WATCH NEXT: From Sandy Hook to Uvalde: the US is the only country in the world to experience mass shootings with such shocking regularity. Ten years after the massacre at Sandy Hook elementary, VICE News investigates the culture of no-compromise gun ownership, industry money, and political dysfunction that has made it so difficult to make meaningful change. -

“Society needs to decide who we’re scared of and who we’re mad at”.

Ever since seeing Johnny Depp/Amber Heard trial, and now Alex Murdaugh, it amazes me how lesser known people will get incarcerated for drugs, but the rich and famous can sit in court talking about their drug use and times spent in rehab/detox.

It is insane to me that people in prison still do not universally have adequate access to drug rehabilitation programs.

“i was in prison from the time i was 16 to 24. And in that moment i decided to be a poet”

3:34

The gentleman who became a lawyer and bookcase creator for prison libraries is absolutely amazing. Just wow..

Grouping all “prisons” together is misleading. County, state and federal correctional facilities are VERY different from one another.

I'm I the only one who got "Orange is the New Black" as prisoners are the new slave labor or oppressed class, that's what I thought it meant just from the name, not the series content. Seriously thou Norway prisons understand rehabilitation.

The United States needs to stop treating prisoners like animals, even if they have committed violent crimes. The "punishment" of prison is being removed from society, primarily so one cannot continue to harm others, we shouldn't be unnecessarily cruel besides that.

As someone who has been incarcerated several times throughout my life and really appreciate the coverage. I follow one the dudes they showed on this program.

I'm a baby paralegal in the area of Disregard of Health and Safety in Prisons/Jails. I am very thankful for this segment! The general public doesn't get to hear about this, and the more who do can advocate for societal change.

17:13

People got to realize that whatever crime the person has commited has already happened. We cant change that and usually nothing really effective can be done. So instead we focus on the punishment.

The hair dryer jalapeño poppers, you think is her showing ingenuity, but it's her shows her trauma. (The rest too) it sticks with & changes you forever. Prison is more trauma than anything on the street or at home could cause & is way more lasting.

Stamps aren’t currency because everyone needs them… They have a set value that doesn’t fluctuate inside or outside of prison, making them extremely useful. I spent 96 months in federal prison, 17 of which were in SHU.

I was there for 17 yrs and I can tell you stories all day long

I was a re- entry worker in central New York, and hope to volunteer with the Institute for Justice. One of the criteria for the re- entry job is that you had to have been incarcerated. I caught a few misdemeanors, but, being a white guy, I never did more than a few months in several county jails. I did solitary in one jailhouse, for rec they had a large room inside the block that had no ceiling, it was open to the sky. Each inmate was allowed one hour of rec per day, where we would pace the floor of the rec in circles. One day while pacing, I spit on the rec floor. The lieutenant saw me do this on camera, and told me that he was confining me to my cell indefinitely. The lieutenant asked me: "How would you like it if I came to your house and spat on your floor"? I told him: "If you came to my house, I would lock you in the bathroom and only let you out for an hour a day". He didn't like my reply. So for the rest of my bid, I remained locked in my tiny single bed cell. The only human contact was when an orderly opened the little slot on the cell door at mealtimes, or whenever a C.O, would peek through the tinted window on the cell door while making their rounds. Being in solitary messes with the mind. Nothing in life on the outside can prepare you for it. All that I had for distraction was some jailhouse stationery, a pen, and some magazines. I would write clever messages to the C.O.'s, which I would stick to the cell window with toothpaste: "Inmate has escaped and has gone home, please clean out this cell". etc. One day I had a brainstorm: at the rear of the cells were some tiny corner shelves for inmates to place their toiletries on. I carefully tore out some ad photos of high- end wristwatches and other expensive bling, from magazine ads, and arranged the pictures on one of the tiny shelves at the back of the cell. The next C.O. who peeped through my cell window pulled out his keys and yelled: "Ginter, where the hell did you get that contraband"? He opened the cell door only to discover that I had punked him using some cut out magazine photos. He slammed the cell door on his way out, and I laughed my ass off. With no means to tell time, or even to know what day it is while in solitary, you lose track of time. I could have been confined to that cell for months, or it could have been years for all I know. The minute that my time in solitary was up. I RAN to one of the phones on the block concourse and called my assigned counsel. She said: "OH- Andy! Sorry, I forgot that you were still in jail". My best advice is to try to stay out of jail.

I'm so glad this issue is getting more attention , we need to reform the system and move to one whereby prisoners are rehabilitatated and not punished asap !! The suffering that gos on in prisons all around the world is insane

You have no idea how important books letters and music are and even just feeling a softer surface then concrete or steel would make a persons day. I would always ask to go to mental health office because they had wood desks and a leather exam table/bed and the break that would give me something like a total of 15min including the walk. Would recharge my batteries 🪫 just enough to keep a smile on my face cuz I always smile no matter what cuz I’m still breathing and that is amazing to me