Dallas County Jail

Leisure Time

Interview with Charles, m ray, Leon, Jean, Accountant, Hot attorney, Lil Will and Cam

JM: What types of facilities were available to help pass the time?
Charles: Recreation was available every weekday once a day for an hour. Depending on your housing location you were inside or outside rec. North tower and decker have outside rec. i think all the others are inside. church is usually available on weekends. In the towers church services are reliable, in the other jails they are rarely available.
m ray: sh* really nothing rec maybe a couple times a week depends wheater those lazy f*s want to do there job other than that there church and thats it
Leon: Rec. time once per day mostly inside at the basketball court. They usually didn't have outside rec. as it took more officers to watch inmates. Television from 6am. to 10pm.
Jean: Well, the library cart comes one a week and you can check out three books. Everybody tries to pick something you can pass around, because it's a long day. Bibles are hard to come by. Everyone wants to get religion once they get locked up. Myself included! You get religion, for whatever reason. So, the library cart comes once a week if you're lucky. The problem was they would always cater to the men, so by the time it got to the girls, there wasn't all that much to choose from. I have since taken all of my books - I buy them at garage sales - and I take them to the County, and I take them for the girls. The other big pastime is the TV. That will create nothing short of a riot. When you get there, there's always a group of girls that have control of the TV. I literally mean control of the TV. If you don't like what they're watching, tough shit. If you want to watch a soap opera, you better hope it's what they're watching.
Accountant: I was in one holding cell to the next holding cell........there was no leisure time.
Hot attorney: Nothing.
Lil Will: TV dominos cards recreation and some illegal shit
Cam: They would come around with the book cart once every week allowing your tank to only get 6 books. Church on sundays (if they have not reached the limit.)And recreation was available at the discretion of the officers working the floor.. In most cases the officers did not want to deal with the hassle of watching the inmates while they went to recreation.

JM: Did you have regular access to the entertainment or was competition fierce?
Charles: never went to Rec.
m ray: u watch tv or play cards
Leon: Anyone could go to rec. Television was usually by popularity but sometimes someone would want to fight over what to watch.
Jean: The TV is on first thing in the morning - I think it comes on at 7. Of course, you get up to eat at 4am. I think it came on at 7am, and then it usually would go off at midnight during the week, and 2am on the weekends. It's the weekend, so they try to treat you like it's the weekend. It's pretty fierce competition, with the pecking order. I've come pretty close to fighting myself, I mean, this is what I want to watch!
Accountant: No
Hot attorney: Didn't want to watch tv.
Lil Will: Most fights are over TVs on weekends its sports versus movies.
Cam: Fierce..Basketball was only available.. The tv in the tanks was the cause of 90% of the fights in your tank..there was always someone who wanted to watch only what they wanted to watch and they did not care about the other inmates..The fight was on..

JM: Did you have a hard time staying in shape while in jail?
Charles: I lost some weight, but mostly due to not eating much.
m ray: i dont know i am usually so strung out in end up getting in shape
Leon: No I was a trustee working 6 days per week.
Jean: No, we didn't have any facilities to workout whatsoever.
Accountant: No
Hot attorney: I was in for just 4 days. Thank God a great lawyer named John Read bailed me out.
Cam: No..you would normally work out in your own cell.

JM: How often did you get to go outside?
Charles: Never unless I was being transferred between jails/court.
m ray: maybe 3 times aweek
Leon: Daily on the ride to where we worked.
Jean: You're supposed to get yard time like you see on TV where you're supposed to go outside and get fresh air, but it's not going to happen. Not in Dallas county. You never get out. You never see daylight. The whole time I was there, I never got out. It's very inhumane.

You might see some girls walking around the room exercising a little bit, but for the most part, no. There's too many beds and people, and the TV is going, and people yell at you to get out of the way - it's just hardly worth it. There is no working out.
Accountant: N/A
Lil Will: Every day if you want Deker and New Hollands let you go outside but at Sterek they are inside gyms
Cam: Never!!!!!

JM: Did the jail offer church services? If so, what were they like and when were they held?
Charles: Yes Lew Sterrett has them regularly, standard christen services are usually on Sundays, with bible study on Saturdays.
m ray: yes there in a tiny room a most of the time u wouldn t have it cause they dont have enough time to get to everyone
Leon: Yes. Volunteers were allowed to come and give services. Usually 2 times on the weekends.
Jean: Yeah - some guys came in and gave services on the weekend - they were nice.
Accountant: N/A
Cam: Church was on Sunday and Wed. for Catholics..However, they would only let out a certain number of inmates from each floor..if you were not in the ground and the limit was reached then you did not get to go to church.. Church was good, however most people would only go to see their friends and socialize and would not even pay attention to the sermon..