Upshur County Jail

Inmates

Interview with castly and Sarah


JM: Did you find it difficult to get along with other inmates?
castly: Yes, being a caucasian I was in the minority. Most of the time I kept to myself because the latino and mexican inmates were violent. They were extremely violent. They hated american citizens and spoke of a day when they would control all of america. They were rude and most of them were drunk all of the time. And what made things even is they could not speak outr language very well. Most spoke south american broken english.
Sarah: no well dont let me lie. at first EVERYONE has to have their tough face on when you go there so maby no one will mess with you but the fact is no matter who you are you cant beat having someone to talk to and a friend in a place like that

JM: What types of things did you have to do to avoid problems or fights with other inmates?
castly: I never encountered an actual one on one problem with any other inmate. I kept to myself and did not speak with very many people. I thought this would be the best way to stay alive and avoid any confrontations. I also did not ask any favors of anyone. Period. I thought this would be the best way to avoid any unforseen situations. Keep in mind I wanted to be released as soon as possible and by not fighting or arguing, I felt this would be a positive strike for me. The best way to avoid confrontation was to avoid confrontation.
Sarah: sometimes you have to swallow your words, thoughts, and beliefs. fortunatly because you are in jail all you have is time and opportunity to talk of coarse there are going to be problems but the hype about jail is sometimes false

JM: Were you able to choose an inmate if you knew one?
castly: No! I did not want to choose anyone. Simple as that. I was assigned to a given cell or living quarters and whoever else was assigned to that cell was put there without my knowing. I did not ask to be friends with anyone and did not expect anyone to be friends with me. Why would I want to befriend anyone in a place like that. Furthermore, I did not see anyone being a close friend to anyone else. As a matter of fact the guards seemed to cause all kinds of problems and tried to keep anyone from befriending anyone else.
Sarah: no