Indefinite: Doing Time in Jail

‘There are no more gaols in this country, people use the term incorrectly because of American legal dramas,’ my professor explained at the beginning of our course on the history of punishment in England and Wales. It turns out that there was a difference between prison and jail, and it only took me a postgraduate module to realise this.

Merriam-Webster defines ‘jail’ as, ‘a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody specifically such a place under the jurisdiction of a local government for the confinement of persons awaiting trial or those convicted of minor crimes’. Jails, according to Walker, are the principal people-processing machines of the criminal justice system.

Though an ethnographic, sociological text, Indefinite: Doing Time in Jail also reads as a memoir. The author’s first-hand account of his experience in a Californian county jail is deeply personal. The interactions he describes with fellow residents, officers, medical staff, and even his public defender paint a vivid picture and offer insight into a world often shut off from outside scrutiny and, quite frankly, ignored.

Opening with the gruesomely titled chapter ‘Palace de Excreta’, Walker offers an even more gruesome description of his time spent in a single occupancy cell covered in faeces and vomit with nothing to do and no one to see. It makes for uncomfortable reading but, unfortunately, is the uncomfortable reality for many incarcerated persons locked in cells unfit for habitation. This dire situation is amplified when we find out why he is there.

The standout chapter is titled ‘Court Bodies’. Walker describes the desperation mixed with hope of those serving time in jail. The majority of his peers were in jail awaiting trial dates that never came and serving sentences that never ended. It draws stark parallels with the current crisis within our prison system and highlights the issue of remanding defendants (some of whom will be acquitted) in custody for prolonged periods before their trial date due to the backlog, court closures, lack of sitting days, criminal barrister action or a combination of all.

Although gaols no longer exist in this country, their conditions and usage remain in the prison system. It is imperative that practitioners are alive to the inner workings and culture of custody. Although written from an American viewpoint, Indefinite delivers here in an illuminating and educational way.

Kitan Ososami is a pupil barrister at Red Lion Chambers, London