the facility, so the punishment is designed to be severe enough to discourage anyone else from trying the same thing. The first consequence is placement in Disciplinary Segregation, which goes by several names: the SHU, the Special Housing Unit, solitary confinement, or just...

When an altercation occurs at any correctional facility, including Halawa in Hawaii, both participants are typically removed from the general population and placed in the Special Housing Unit. That placement comes with immediate and significant restrictions on all privileges, including phone access. In the SHU, phone access is reduced to one 15-minute call per week. That is the standard allowance across virtually every correctional system and it applies regardless of which facility or state the inmate is in. One call, fifteen...

The SHU, or Special Housing Unit, strips away most of what makes daily life manageable, but it does not eliminate all contact with the outside world. Mail continues to reach SHU inmates. That is one of the few privileges that survives a SHU placement largely intact, which makes letters and photos one of the most meaningful things you can send during this period. InmateAid can get a letter to your person without your home address on the envelope, and having something...

First, the inmate is taken into custody by the correctional officers with handcuffs. They are transported or walked to the area called the Special Housing Unit (SHU), what others call "the hole", also known as solitary confinement. Once there they are stripped-searched and given new clothing to wear. This is a special uniform for SHU inmates, usually an orage jumpsuit with lightweight blue sneakers. They are then walked shackled to their cell. It is usually a one-man cell. There, there...

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...

The Federal Bureau of Prisons offers sex offender treatment to offenders with a history of sexual offending and who volunteer for treatment. The Bureau provides two levels of treatment intensity: residential and non-residential. Eligibility for participation in a treatment program depends on an offender’s evaluated risk of future sexual offending. Institutions offering this treatment often have a higher proportion of sex offenders in their offender population. This higher concentration of sex offenders within an institution helps offenders feel more comfortable acknowledging...

There 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 general population....

At USP Big Sandy, which is a high-security federal penitentiary in Kentucky, segregation is called the SHU, the Special Housing Unit. It is solitary confinement, and inmates end up there for one of two broad reasons: disciplinary or administrative. The disciplinary side covers a wide range of infractions. Fighting is the most common reason at a high-security facility like Big Sandy, but the list also includes possession of contraband such as a cellphone, drugs, or tobacco, failing a drug or alcohol...

Call the facility immediately and ask to speak with his counselor. That is your first and most direct contact. Explain that you were turned away from visitation for medical reasons and that you need to know he is being cared for. Counselors deal with concerned family members regularly and can at minimum confirm his status. If you cannot reach the counselor, ask for his case manager or the unit team secretary. Either of them can access basic information about his current...

Yes, halfway houses are a standard part of the reentry process for many inmates, particularly those coming out of state or federal prison. They are also called residential reentry centers, and they provide transitional housing, structure, and access to services like job placement assistance during the period between incarceration and fully independent living. Inmates do not usually have to seek this out on their own. As someone gets closer to their release date, they will meet with their counselor or case...

The area called the SHU or Special Housing Unit is a high security area within a prison used for inmates who may pose a danger to others or be at risk if left in the general population. There is either Administrative Segregation or Disciplinary Segregation. Unfortunately the rules are the same for all inmates in the unit whether you're there awaiting a bed in the satellite camp, for your protection or if you got caught with a cellphone. All of...