If you breeze through the county prison system on your typical drunk driving charge, odds are you’ll probably never see the inside of a medium-security holding area like this one in the Mecklenburg County jail. It’s for inmates expecting a longer-term stay behind bars. Some can’t make the high bonds, and some were refused release by a judge. Each inmate has his or her own no-frills cell. The inmates are free to wander in the common area of the cell block or to use a common bath and shower room with an open front end so guards can easily see what is going on. If they are convicted, most of these men will do their time in the state, rather than the county prison system.
This article appears in Mar 8-14, 2006.
