5 ms·

> For example, you are sentenced to 3 years of jail for a non-violent drug offense. How long do you serve in jail? You don't get 3 years in jail, you get 3 yea

by cubano 9y ago

> For example, you are sentenced to 3 years of jail for a non-violent drug offense. How long do you serve in jail? You don't get 3 years in jail, you get 3 years in prison. The only jail time you do waiting to be sentenced to prison is the time you wait to go to court. You get no gain time for time spent in jail for your prison sentence, so its often called dead time or day-for-day or something. >An ironic application of the prisoners delma. If none of the prisoners would be willing to be a slave, the state could not hold them all, or 'extend' their sentences because of overcrowding. This is an interesting observation, but here is how thats dealt with; anyone whom discusses a general purpose strike against working is charged with a serious felony "inciting to riot" and is given an "outside charge" and is probably spending years more in prison. That's how they do that.

throwaway040435 9y ago
You don't get 3 years in jail, you get 3 years in prison. The only jail time you do waiting to be sentenced to prison is the time you wait to go to court. Do you think it's appropriate to call out someone for using "jail" instead of "prison", when the meaning is clear, and you made the same mistake just 5 minutes prior? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14497654 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14497654 and in your original post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14496609 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14496609
- sbov 9y ago
  It wasn't clear for all of us. It would be nice of the OP to change "jail" to "prison" if that's what they meant.
  - pixl97 9y ago
    The definition between a jail and a prison is very much depends on what state you are in. For example in Texas, you've sat in jail for 6 month and receive a 1 year sentence, you will not be sent to prison, you will remain in the jail for the next 6 months. You can remain in 'jail' for years sometimes before being sent to a prison facility, even after sentencing.
  - anigbrowl 9y ago
    In the USA, sentences of less than 1 year are misdemeanors and can be served in a jail. Sentences of longer than 1 year are felonies and are served in prison. Jails are operated under authority of the county in which they are located, prisons under the authority of state or federal government. This is obviously a summary rather than an exhaustive definition.
- cubano 9y ago
  No I most definitely did not make a mistake. Yes CCDC aka Clark County Detention Center (aka Las Vegas County Jail) is a jail in downtown Las Vegas where I did my kitchen slave labor recently on a 90-day sentence for basically jaywalking. If I were to be sentenced for more then a year, I would have been sent to a prison somewhere in the boonies of Nevada away from Vegas. The OP discussed a "3-year jail sentence", and I simply explained that would not be possible as jail and prison are significantly different institutions with very different implications. I don't think I am wrong to continually express the difference between the two.
  - opo 9y ago
    >... on a 90-day sentence for basically jaywalking. Can you elaborate?
    - cubano 9y ago
      Sure. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14017760 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14017760
      - opo 9y ago
        That is a rough story. I hope things improve for you. Those who support the war on drugs should think about his point: >...Was this the outcome society wants me to have? To wreck what small success I struggled to get over what amounted to an illegal search and seizure (that's my PD talking, not me)? Who was the victim of my "crime"? ... The war on drugs is just a war on people.
    - 77pt77 9y ago
      TLDR. There was meth involved apart from the jaywalking...
77pt77 9y ago
> You get no gain time for time spent in jail for your prison sentence, so its often called dead time or day-for-day or something. Excuse me?! So if I wait for 1 year in jail waiting to go to court and later I'm sentenced to 1 year in prison, I get to serve another year?!
- pixl97 9y ago
  No, that poster doesn't know what they are talking about. That said, sentencing is very discretionary so a judge will commonly balance out your total sentence with how much time you've already spent in jail.
  - ferentchak 9y ago
    Man can we be a little nicer here. He said "no gain time for time spent in jail" I am not familiar with the term "gain time" but as he uses it above seems to me additional time taken off of your sentence for playing nice. Working dancing to entertain the warden etc. I took that to mean that while you are in jail you burn down one to one days which is not as fast as the bonus or "gain time" you would get in actual prison. He may or may not be correct and my guess is it depends on where you at since state and local laws will be applied but... As for knowing what he is talking about my guess is many prisoners are experts in the system of trying to reduce their stays in prison.
  - anigbrowl 9y ago
    You're being extremely rude. It's hard to make absolutely definitive statements on an incredibly complex and often perverse system like custodial sentencing without resorting to the opaque technical language of legal journals. That is rarely appropriate for a casual discussion forum like HN. As the other poster actually has first-hand experience of being incarcerated, your dismissive tone in response to some loose phrasing comes off as both nasty and ridiculous.
  - fnordfnordfnord 9y ago
    The poster is talking about post-sentencing "discounts" on prison time served. It's called Good Conduct Time or "good time" for short, in Texas. The way it works is that prison administrators offer inmates early release based upon their behavior. It's a very important and useful prison management tool, one of the only carrots that prison administrators have to offer inmates. Source, was a CO in Texas, also: http://law.justia.com/codes/texas/2005/gv/004.00.000498.00.html http://law.justia.com/codes/texas/2005/gv/004.00.000498.00.h... If you follow the link, you'll see that participating in work or educational programs can improve one's good time earning class, allowing an inmate to earn an earlier release date. In contrast to the other poster, Texas requires good time for time served in county jails. Also notable, educational opportunities have been severely curtailed in TDCJ over the last decade.
pixl97 9y ago
>You get no gain time for time spent in jail for your prison sentence, You have no idea what "time served" means at sentencing. You can get released on the day you are sentenced if you have already served more time.
- cubano 9y ago
  Right of course..."time served" is a very common sentence for misdemeanor offenses where you could not bond out, and I certainly have an good "idea" what it means. Also, if you are willing to take a ungodly amount of probation, it is quite possible you will get time-served on your felony charges as well. I am talking about serious felony offenses where people get sent for multi-year prison sentences, and in those cases, time sitting in jail waiting to get to prison is not eligible for prison gain time.
Fjolsvith 9y ago
First of all, I've spent time in jails and in prisons, both state and federal. Calling it jail time or prison time is nitpicking from the inside. Second, you do get credit for time served, whether you sat in a jail cell or a prison cell. If they don't credit you for time served, you can sue for illegal detention. It varies state-by-state as to whether you earn good-time (gain time) during your presentencing stay, but typically you get it if you didn't have any infractions. Finally, prisons employ psychologists who actively gauge the population for "low morale" and suggest courses of action for the staff to take to keep the population under control with the least amount of effort/expense. Typically, they will improve the feed a little when the men become unruly. Also, the staff actively works with the gang structures to help keep the peace.

by cubano 9y ago

throwaway040435 9y ago

You don't get 3 years in jail, you get 3 years in prison. The only jail time you do waiting to be sentenced to prison is the time you wait to go to court. Do you think it's appropriate to call out someone for using "jail" instead of "prison", when the meaning is clear, and you made the same mistake just 5 minutes prior? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14497654 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14497654 and in your original post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14496609 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14496609

sbov 9y ago
It wasn't clear for all of us. It would be nice of the OP to change "jail" to "prison" if that's what they meant.
- pixl97 9y ago
  The definition between a jail and a prison is very much depends on what state you are in. For example in Texas, you've sat in jail for 6 month and receive a 1 year sentence, you will not be sent to prison, you will remain in the jail for the next 6 months. You can remain in 'jail' for years sometimes before being sent to a prison facility, even after sentencing.
- anigbrowl 9y ago
  In the USA, sentences of less than 1 year are misdemeanors and can be served in a jail. Sentences of longer than 1 year are felonies and are served in prison. Jails are operated under authority of the county in which they are located, prisons under the authority of state or federal government. This is obviously a summary rather than an exhaustive definition.
cubano 9y ago
No I most definitely did not make a mistake. Yes CCDC aka Clark County Detention Center (aka Las Vegas County Jail) is a jail in downtown Las Vegas where I did my kitchen slave labor recently on a 90-day sentence for basically jaywalking. If I were to be sentenced for more then a year, I would have been sent to a prison somewhere in the boonies of Nevada away from Vegas. The OP discussed a "3-year jail sentence", and I simply explained that would not be possible as jail and prison are significantly different institutions with very different implications. I don't think I am wrong to continually express the difference between the two.
- opo 9y ago
  >... on a 90-day sentence for basically jaywalking. Can you elaborate?
  - cubano 9y ago
    Sure. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14017760 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14017760
    - opo 9y ago
      That is a rough story. I hope things improve for you. Those who support the war on drugs should think about his point: >...Was this the outcome society wants me to have? To wreck what small success I struggled to get over what amounted to an illegal search and seizure (that's my PD talking, not me)? Who was the victim of my "crime"? ... The war on drugs is just a war on people.
  - 77pt77 9y ago
    TLDR. There was meth involved apart from the jaywalking...

77pt77 9y ago

> You get no gain time for time spent in jail for your prison sentence, so its often called dead time or day-for-day or something. Excuse me?! So if I wait for 1 year in jail waiting to go to court and later I'm sentenced to 1 year in prison, I get to serve another year?!

pixl97 9y ago
No, that poster doesn't know what they are talking about. That said, sentencing is very discretionary so a judge will commonly balance out your total sentence with how much time you've already spent in jail.
- ferentchak 9y ago
  Man can we be a little nicer here. He said "no gain time for time spent in jail" I am not familiar with the term "gain time" but as he uses it above seems to me additional time taken off of your sentence for playing nice. Working dancing to entertain the warden etc. I took that to mean that while you are in jail you burn down one to one days which is not as fast as the bonus or "gain time" you would get in actual prison. He may or may not be correct and my guess is it depends on where you at since state and local laws will be applied but... As for knowing what he is talking about my guess is many prisoners are experts in the system of trying to reduce their stays in prison.
- anigbrowl 9y ago
  You're being extremely rude. It's hard to make absolutely definitive statements on an incredibly complex and often perverse system like custodial sentencing without resorting to the opaque technical language of legal journals. That is rarely appropriate for a casual discussion forum like HN. As the other poster actually has first-hand experience of being incarcerated, your dismissive tone in response to some loose phrasing comes off as both nasty and ridiculous.
- fnordfnordfnord 9y ago
  The poster is talking about post-sentencing "discounts" on prison time served. It's called Good Conduct Time or "good time" for short, in Texas. The way it works is that prison administrators offer inmates early release based upon their behavior. It's a very important and useful prison management tool, one of the only carrots that prison administrators have to offer inmates. Source, was a CO in Texas, also: http://law.justia.com/codes/texas/2005/gv/004.00.000498.00.html http://law.justia.com/codes/texas/2005/gv/004.00.000498.00.h... If you follow the link, you'll see that participating in work or educational programs can improve one's good time earning class, allowing an inmate to earn an earlier release date. In contrast to the other poster, Texas requires good time for time served in county jails. Also notable, educational opportunities have been severely curtailed in TDCJ over the last decade.

pixl97 9y ago

>You get no gain time for time spent in jail for your prison sentence, You have no idea what "time served" means at sentencing. You can get released on the day you are sentenced if you have already served more time.

cubano 9y ago
Right of course..."time served" is a very common sentence for misdemeanor offenses where you could not bond out, and I certainly have an good "idea" what it means. Also, if you are willing to take a ungodly amount of probation, it is quite possible you will get time-served on your felony charges as well. I am talking about serious felony offenses where people get sent for multi-year prison sentences, and in those cases, time sitting in jail waiting to get to prison is not eligible for prison gain time.

Fjolsvith 9y ago

First of all, I've spent time in jails and in prisons, both state and federal. Calling it jail time or prison time is nitpicking from the inside. Second, you do get credit for time served, whether you sat in a jail cell or a prison cell. If they don't credit you for time served, you can sue for illegal detention. It varies state-by-state as to whether you earn good-time (gain time) during your presentencing stay, but typically you get it if you didn't have any infractions. Finally, prisons employ psychologists who actively gauge the population for "low morale" and suggest courses of action for the staff to take to keep the population under control with the least amount of effort/expense. Typically, they will improve the feed a little when the men become unruly. Also, the staff actively works with the gang structures to help keep the peace.