Jail vs Prison

Sabrina Richards, JD, MBA,
VP Operations, Prison Yoga Chicago

I often get a lot of interest from people when they discover I volunteer with Prison Yoga Chicago and that we teach yoga in Cook County Jail. One of the first topics that arise is the misconception between jail and prison. I serve with an organization with “Prison” in the name yet, our primary area of service is in a “jail”. Most people seem to think of these terms as the same or interchangeable, yet they are actually very different.

Jail

Jails, by definition, are meant to be short-term, temporary spaces. They are usually run by a city, local district or county, and they house people who are newly arrested or awaiting trial or sentencing.

Jails house a hodgepodge of people, ranging from those who are totally innocent, wrongfully accused, not guilty, not yet convicted, to those in limbo awaiting trial or sentencing, and those without the financial means to post bail. It is important to remember that jails regularly house people who are not only enduring trauma, but often, those who are suffering from some sort of mental illness. It’s estimated that at least 25-35% of the people in the Cook County Jail population are living with some sort of mental health issue.  This is important to note particularly because, though some may consider jails to be mental health facilities, we know that they are not.  Since jails are intended to be temporary, transient even, space is much more limited. Boundaries are frequently crossed causing those in custody to be in a constant state of anxiety, high-stress, and feeling triggered. Jail is loud and noisy. It is a place of perpetual physical movement of individuals and transition with people constantly shifting units, being confined, and released daily, while others re-enter only to be re-released repeatedly.

I had a friend who once was in jail and specifically stated he “couldn’t wait” to serve out his sentence in prison. I was very confused by this statement because ultimately, a person should want to be free. However, he had been convicted and was just waiting to be placed at a prison facility. He was not able to sleep in jail nor have any sort of normalcy due to all the disruptions and stress. This now brings me to the next discussion point…prison.

Prison

Prisons are long-term facilities that tend to be under state or federal jurisdiction and hold people who have been convicted of more serious crimes, often on a state or federal level. Each year, according to the Prison Policy Initiative, over 600,000 people go to prison.  Prisons can be public or private; some private prisons are even owned by corporations that are traded on the stock market; profiting from others’ pain.

Since people serve out longer sentences in prison versus jail, the facilities are set up differently. Once a person in prison is placed in a location like a unit, dorm, or cell, they tend to stay in that location for a longer duration than in jail. Reassignments happen periodically, not daily or on a whim. People who are incarcerated in prison tend to have more belongings they are afforded, because although space is still a valuable commodity, one has slightly more space than they would in jail. One also has regular opportunities to go outdoors “on the yard,” to get fresh air and some limited form of physical activity although, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, people have had reduced access to yard time and spent more time on lockdown in their cells. Some prisons have programs like gardening, horse training, dog training among others that may take place outdoors that are not afforded to jails. There is also the clear presence of rifle-armed guard towers at prisons that one may not readily see at a jail. Prisons are not usually located in highly populated, urban areas like jails are, due to the need for more space and potential safety concerns of having the public closely located to those housed in prison for serious crimes. Visits in prison can be longer and look differently than in jail, and although still restrictive, prison visits are usually less restrictive than jail because people are incarcerated for longer periods of their lives, so they may be afforded latitude. Nevertheless, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, visitation restrictions and cancellations have been an ongoing source of struggle and frustration for those who are incarcerated and their families. 

What’s consistent between the two

Now that we’ve looked at jail versus prison, there are a few things that are similar. For instance, it is common for both jails and prisons to have some sort of programming incarcerated people can take part in to work on improving and/or educating themselves. Oftentimes, people in both jail & prison can have jobs. The pay wage is menial at best- and in some states, non-existent- but it can offer those in custody a chance to set a routine for themselves, learn new skills, shave time off their sentences, and just give them a way to pass the time. The cost of incarceration to family members of those who are incarcerated is a burden for both those in prison and jail. Phone calls, letters, emails, video visits, viewing material on tablets all cost money. Families and loved ones even have to send funds for essentials like socks, shoes, soap and food that are available from the facility’s commissary.  Another impact of the Pandemic has been reduced availability of these goods within facilities, causing their prices to rise even higher. There is a cost associated with everything, and families and loved ones often bear the brunt of this expense. 

Like prison, potentially violent altercations may take place in jail that lead to solitary confinement i.e. “seg” or “the hole” or other forms of punishment. There is also what some call “count.” When this happens at any facility, everything stops, and, as its name implies,  everyone must be in certain places to be accounted for. The times of day and number of counts per day vary depending on the facility. 

The Prison Industrial Complex (PIC)

Lastly, when people use the term “prison industrial complex” or PIC, they may typically be referring to the entire system of incarceration because it is a complex system with various steps. Once caught up in this complex system, it is very difficult to get out of.

My hope for you after reading this is, if you ever encounter someone who has been to prison to grant them grace and the next time you encounter someone who has been to jail or may have had experience with jail, your mind and heart remain open.

Sabrina is the Vice President of Operations for Prison Yoga Chicago, a yoga practitioner and ERYT200. Sabrina is currently studying for her 300hr Yoga Teacher Training Certification. Sabrina teaches yoga at Life Time in addition to volunteering with Prison Yoga Chicago. She is currently a yoga ambassador for lululemon and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Sabrina earned her JD from Valparaiso University School of Law where she served as a guardian ad litem for the juvenile law clinic and later obtained her MBA from Colorado Technical University. Her full-time career is in training and development where she partners with teams as a consultant, facilitates trainings, mentors and coaches team members, as well as creates training content for her teams.

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