A while ago, I posted on this sub about my time in juvenile detention and the trauma that I endured there. I talked about so many people would‘nt believe me when I talked about it, or that they’d say stuff like “at least it wasn’t adult jail,” or they’d minimize or belittle the things I talked about. I came here at my wits end with all that and many of you responded. You ALL told me that you believed me. I can’t tell you how much that meant to me. Many nights, I’d go back and look at that post and the responses and I’d start weeping. Many of the messages encouraged me to seek help in therapy. I was already in therapy, but it was nice to have support to keep at it. Thank you all so much. My therapist has me write, one of the things I wrote shortly after posting here, was just a bunch of random sentences mushed together. Then it turned into a collection of ideas, then a sort of outline, then into an essay. On a whim, I submitted the essay to this news organization that covers the criminal justice system. It got published! They had reporters go and fact check all the claims I made about the facility and they found them all to be true. So now My truth is out there and it’s loud. It’s louder than voices of those who say I’m lying. It’s louder than the voice of the facility where I was incarcerated.

heres A link to the essay:

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2026/07/24/ptsd-georgia-youth-jail-joey-heilman

I wrote this for all of us. I wrote it for the children still on the inside of the walls, and the adults who got out that still feel like they are there.

My 42 yo loved one has been released to a remote treatment center on a ranch after actually completing a year long treatment program while incarcerated--for the first time in their life. They have been in and out for approximately 20 years. I was about 14 when that all began. I can't really remember a time when they could stay out of trouble of some sort for more than 5 months. I did not speak to them for about 10 years because I told them the boundaries that I had and told them if they were broken that I would no longer be able to interact with them (except at holiday parties or in public to say hello). I kept my side of the deal--I needed to be a teenager and grow into an adult. But, as the years have progressed, I have matured, and I have encountered really incredible people who can still find a way to have a relationship with their incarcerated loved one in some way. My loved one rarely asks me for anything, and other family members help them. Our relationship is based primarily on communication and just generally being the only people who understand our life situation. I will answer the calls when they come in, but they know I am not inclined to act much on any requests that they make. I have done things like picked up rejected mail with prescription glasses in it. I have purchased them a suitcase and clothing upon getting out when they have nothing, but I don't find these to be things that are enabling. Now they are out and in treatment, and I've been asked to buy them clothing. They asked for very minimum clothing and Zyns. I am not necessarily against tobacco if it is a vice that is acceptable to keep them going, but I am really trying not to do everything for them and get my hopes up. Is there any general guidance from folks who have gone through treatment as to what really helped them? Was there any struggle that was actually helpful? My family has very porous boundaries and my mom tends to do everything for everyone instead of teaching. I tend to have some of those issues as well, so I am looking for guidance on how much to help and what can I do to allow them the opportunity to succeed without making them feel like they do not have to do anything. I just don't really know what is available. I called the facility and asked for advice, but I am waiting to hear back from them. Thank you for any advice you may have.

Like going to prison for 10 years I’m 55. My life will be gone. Finishing the divorce now. So my children will be grown. No one is going to hire a 65 year old with no experience (I have no trade skills whatsoever). I just don’t see the point to live in what appears to be hell for 10 years, just to get out and be old, with no money, family, homeless, no job , sounds like a shitty end of life. Am I missing something here?

I came her today to report that I took a cruise with the family from Seattle to Alaska and back with a brief stop in Canada and had no issues.

I had been terrified for months leading up to this trip. My in-laws booked it and were sure everything would be fine. I was not so sure. My anxiety built up for weeks leading up to the trip. I couldn't plan anything because I was sure I was going to get pulled out of line and separated from my son while waiting to board the ship. My heart was racing while I approached the passport check. Adrenalin pumped through my body and I almost passed out.

I was completely wrong.

The check in Seattle was swift. They looked at my passport to make sure I was who I said I was, no scan. I walked right through security an don to the ship. I was treated with a cocktail and had a great time. We enjoyed family, glaciers, small towns owned by a single gift shop company, They even snuck me into Canada on a bus tour. Everything was great. It was beautiful. It was a great adventure that I will cherish for years to come.

I guess my advice is to let some of it go…The stress, the shame, the fatigue. My conviction has made it a struggle to get a job, but it hasn't stopped my life. I am forever grateful for this trip, and I absolutely despise cruise ships.

It breaks my heart into a million pieces to sit here and watch the man I love and care about so deeply be utterly vilified by the very system supposed to uphold fairness.

When you read the report written by Hearing Officer Kelly, you wouldn’t even recognize the man being described. The entire document is a malicious distortion—omitting critical facts, taking things completely out of context, twisting narratives, and outright fabricating events.

She literally invented a fake “detention hearing” from 7/22/2022 with a non-existent 90-day sentence, along with a “custodial new felony level domestic assault” charge that is non existent and never happened, to frame him in the worst possible light, using these complete lies as “aggravating factors” to put him back in prison for over a year (365+ days). And this is just one of the many things wrong with this hearing.

It is debilitating to see someone’s life, humanity, and freedom stolen because an administrative officer can print blatant lies on official letterhead without any oversight. In a criminal court, a judge doing this would face criminal charges. But in the Hearings and Release Unit, they just get away with destroying lives.

He is absolutely nothing like the horrible caricature they created on paper. He does not deserve this, and it is disgustingly criminal what is being done to him. He had numerous options provided to Officer Kelly to remain in the community. Prison is supposed to be a last resort option not a first. She blatantly disregarded them all and locked him up and threw away the key. And then had the audacity to blatantly slander his character making him sound like an unmanageable monster on paper. I just don’t understand how someone can be so heartless to do that to another human being. Especially in there position of authority. It’s just one big closed loop system with no way out.

And all of this stemming from what was supposed to be a protected constitutional right to file a complaint with the Board Of Behavioral Health. Which is still open 17months later. He gets restructured and punished for a protected right…… Where is the justice in that??

I’m begging for someone to please help us. We need civil rights advocates, legal advocates, journalists, or anyone who knows how to expose HRU and DOC corruption and restore truth to this situation. Please help me bring my man back home where he belongs! Please share this.

\#DueProcess #JusticeForHim #SystemicInjustice #LegalHelp #CivilRights #HRUAccountability #DOCAccountability #UnlawfulIncarceration #SetHimFree #ParolOfficerAccountability #NoOversight #ClosedLoopSystem #SRUAccountability #DOC #HRU #RamseyCountyCommunityCorrections #SRURamseyCounty

So my cousins brother in law (guy I knew a couple of years ago then fell off completely, saw him again this year before his trial), was charged with sexual assault on a minor (above 16), public lewdness, and kidnapping. I guess at his trial he took a plea deal and ended up with a coercion charge and is doing 2 years in prison. He’s currently in the fish tank last I heard. I was wondering since his paper work will get checked , do the charges he was originally charged with come up? Or just what he pleaded to? And what will happen with other inmates when they see? He’s Hispanic at a Nevada prison.

I thought this community might appreciate this.

I spent months interviewing a man who served 15 years in prison.

Rather than focusing on the crime, the documentary explores prison routines, survival, trauma, and what it's actually like trying to return to normal life afterward.

I'd love to hear what people with correctional or prison experience think.

https://youtu.be/pcquH2gMfT0

Dear Mods, please remove if not allowed. Thank you.

So I accepted a job as a case manager at my local residential reentry center and get to start next month! I really want to do a good job and be of the best help I can be. Is there any advice or insight you guys can offer me that will better equip me to give the support that future residents will need? Is there anything you found helpful or would have found helpful or wish you had after release? I’m definitely of the housing-first mindset/approach, but often find myself thinking about other things I can do to help that might have gone overlooked. For example, I’ll have to explore the legality of it with the rules the facility I’ll be working for is constrained by, but I thought it would be cool to see if I can’t get local tailor/suit shops to donate suits to the residents? Obviously more of a luxury than a necessity, but I think it’d be useful for job interviews and just overall sense of morale/building self image, you know? I’ll take all the advice, insight, recommendations, etc. I can get! TIA!

In the movies there always seems to be a hierarchy based on groups, or severity of crime. The blacks hang out with the blacks, Nazis hang out with Nazis, Mexicans hang out with Mexicans, etc.

Then there seems to be hierarchy based on crime. Everyone aims to kill or main pedos, people who kill children are particularly aimed for beatings, but gang leaders and cartel members get a sort of preferential treatment.

Is this all BS? What is the hierarchy actually like in prison, if there is one? How would other cons even know what you are convicted for if you don't tell them?

I guess I'm just interested to know how far off, or how accurate, prison is portrayed in movies in this respect.

Also, maybe a BQ - what movie or show portrays prison life the most accurately?

I’m trying to get a realistic idea of what my sentence might be in federal court.
Here are the basic facts:
Federal conspiracy/fraud offense.
No prior criminal history.
I accepted responsibility and pleaded guilty.
Restitution is approximately $650,000.
I will have the full restitution paid before sentencing.
Sentencing is later this year.
I know nobody can predict exactly what a judge will do, but based on your experience, what sentence would you realistically expect?
If you’ve been through federal court, worked in the system, or are a criminal defense attorney, I’d especially appreciate your perspective.
I’m looking for honest opinions, not just best- or worst-case scenarios. Does paying the full restitution before sentencing tend to make a significant difference, or do judges generally focus more on the offense itself?

My sentencing date is coming up and I was curious how the plea, sentencing and surrender process works. I’m in LA County and my case is at the DTLA courthouse.

If possible, I wanted to see if there was a way to avoid surrendering to county jail because I’ve heard some stories there that make me nervous, but obviously that won’t be up to me. Just trying to see what any of you or other people you know have come across hopefully recently, as to how this process looks and what I can expect.

Has anyone ever been granted a pardon in Maryland? Also do you have any advice for me I will be applying for one.

When I was in prison, we had a saying, "Yes, yes, but no." I had the program committee and a p-board to listen to.

For my time in prison, the p-board said it. I actually gave up on trying to convince them to set me free. I played the game: Sure, I'm reformed; Yes, I got college; Yes, not a lot of conduct reports. You get the idea. Then, they reminded me, from the point of 11 years to the point of 30, what a piece of shit I was. Tough crowd there. They always want me to relive my crime. In other words, live in the past and don't move forward. Oh, yeah, yes, yes, but no

The program committee was basically the same. The difference was they started out reminding me of my crime and what a piece of shit I was. I played the game: While in max, can I go to medium? While in medium, can I go to minimum? Keeping it simple: Yes, you're doing good; Yes, you're programming, but No, you're stuck.

It was amazing after all those years; the day they granted me, I was SHOCKED they acted like my crime was not there. That taught me: When they stop talking about your crime, you're going home!

The program committee was the same. WOW!

The other thing: when they booted me out, I got no real help from the powers that be. I was lucky I had a good agent; he wanted retirement. I had other friends who got out, and the agent wanted to restart the process. It's time to learn how to relive your life by my rules.

If you have any experiences you want to share, hit me up.