Going Undercover in Jailhouse USA

With 2.3 million inmates, the US network of jails and prisons is the most formidable and least forgiving penal system in the western world. It is one where sexual violence, random brutality and political extremism are everyday norms.
So, between 2004 and 2009, I went undercover in county jails across the USA to do some market research of my own. I also wanted to see how much I knew, or thought I knew, about life behind bars was true. I began with no preconceptions. I learned a lot. Some of if scary, some of it very scary, some enraging.
It wasn't easy. To gain entry, I had to lobby local sheriffs and jail supervisors, offering to be incarcerated under a suitably fabricated charge. Only a few agreed. Some saw it as an opportunity to test security and get feedback on inmate treatment. Once inside, throughout each jail term, they were the only people who knew who I was. And that made me dog meat: just like the rest of the cons.
Arrested, cuffed and booked, I was close enough to share the same breath as the lower depths of modern day America. Child molesters. Rapists. Murderers. Nazis. Gangbangers. Drug dealers. Thieves. Recidivists. Taxpayers. Voters. Citizens. People who were just like you and me.
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