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Jail vs Prisons

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Jails vs. Prisons

Josh Gubbs
CJA/204
November 25, 2013
Erica Veljic

When people think about jail and prison they think they are one in the same but they are not. This paper will discuss the differences between jail and prison as well as give the reader an insight into the life on an inmate and what they are introduced to when they are serving time behind bars. Probation and parole will also be discussed in addition to various kinds of prisons located throughout the United States and here in Connecticut.
The difference between a jail and a prison is a jail is where people are housed who are awaiting trial and those who have been sentenced to a year or less behind bars. Jails also hold individuals for the military, protective custody, those who were found contempt in court, and they also temporarily detain juveniles and the mentally ill. A prison is a place where those who were sentenced to more than a year behind bars and are convicted of serious crimes. Also a prison is under the jurisdiction of federal or state where as a jail is under the jurisdiction of federal, state, county, and city laws.
There are many different types of prisons as well, there are state prisons and federal prisons. The variation between the two is that state prison is where a person is sent to when they violate a state law and a federal prison is where someone goes when they violate a federal law. Now with in state and federal prisons there are multiple levels that an offender can be housed at. There are three levels to the state prison system and they are minimum, medium, and maximum. The levels of the federal prison system has five different levels and they are ADMAX (administrative maximum), high security, medium security, low security, and minimum security.
According to the Connecticut DOC (department of corrections), here in Connecticut, both the jails and prisons are

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