Blog - Prison Insight

Can You Hug Someone in Prison?

The past two years have changed the way many of us interact with other people—even with friends and family members. The days of handshakes and hugs were replaced with social distancing and masks, and in many parts of the world that’s still the case. The pandemic hit less than three years after I was released […]

Can You Visit Joliet Prison?

Joliet Correctional Center — aka “Joliet Prison” — opened in 1858 and was operational for more than a century and a half. Located in Joliet, Illinois, the facility was originally known as the Illinois State Penitentiary. It often gets confused with the nearby Stateville Correctional Center — located in Crest Hill, Illinois — which operated […]

Can You Search Prison Inmates?

Prisons are supposed to keep meticulous records about everything that goes on inside, especially when it comes to the inmates. They have to know who is in the facility and how many inmates are in camp. But that’s not all — they have to know where each inmate is located at all times. Head counts […]

Can You Visit Jodi Arias in Prison?

Jodi Arias became a media sensation in 2008 when she was arrested for the murder of her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander. At the time, she was a blonde-haired vixen who smiled in her mugshot, flirted with officers, and sang O Holy Night while in police custody. She denied having anything to do with Travis’ murder, and […]

What Is Prison (Really) Like?

The most common question that I get from people when they find out I spent four years in prison is — what is prison really like? I’ve talked before about how my knowledge and impression of prison was informed by pop culture. The only exposure I had to prison life was through TV shows and […]

Can You Get Life in Prison for Drugs?

The blog topics that I write about on Prison Insight are based on the most commonly-asked questions we get about prison and the criminal justice system. Today’s topic has been on my list for a while, but I’ve avoided it because it hits so close to home. And, I’ve got to be honest, it makes […]

Prison Nicknames – A Real-Life Look at Examples

When you are sentenced to time behind bars, chances are you won’t be using your regular name while you are there. The guards and other members of the prison staff will use your last name or your inmate ID number. As for the other inmates, they will either call you by your last name or […]

Can You go to Prison for Killing a Dog?

Like millions of other Americans, I am a proud parent of two sweet fur babies — my Shih Tzu, Titus and my kitty cat, Dale. My pets are members of my family, so it’s hard for me to write content about animal cruelty. A common question people have about prison is associated with that topic. […]

Prison Slang – A List of Terms You’ll Hopefully Never Need to Use

When I was sentenced to prison to serve two 15-year sentences (concurrently) for marijuana possession, I had no idea what I was walking into. The only thing I knew about prison was what I had learned in TV and movies. I quickly discovered that a pop culture prison education wasn’t based on any kind of […]

What Is Military Prison Like Compared to Civilian Prison?

When someone is sentenced to prison, their experience behind bars depends on a number of factors. To begin with, prison experiences vary greatly among different countries because every sovereign nation has their own method for handling people found guilty of committing a crime. When we focus on prison inmates in the United States, someone incarcerated […]