A small online publication, the Ann Arbor Chronicle, has been running a series on life in county lock up. It's a really fascinating read. Below is an excerpt from
I ask what it’s like in the Washtenaw Jail. The older man grins. "You ain’t never been to jail before." He is the first of many to take one look at me and guess. The teen-looking guy rolls his eyes: "Pfft. Washtenaw’s like summer camp."
To pass time, we twirl the chains on our handcuffs. The smell in the holding pen, with three men and one toilet, is noticeable. Over time, I will build a kind of immunity to odors. When it is time to leave the holding pen, the Ann Arbor officer shackles our legs, chains the three of us together and we waddle out. For some reason, I never really mind handcuffs. It is the ankle-pinching leg irons and the forced waddling that will always get to me.
The diaries have been running in serial form for the past month with updates every week. Take a read, you might get hooked. He is a good writer, and it's a interesting account of life behind bars.
Jail Diaries from the Ann Arbor Chronicle