NCJ Number
112627
Journal
American Jails Volume: 2 Issue: 3 Dated: (Fall 1988) Pages: 14,16,18,20-22
Date Published
1988
Length
6 pages
Annotation
In this second article of a series, anecdotes are used to illustrate conditions and practices in Kentucky's jails.
Abstract
In an unusual case of suicide, an inmate who helped clean the jail committed suicide by drinking a bottle of cleaner following sentencing because he could not face life in the penitentiary. In another jail, new construction initially failed to pass a fire inspection because of a wooden, oil-painted staircase. During the second inspection, the jail passed with the same staircase still intact. Many preachers invited to offer Sunday services are self-styled and have little or no formal education. On occasion, the jailer will forget to lock the cellblock in his haste to escape the sermon. In one instance, the exiting jailer, noting three inmates leaving the jail, invited them to join him, stating that he couldn't take it either. An exemplary jailer, Lloyd Berry renovated his jail, trained himself in jail management, and reformed the State's Jailers' Association. In another case, as the body of a suicidal inmate was being removed, a second inmate laid claim to the deceased's boots and money as promised payment for helping the inmate hang. One large jail has an elected jailer who also is a banker, who has hired an efficient jail director and staff to manage operations for him. In one County, gunfights over coal mining are common, murder sentences are short, and often whole families are wiped out by repeated violence. Finally, in another case, the brutality and biases of one jailer resulted in the violent beating death of an epileptic, homosexual inmate. Photographs.