How long does shock incarceration last

Prison officials declined interview requests. Shackled and handcuffed, fresh recruits arrive every week, sometimes shipped from other prisons after years behind bars, other times sent in straight out of intake. Like many of the former prisoners interviewed by The Appeal, he asked to remain anonymous because he is still on parole and fears retaliation from parole officials.

Screaming is part of the daily routine. It starts before dawn. Sometime around a. Then they have three minutes to get dressed before heading outside for group exercise, where they run in degree summer heat or do push-ups in the winter snow.

When they come inside for breakfast, they march in a military-style parade line. Sometimes, in retribution for alleged infractions committed earlier in the day, drill instructors make prisoners kneel on the mess hall seats, stand to eat, or make the whole platoon squat. The daytime hours include programs like GED or vocational training, or work assignments.

In their limited free time, shock attendees can shine their boots, write letters, iron their clothes and make their bunks. Shock alums said that except when they are in school or drug treatment, prisoners are not allowed to sit down without permission. Until recently, both male and female prisoners had their heads shaved upon arrival, though at Willard that is no longer required for women, a DOCCS spokesperson said.

But in some cases former prisoners recalled more humiliating punishments. Some said they had been made to stand and stare at a flagpole for hours, while others said they had been forced to wear embarrassing signs and sashes around the facility. In one instance, a woman recounted watching another prisoner run around a bush in circles as drill instructors threw shoes at her, a punishment meted out after she was caught staring at the men across the yard.

One former Lakeview employee, who asked not to be named because she still works for the state government, said such punishments were common. Other program graduates and participants offered similar details about routine name-calling and degrading comments ranging from drill instructors insulting their mothers to being called crackheads, as well as inconsistent treatment.

The Manhattan native started selling drugs in the late s as a teen on the Lower East Side, then a neighborhood where illicit narcotics were plentiful and crime was frequent. At first, he said he hustled outside a corner store, but later he turned to large-scale sales, and pulled in millions. In , he did shock for the first time at the the now-shuttered Monterey boot camp.

After completing the program, Marte caught another charge and went back to prison, where he went through the boot camp two more times. But after his release from Lakeview in , Marte launched ConBody, a Manhattan gym featuring prison-inspired workouts like those he learned in shock. Currently, he manages dozens of clients, with multiple classes a week and a stable of trainers, many of whom are formerly incarcerated, working for him.

And Marte said that although he appreciated the shock regimen as well as the discipline the program instilled in him, it was also highly abusive. On a near-daily basis, Marte said, he watched the guards hit male prisoners. Claims of prison abuse are notoriously hard to corroborate, given the secrecy of prison administrations, the scarcity of releasable video footage and limited outside oversight.

But several prisoners told The Appeal that they witnessed similar abuse, as did the former Lakeview staffer who expressed concerns about prisoner treatment. During an incident in , the ex-employee said she watched a drill instructor punch a prisoner three times because he rolled his eyes.

Three other current and former employees who spoke with The Appeal did not recount seeing such treatment, but two said they were not in stationed in an area where they would have been likely to witness it, and the third said she had only heard rumors about abuse. In some cases, prisoners may file grievances—a legally required first step before filing a lawsuit—but many said they were scared to do so because they feared being kicked out of the program.

Samantha said she once complained to officials about mistreatment but later worried for her physical safety after prison staff pulled her into another room and pretended to shoot her. In , one woman told the Albany Times-Union that a guard raped her at Lakeview. When another prisoner informed authorities about the alleged assault, she was tossed in solitary for four days. Critics say that the premise of boot camp incarceration—using military basic training-style discipline to rehabilitate prisoners—is flawed.

To be eligible to participate in Shock, an offender must:. Note, however, that even if eligible, prosecutors or the court may insist on an offender waiving participation in Shock as a condition of a plea bargain — meaning the offender agrees not to apply for participation. If the offender agrees to this condition, a subsequent application to enter the program will be denied.

Care must, then, be taken to understand the terms of any negotiated plea. Eligible offenders must apply for the program, and be capable of handling its demands. Thus, applicants should expect to undergo both a physical and mental health examination to ensure they are in suitable condition. Ultimately, unless judicially ordered, the Department of Correction and Community Supervision has the discretion to admit or deny applicants. If Shock is ordered by the court, and the offender is not physically capable of completing the program — due to, for example, injury — the Department of Correction and Community Supervision must find a suitable alternative program for the offender to complete.

What do prisoners do all day? Prisoners' daily life takes place according to a daily schedule. This will prescribe the wake-up, roll-calls, morning exercises, times for meals, times for escorting the prisoners to work and school and times for studying and working, as well as the times prescribed for sports events, telephone calls and walks.

The facility provides special treatment for non-violent offenders. Do inmates get to shave? As a general rule, women's prisons do have some kind of access to razors so the inmates can shave their legs. But, depending on your security level, there could be some major restrictions.

Some prisons don't sell razors, and instead the prison will issue them for a limited amount of time. What are scared straight programs?

Scared Straight Programs for Troubled Teens Established in the s, Scared Straight programs are used throughout the United States as a means of deterring juvenile crime. They usually entail visits by at-risk youth to adult prisons, where youth hear about the harsh reality of prison life from inmates.

What state had the first shock incarceration program? Why do prisoners get free food but students don t? Prisoners do not get Free Food. The food is paid for by those that are responsible for their care.

Just as food for children is paid for by those that are responsible for their care. School is not a prison and it is not the school's responsibility to feed those who enter its doors.