MovieChat Forums > Felon (2008) Discussion > Give me solitary, no yard time' 1.5 year...

Give me solitary, no yard time' 1.5 years...


You are a murder witness, they gave him a chance to rat out a cold blooded killer.

Worst ... Decision... Ever

I know that he was scared but once they tell you they know you didn't do it and can testify just ask to be in complete solitary for 1.5 years. After testifying he probably could get out even quicker and never come into contact with other prisoners while inside.

How the hell did he not think of this?...

Granted there would be no movie but i thought this was a borderline plot hole.
Still liked the movie tho.

reply

Solitary is the hardest time there is. You should check out the National Geographic special on it. Any amount of solitary confinement is right on the borderline of cruel and unusual punishment.

reply

Are you allowed to read in solitary? Would certainly pass the time quicker!

reply

Yes. I spent 8 months of the last 2 years in solitary. I read over 100 books.

This was in the Arizona prison system. In Florence-Central unit there is a library with 13,000 books you get 3 at a time through a catalog - you submit a "kite" (inmate letter) and HOPEFULLY they come in the next week or so. But we would fish books back and forth to each other across the run by ripping them in thirds or halves so they would fit under the door.

It isn't as bad, for some, as they make it look on T.V. Just being honest, not being tough.

reply

What did you do to end up in solitary? You don't have to answer if you don't want to or you can lie. Who cares. Tell me you used the Lord's name in vain and i'll buy it.

Also, if you can read and presumably smoke in solitary (?), then 2 years should be doable, no? Plus, you get out smarter than when you got in, which is nice - unless it's 54 years later, of course. I mean if you know how to choose your books, 100 books is quite a lot on any given subject. Besides, when can the average person afford to make time to read 100 books carefully and reflect on them without end? Some do, i know i don't.

Happy to read that it "isn't that bad" from a humane point of view. Every one, even the worst of us, deserves dignity, even if said person wouldn't know how to spell the word or has denied it to everyone he encountered in his miserable life. That said, i'm pretty sure that for a specific undetermined portion of the prison population, it's actually worse than anything that can ever be depicted on screen and this is just as unacceptable as any other form of injustice. It is the state's mission to make sure every single one in his care survives and serves his sentence in accordance with the penal code and basic human rights.

Dostoevsky never said it as such, but he said something to the effect of: "The degree of civilization of a society can be derived from the way it treats its criminals", and i tend to agree with him.

At last, i liked John's words somewhere around the middle-end of the movie speaking of the guards and the inmates: "Make no mistake, we are all in prison."

Quite sad but true.

6/10


People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefsī²

reply

He couldn't count on anyone to keep him safe in prison. Just look at what happened to Snowman after he testified. You're at the mercy of the guards, which was one of the film's main points.

reply

They wouldn't have put him in solitary. The guards were jackasses and terrible people. They would have let him rat the guy out, and then stuck him right back in the general population to get shanked.

reply

he might or might not have been put into protective segregation, though we saw how well that worked for the guy who did snitch.

wouldn't matter though. if he ratted, his pretty wife, and child, and himself would have found themseleves dead on the outside. the guy was a major shotcaller for the aryans, and as you said, a cold blooded killer.

reply

1.5 years of straight solitary? Yeah right, lol. People start going crazy in just 6-8 weeks. Solitary confinement is nothing short of brutal and there isn't a person on this planet that could do 1.5 years and come out the other end being anywhere even close to the person that actually went in.

Still Shooting With Film!

reply

Completely wrong! I did 8 months, and I know people who have done years and years.

It isn't as drastic as you are making it out to be. Just sayin'...

reply

Completely wrong! I did 8 months, and I know people who have done years and years.

It isn't as drastic as you are making it out to be. Just sayin'...


I remember reading about a guy who was about to pass 40 years in solitary.

Do they let you talk to each other(is that even possible)?

reply

They let you. But they shoot you in the face.

Gotta talk fast.

Every word is kinda precious in there and only those who are wealthy can afford to talk. Those who have many many faces, like the many-faced God and such.

Yeah man. It's sick.


People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefsī²

reply

That isn't exactly how it works.

reply

He wouldn't have stayed in the SHU. He would have been sent to SNY(sensitive needs yard). That's where all the drop outs and snitches go. Realistically, if he wanted him dead, he would have been, regardless.

reply