Walking the Green Mile

“Respect for the law is the first step to wisdom.”

These simple words greet all new inmates of the Columbus County Detention Center. The three million dollar facility stands directly adjacent to the previous holding center. My close friend, a corrections officer, agreed to show me around. The informative staff of law enforcement officials allowed me to take a tour of both complexes and observe inmates of all security levels. After I signed the appropriate paperwork, my friend took me deep within the modern world of our nation’s jails.

Once perpetrators are fingerprinted and have turned in all possessions, they are escorted to a showering station. At this point, the future inmate showers and receives their “county orange” clothing. From there, the officers begin walking the inmate down a long and freshly painted hallway, already dubbed “the green mile.” But unlike the movie, this hallway does not lead to death. Some would argue that it leads to something worse. The walk is fifty yards…fifty yards to do nothing but think. At the end of the green mile are the prisoner wings, or pods. Each of the eight pods contains six stainless steel tables (stools attached), two phones, one TV, two visitation booths, and two floors of cells. One-way windows allow the officers to view the different pods from a control center on the second floor. An escape hatch to the roof is a bitter reminder that despite the technological advancements of the nation’s correctional facilities, one hundred percent security is never guaranteed.

I visited during dinnertime and walked the cellblocks as the prisoners received their meal. They did not hesitate to complain or scream at the guards if there was the slightest issue with the food or anything else. Inmates in the maximum-security wing ate inside their cells while other blocks were allowed out of their cells into the dining area. Some inmates chose to use the time out of their cells by making phone calls or playing cards, while others ate and watched TV. Many inmates were especially curious about my presence, requesting cigarettes or writing utensils from me. As I peaked into one cell, an inmate, who was relieving himself, spotted me and yelled a string of obsentities at me. In all honesty, I felt like I was observing animals at a zoo and for a split second, I felt sorry for all the men who were locked up. I spoke with some inmates called “trustees," those with special privileges, about the differences between the old jail and the new complex. “This place sucks,” one responded. When I asked what the worst aspects were, he told me that the new facility didn’t allow any of the amenities that they had come to know in the previous location. No pens or pencils are allowed for safety issues. Rubber pencils are expected shortly.

In the old jail, as many as 40 prisoners were confined in the same area, allowing them to converse and interact more closely with one another. For obvious security reasons, the new jail allows only minor interaction. This way, it is difficult for the inmates to form cliques and distinguish leaders among the cellblocks. As for smoking…only trustees are allowed to take cigarette breaks so long as they go through the proper channels with the officers to get them. No other inmates are allowed to smoke. I was told that a pack of cigarettes can be sold for upwards of $250. The inmate will then break down 20 cigarettes and make as many as 200 smaller cigarettes from one pack! Thus, the inmate will make a profit in the illegal sale of his cigarettes.

Another complaint I heard about was the new visitation system. In many jails and prisons, visitors are separated from the inmates by safety glass and use phones to communicate. In this detention center, visitation is carried out by a different means. An inmate must sit at one of the visitation booths within the dining area. The small booths have a phone, a video camera, and a TV monitor. The camera and the monitor are secured behind a reinforced protection unit of steel and safety glass. All visitors stay in a special room located at the entrance of the facility and are separated from the prisoners by several computerized doors, corrections officers, and the green mile.

The life is very simple. To describe it as routine would be a gross understatement. This reason may explain why some inmates feel the need to break the rules or draw attention to themselves. One inmate screamed at me about the insanity of staying in a cell for as much as 23 hours a day. I was led up and down every wing of the prison, except for the women’s wing. The officers and I received verbal abuse from every wing. One inmate was screaming at a guard for not supplying him with a pen. “What the hell am I supposed to do in here?” the man screamed. The guard just shook his head; “That’s a good question," he replied.

Follow Up
The day after this essay was written, three inmates escaped from the Columbus County Detention Center. A glitch in the computer system has been blamed for the escape. One inmate is still at large.