The structure of an inmates day very much depends on what prison he is in and what level of risk he is accessed at.

My husband is in Auckland Prison (NZ) in a unit that is classed med/min.

There are 60 cells in his particular unit with one inmate to each cell (hence 60 inmates) His unit is a working unit, only those inmates that want to work and have been accessed at med/min risk can or are offered transfer to this paticular unit.

To be quite honest I am/was so happy when my husband was transfered to this unit as it is far more relaxed and the guards are really not that bad, but then I guess there's always one ratbag!

My husband can make phone calls home anytime right up until he's locked down for the night. I also can call and leave him a message to call home if I need to talk to him and the longest time I have waited for him to call me at home after leaving him a message was about 10 minutes. Not to bad if you ask me taking into acct they (prison officers are not a secretarial service)

Visiting days are Saturdays from 9am - 2:45pm and we can hug, kiss, cuddle, hold hands - basically lot's of physical contact as long as it does not revert to overt and obvious sexual indencencies and if they do think it is "looking that way" then you are politely told to refrain. Seeing there are normally children in the outside and inside visiting area most couples restrain themselves. Visitors are also allowed to take in cig's if you or your husband/partner/friend etc etc smoke. You can also take in books, mags, phone-card, puzzels, letters, news-paper and cash for the inmates acct which you get a receipt for aas well as the inmate, but you have to leave those things at the office and the inmate picks them up after visiting hours are over.

There's coffeee/tea making facilities and you can also buy snacks to eat.

My husband has been in prison now for 11 months and we have had 3 "Family Days" at these family days you can take whatever food you like in, the unit also provides a bbq for cooking steaks/chops/ etc etc etc and the last one we had the Unit Manager and prison officers came around with a box off candy/lollies/sweets and handed them out to the kids and adults as well, also the Unit Manager provided ice-cream for everyone. It was a really lovely day believe it or not!

My husbands day starts at:

Mon - Fri Only

7-7:30am when all cells are unlocked (a head count and ID of the inmate by the officer unlocking the cells is done at the time it takes approx 1/2 for 60 units to be unlocked ID done and head count.

7-30 - 8:am Breakfast i.e. cereal, toast, juice or milk

After breakfast those who go to work during the day then leave (there are 2 shifts you can choose from either morning/afternoon - afternoon/evening)

8:00am Lock down till 10:00am so cleaners can come in and clean the yard. Those who attend various programmes are unlocked during this cleaning time and sent to their respective programmes.

10:00am All inmates are unlocked and free to do whatever, they can visit and chat with other inmates in their cells, use the gym (yes they have a gym) read, watch tv, most inmates have their own tv's in their cells. My husband has a tv in his cell.

12:30pm Lunch and that can vary (it's not to bad so my hubby tells me)

2:30pm My hubby goes to work, those who who come back from morning work do whatever till dinnertime which is at 5:30pm.

5:30pm Dinner and this can vary between a hot meal to cold chicken and salad or whatever.

Approx 8:30pm Lockdown for those who are not on afternoon/evening work.

Since my husband works afternoons/evenings he also has his dinner at work which is much better he tells me than dinner back at the unit LOL i.e. sometimes a bbq dinner. He also is allowed to call me in the evenings from work.

His lockdown for the night can be anywhere from 9pm to even midnight.

Sat/Sun

Unlocked @ 7-7:30am

Inmates are free to do whatever....(visiting days Saturdays...)

Lockdown @ 8:30pm approx



The most frustrating thing for my husband is the obvious limitations but to be honest with the stories I have read on the net about many US prisons and even other prisons in NZ my husband has it pretty good really when you do a comparison.

But then this is a non-violent inmate very low risk working unit so I guess he is very fortunate really.

Although on the day of his sentencing he was sent to Mt Eden Prison and he was able to call me that night to let me know he was okay, he was more worried about me than himself.

After only 3 weeks of being sentenced he was then placed in the unit he is in now, he got 2 years for his crime but by law only has to serve 12 months, so he will be released next month. He's called me 3x today LOL and now that his release date is getting closer he says the days just seem like they are dragging.

Anyways I hope this gives you a bit of a different view and insight from a different unit and prison.

Cheers
dallen

Thanks for sharing... it sounds a lot like the unit I was in... except we were locked down at 6:30... But then we were let out at 7:30 and not locked down. I dunno, I think prison food everywhere is pretty bad. There's nothing like home cooked meals. :) We had a barbeque twice a month, which was a nice break.

Oh, and congratulations on your husband's release in a month. :) Is it a final date, or a hearing?

Hi MadeInOz,

Thanks for the congrats :) No hearing it is a SRD (i.e statutory release date) although technically speaking his sentence of 2 years does not expire till October 2006 but only one condition will be placed on him when he is released next month and that is he cannot drive for another year and if he does then they will recall him back to prison till Oct 2006.

Yes my husbands work unit also has bbq's 2x a month and they also have a bbq once a month back in the unit.

Thx for your post MadeInOz:thumbsup:

Cheers
dallen

I was just wondering if anyone has ever been approached by research groups gathering info/statistics on 'Why some women are attracted to 'Bad Boys"

I received an email from a American Research Group that was gathering information from women all over the world who has....

1: a partner/husband in prison

or

2: has met and married an inmate while he's been incarcerated.

How the hell they got my name I'll never know but I'm guessing they would have had to search for in mates in NZ then search to see if their married.

Anyway one or two of thier questions they asked me were a bit over the top the following are just a few of thier questions and my answeres I sent back to them:

------------------------------------------------------------------

Q Have you always been attracted to the 'bad boy' type of man?
A Ummmmm errrrr yes to a certain degree I suppose that's true of me.

Q Does your husbands/partners crime excite you sexually?
A ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Q Did you meet your husband after he was incarecerated?
A No

Q How long did you know your husband before he was incarecerated?
A 5 years

Q Was there a death involved in your husbands crime?
A yes

Q Do you think your husband is innocent or guilty of his crime?
A Guilty

Q Does your husband think he is innocent or guilty of his crime?
A Guilty

Q Have you been faithful to your husband since his incareceration?
A Yes

Q Do you think your husband has been faithfull to you since his incareceration?
A Yes

Anyway the questions go and on and on. And it all made for very interesting reading.

Cheers
dallen

Oh and here was a doozie question they asked...

Q Are you for or against the Death Penalty?
A The death penalty is pre-meditated state sanctioned muder/homocide, now I'll let you deduce from that if I am for or against it! not that hard really is it!!!!! the death peanalty is non-existent in NZ and should be in every country. Your President Geaorge Dubya Bush should hang his muderouse (sp) head in shame :angry:

When I think of Karla Faye Tucker Brown it just makes my blood boil. Sure her crime was heinous I don't think anyone would disagree with that. But she was obviously rehabilitated and could have been an assett to the Corrections Facilities in the US by actively talking with and discouraging others away from a life of crime and muder, and I think she would have done a far better job in helping deter others than what the US Corrections Facility does. But it is obvious to many around the world that the Judicial System in the US is not interested in rehabilitating anyone. They would rather just carry on the cycle of violence by murdering.

Wow, Certainly seems more laid back over there than it is here.

Hi Lauren,

Yes it is pretty laid back, but again, it depends what you are assessed at.

Hubby was just moved to another unit last night which is even more laid back than the one he was just moved from LOL it's a unit that they move inmates to just prior to release. This unit is supposedly geared towards preparing the inmate for release back into the community, so the inmate has quite a bit of freedom.

Hi Dollyallen, welcome to PTO, sorry I am late here.
I am going to stick your thread, I really appreciate the input that you are sharing with us about New Zealand prisons, and your information is very valueable, thankyou :)

where can we get info on inmates in NZ prisons - can we write to them aswell ?

copgal, the only info on inmates that we don't know personally, is in the Penpals section (International for NZ inmates). Feel free to post details of anyone you know in the system who would like to receive mail.

my son is rimutaka prison in upper hutt, been there three weeks now, hes only 19, i am new to all this its quite scary rreally i miss him so much. :eek: