Niagara County Jail

Leisure Time

Interview with Karl


JM: What types of facilities were available to help pass the time?
Karl: You could purchase a Sony AM/FM radio for the outrageous price of $40.00 on the jail commissary, if you had funds. I believe these retail for about $15.00. If not, when someone would go "upstate" you could "inherit" the one that person could not take with them. There were made available a game of "Risk," a combination backgammon/chess set, a UNO game, and you could purchase decks of cards on commissary, again for about three times the price you normally pay on the outside. An inmate fabricated a makeshift Monopoly game, but an official set is not permitted for reasons that don't make a whole lot of sense. Other jails, such as Cattaraugus County and Monroe County offer computerized entertainment such as Sony Playstations, from listening to inmates who have been housed there.

JM: Did you have regular access to the entertainment or was competition fierce?
Karl: The only entertainment, again were the various games available or the AM/FM radio. As long as you had batteries with which to operate the radio, you were permitted 24-hour access. There were no televisions permitted to be viewed on "H" block. Apparently the jail administration is using a point in the federal law case of Aiello v. Litscher to justify limiting protective custody inmates' access to any kind of TV viewing, even innocuous programs such as the annual SuperBowl.

JM: Did you have a hard time staying in shape while in jail?
Karl: Not really. The sedentary lifestyle coupled with the mostly starch-based diet will cause you to gain a few pounds, which, for most people is quickly lost when a regular diet resumes on the outside.

JM: How often did you get to go outside?
Karl: You were permitted to go outside into the yard for just an hour a day, usually first thing after breakfast. Night recreation was never offered, though there is provision for that, because of various outdoor lighting setups.

JM: Did the jail offer church services? If so, what were they like and when were they held?
Karl: No. Protective custody inmates were not permitted to attend any kind of church services, although some of the "newbie" C.O.s would come by the block and yell out that church services were being offered and who wanted to go? When we explained that we were not permitted to attend, they were surprised. This policy could never be quite pinned down.