HOW IS PRISON DIFFERENT FROM JAIL?

The big house. The hoosegow. The slammer. The joint. The stony lonesome. The license plate factory. The pen. Yes, that’s right, we’re going to be continuing our discussion on incarceration in America. My name is Colin McCallin, with Hebets and McCallin, and we’re going to continue discussing the differences between jail and prison.

In the last video we did, we talked about who is in jail. Now we’re going to talk about who is actually in prison. What do you have to do to go to prison? Well, it usually starts with the commission of a very serious crime. Typically, that’s a felony. A felony is something that every state classifies as a very serious offense. You don’t always go to prison on your first felony conviction, but if it’s serious enough, obviously like a murder or a serious assault, you might be going to prison. Prisons don’t house people who are awaiting their trial; they only house people who are serving their sentences. So if you’ve been convicted of a serious felony, of a federal crime, of a crime where we’re talking about months and years for your sentence as opposed to days or weeks like jail, that’s when we’re actually talking about prison.

So, again, my name is Colin McCallin, be sure to check out our content at our Hebets and McCallin Facebook page. Also, check out our podcast, “Is This Legal?”, wherever you get your podcasts.