Harris County Jail

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Leisure Time

Interview with Julie, Inmate's Sister, Houston, Claire, Jim, Smyth, Ken, Charlene, Greg, GMan, Jamie, Leisha, Toby, Lisa, Consuela, John, Tiffany and Tom

JM: What types of facilities were available to help pass the time?
Julie: We had rec. either go to the gym or to the law library
Inmate's Sister: he's in school,church,and imate trustie
Houston: They had AA and NA meetings, church on Sundays, rec , and the law library.
Claire: There was the "gym" or rec room, but we only got to go in there once per week. I never went to rec because I didn't want to be subjected to strip searches any more than absolutely necessary. Each pod had a television (no cable, of course), and the library cart came by once per week.
Jim: Recreation and books to read
Smyth: 1 weight bench you didn't use unless you wanted to fight and one basketball court you didn't use unless you wanted to fight.
Ken: There was a large recreation room downstairs under the cellblock. They had a TV, newpaper, domino's. A few times per week you could go outside and play basketball or volleyball for an hour or so.
Charlene: tv that didn't work, 1 newspaper for the whole cell
Greg: TV and sleeping and eating, lots of fun for the innocence.
GMan: I was only there for 22 hours, so there were none.
Jamie: all
Leisha: you can only go to the law libary or inside reck,church ,no sunlight whatsoever
Toby: church, and outside recreation.
Lisa: A gym(mostly broken equipment), a conference room(AA meetings&Church)
Consuela: Dominos and chess. They sometimes let us go to the law library or to recreation but the chinese man in charge of recreation was a real asshole. He called us names and said that if we talked at all we would have to go back immediately.
John: The holding tanks didn't have anything available.
Tiffany: None. I was kept in one holding tank before court for 6 and a half hours. I was able to see my breath it was so cold. I jumped around a lot which probably kept the other 2 ladies I was in there with entertained.
Tom: There reading materials (books, bibles and other literature), chapel, rec and AA. There were also checkers and chess sets available.

JM: Did you have regular access to the entertainment or was competition fierce? Give details.
Julie: Yes we did we had certain days they we could watch things
Inmate's Sister: yes
Houston: The ghetto people doing some time always had first dibs. It was supposed to be whoever had the assigned cleaning that day , but it never worked out that way.
Claire: The inmates pretty much had free run of the TV remote (which was shared with the "B" pod) as long as we all agreed on what we wanted to watch. There were never any fights over the TV in my pod. The only thing I hated about that was that the deputies used the TV to their advantage. If they felt that we were "misbehaving," they'd cut it off. But we were a pretty well-behaved group.
Jim: it depended on the mood of the deputies
Smyth: Like I said.. if you want to fight use one.
Ken: No competition. The only issue would be what to watch on TV. I personally didn't care to get involved in dealing with that.
Charlene: no, no
Greg: sit on your butt and go to bed.
GMan: Not applicable
Jamie: no
Leisha: tv @ THE NEWSPAPER
Toby: no thre's only tv so thre's no competition.
Lisa: Gym time was at 3 am. Most people were not willing to wake up THAT early.
Consuela: It was fierce!!! First come first serve but even with that there was exceptions if the inmate that wanted the games or whatever and was senior inmate then you better let the person have it.
Tiffany: Hell no LMAO!!!
Tom: We had access and there was little to no competition for it.

JM: Did you have a hard time staying in shape while in jail?
Julie: yes
Inmate's Sister: no
Houston: No, we worked out (most of us) regularly and ate mostly fruit.
Claire: Yeah, I did. All I did was eat. Especially once I started getting commissary. I think I gained 7-10 pounds while I was in there. That being said, whatever exercise you wanted to do, that could be done within the confines of the pod.
Jim: No
Smyth: No.. starved cause food was slop.
Ken: Yes, not that easy to work out, almost no cardio.
Charlene: yes
Greg: called motivation.
GMan: Not applicable
Jamie: `yes
Leisha: YES THEY YOU IN YOUR CELL BLOCK
Toby: well i'm not the type that works out so no problem there.
Lisa: No I wasn't in shape to begin with.
Consuela: Yes, with no real recreation and the high fat diet they have you on I gained 60 pounds. There is a huge problem with obesity among inmates. You will see skinny women go in and fat over weight women come out.
Tom: I wasn't in there long enough to worry about it. But, others were constantly doing push ups and situps.

JM: How often did you get to go outside? What did you do outside if you were allowed to? If you were not allowed to go outside what could you do for exercise?
Julie: none
Inmate's Sister: everyday
Houston: Funny. never
Claire: We did not go outside. The closest we got to outside was going to the "gym," where there were a couple of large windows (with bars over them, of course), where sunlight could come through.
Jim: the roof is the outside rec. It depended on the deputies
Smyth: Probably an hour in 3 days if you're lucky.
Ken: For an hour or so a few times a week
Charlene: none
Greg: I whent to Conroe and came back, really now, u don't see anything until your realeased.
GMan: Not applicable
Jamie: none
Leisha: NEVER, ONLY WHEN YOU GET RELEASED; THAT'S WHEN YOU'LL SEE DAYLITE
Toby: i never did.i only spent 13 days there.
Lisa: Never
Consuela: Never. I was in jail over 6 months with natural sunlight or fresh air.
Tom: We did not have access to the outdoors

JM: Did the jail offer church services? If so, what were they like and when were they held?
Julie: no they did not
Inmate's Sister: sundays he states thats the only thing that keep him going in there.
Houston: Yes , people repenting and crying . It was rather upsetting.
Claire: No, not that I was aware of. It's rather unfortunate, but I guess they figured no one would have attended, anyway.
Jim: Yes the were quick
Smyth: Yes.. that is where all of the gays go to chat with their girlfriends on different blocks.
Ken: Yes, they had a pastor come into the cell block and meet with inmates.
Charlene: yes, but I was released before the time came up
Greg: Yes, but they need to offer everyone bibles.
GMan: Never
Jamie: yes all
Leisha: YES ,GOOD
Toby: yes they did they have them mostly on sundays but on wednesday too.
Lisa: Yes. However I am a practicing Pagan. The church's were mainstream Christianity.
Consuela: Yes, it was mostly catholic and the Pastor was very nice but he did give us what we needed to hear at the time. We only got to go to church once in a while.
Tom: Yes. Services were held once a week, but I didn't get a chance to attend.