Doing time at a low
The companion guides cover what holds across the federal system. This one covers what is specific to a low security federal correctional institution — how you get sorted, how tight things are, how conflict actually happens, and what the economy looks like.
This is the guide I can write with the most confidence, because it is where I did my time.
Thirteen parts, written to be read in order. The rest of this page is the front matter: what this covers, and one thing to know before part one.
Scope
Men's low security. Eighteen months, first-hand.
Lows vary more than people expect. Some are calm and loosely run. Some lock down at the slightest provocation. Mine was among the worst-run institutions in the system, which gave me a useful baseline but also means my normal may be harsher than yours. Where something is specific to a badly-run facility rather than to lows generally, it is marked.
This guide assumes you have read While you're in, which covers everything that holds everywhere: the role, debt, information, the unwritten rules. This one only covers what a low changes.
A note about race
The population sorts into groups —
I am describing a structure. I did not build it and I do not defend it. It is here because someone who arrives without knowing it misreads their first conversation and makes mistakes in week one that follow them for years. That is the only reason.
The four things that matter most
If you read nothing else:
The thirteen parts
These pages cover the general rules. Your situation has details they don't. Email me a question. Answers are free, and "you don't need to pay anyone for this" is my most common answer.
I answer in the order received, usually within a couple of days. I have a day job. If your situation genuinely needs more than an email, I take a limited number of consults, so say so and we'll work it out.
Somebody else just found out they got a low. Pass it on.