tv Lockup MSNBC September 22, 2013 2:00am-3:01am PDT
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different gel. >> why would i be somewhere by myself when i can focus on getting my life back together? >> no, she's not going to say da-da first. she's going to say mom. >> narrator: a young mom sees her baby grow up without her. and an inmate with an arsenal of talent faces 25 years to life. >> it's all good because one day i'll be back on the block with a sack full of green, and i'll be packing a glock. welcome to the streets of louisville, kentucky. >> narrator: on any given day, the louisville metro department of corrections jail holds about 2,-300 men and women whose lives have reached a significant
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crossroads and whose futures are anything but certain. though angela griffin says they're all crystal clear to her. >> put this right here. put it on your heart like really concentrate. i mean, if not, you got to focus. really believe in what you want to hear about. put this in your heart, then shuffle these three time. this me? thanks. >> thank you. >> you know that's how i get my hustle on. that's how i eat. >> narrator: griffin, who is recently sentenced to five years for theft and promoting contraband uses old playing cards to read fortunes. >> this is a travel card or something -- this is ten week, 10 months, ten days, ten years, or it could represent the 10th month which is october. usually the girls that have commissary, they know that i don't get a whole lot. so they'll offer me chips, cracker, pops, sometimes for soap, sometimes for sham pa. whatever i need at the time. basically, this is my hustle. i love to do it, and all the girls say i'm right on point.
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>> narrator: as a sentenced inmate, griffin is in the minority at louisville metro. >> on the money. >> that's pretty awesome. >> next. thank you. next! >> narrator: most others here are only charged with crimes and are awaiting trial or the resolution of their cases. brian sour has been here for the past 15 months facing charges of burglary and fleeing or evading police to which he has pled not guilty. because of several prior convictions, he faces a sentence as high as 25 to life if he's found guilty. >> eloquent, articulate -- >> narrator: he says if nothing else, jail has helped his vocabulary. >> i got tired of going to courts and stuff and the judges and prosecutors using words that i was oblivious to. i would go back to my cell, look up the words or have somebody look them up for me and implement them into my vocabulary. i probably implemented probably
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750 words just in this year that i've been here. we're talking about ultra sophisticated words. my vocabulary is affidavit nomcat now. it's phenomenal. some people say i'm a pretty intriguing guy, enigmatic. obviously scrabble doesn't have enough letters for words that i like to use. what the hell is an otter? >> an otter's an animal. >> is it? >> yeah. >> otter's a new one on me. i don't know [ bleep ]. i don't know everything. pretty much off and on for the last 14 years i've been in and out of prison. come from a good background. six brothers and sisters. went to school, made straight as for the longest time. but i dropped out in the 10th grade. that's when i votered off to the wrong crowd, selling drugs and
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stuff. >> narrator: sauer says he's earned his ged in prison, but it doesn't make up for all he's lost behind bars. >> got to go all the way down. i've endured my mom passing away. my dad passing away. they took my kids, adopted my kids out. so been through a lot in the last 14 years. here i am in the same situation, square one. but it's all good pause one day i'll be back on the block with a sack full of green, and i'll be packing a glock. they can take my freedom, never attack my thoughts. most people couldn't follow in the tracks i walk. >> yeah! >> i'm big into music. that's why i got the music notes on my face and on my hands. i try to write a lot about my life because, you know what i'm saying, music is the soundtrack of your life. i don't talk about nothing that i've never been through. i try not to fabricate anything. my dad was mauzical ical-- was inclined. i kind of got my music
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aspiration was my father. one day i started writing poems and saw his a hidden aptitude. i try to convey my feeling and transcribe them on paper. i ain't never been out of here long enough to apply myself on the street. trying to be the most eloquent rapper that the world has ever captured. >> narrator: sauer's interests have helped him stay out of trouble here. that has not been the case for 20-year-old joshua schilling. [ bleep ]. >> narrator: schilling is housed in a single-person segregation cell. officers have just shut the water off it his sink and toilet after he threatened to flood the walkway. >> right now we're going to let the sergeant know what's going on. there's urine coming out the floor. you all may want to step back. >> have a seat on your bunk. have a seat on your bunk.
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don't move. you sit down. >> is there a reason why you're doing this, schilling? >> police did it. >> who? >> police. i'm mad at the police. i ain't flooding or nothing. >> we're not the police. >> narrator: he was recently sentenced to 15 years for multiple felonies including assault and is awaiting transfer to prison. >> what is wrong with you? why you want to start acting the floor -- >> i didn't flood the wall -- >> i wasn't -- it was water -- >> you do this all the time. i'm not putting up with. it. >> narrator: during schilling's 11-month stay at lawiville metro, he's been anything about a immediate elgin mate.
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>> like a middle schooler's attitude. every time he act out, that's what he wants. >> shackles, anybody want shack les? >> you feel better now? he's standing up on the bench in here, kicking my door. >> tighter. tighter. i don't have to worry about this ba [ bleep ]. >> you get one started, another person started. other inmate whether they're trying to make a phone call, read, concentrate, whatever. they all start acting out at the same time. >> you got to take these off. >> usually one starts acting out, we try it remove them from the situation as quick as possible because we know what's going to happen with the others. >> i can still kick like this. >> why do you insist on making things hard for yourself? >> i'm just playing. >> stand up -- >> we're done playing. >> i can still kick from the back, too. >> we're done playing. >> all right. take it off. >> i'm going to take everything you got. okay? you good with that? >> yeah. that's fine.
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>> good, i'm going to -- >> i can still kick like this. >> mr. schilling, let me ask you something -- is this all about attention? >> no, i'm not about no attention. i'm just bored. >> you've been bored all week. now you're trying to get attention. >> no, i ain't trying to get no attention. i'm just bored. i ain't trying to get no attention. >> eventually, you got to grow up, schilling. excuse us -- >> i'm going to put them right back in the front. thank you. some bullies, man. this ain't nothing but a waiting game. [ bleep ]
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>> narrator: coming up -- >> schilling got 60 days on this write up. >> narrator: joshua schilling gets some discipline. >> you know what recidivism is? >> no. >> narrator: and advice. >> you're only 20 years old, man. >> yeah. >> don't fall into this trap. >> narrator: first -- >> i probably started using the methadone and cocaine together when i was about 6.5 months pregnant. >> narrator: after giving birth in jail, an inmate struggles with being an absentee mom. >> he said last night that she actually said her first words which was da-da. wasn't mom, which kind of sucks. getting your vegetables every day? when i can. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. two full servings of vegetables for only 50 delicious calories.
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cell is now my home ♪ ♪ i can't go back, changed my life, losing all control ♪ ♪ look at me now >> it's hot. >> narrator: brian sauer is just one of many aspiring musicians at the louisville department of corrections jail. ♪ i cry and dream at night and wish i didn't live this life ♪ ♪ they try to send me to a bone trip, vacation, a strip ♪ >> the themes of their songs and raps are often based on pain and suffering. ♪ no dad ♪ a lot of ass-whoopings >> but some, like sauer, hope to sing a different tune the next time they're released. ♪ i know there's more to life than this, and damn, i miss my wife and kids ♪ ♪ was a sad day when they took my life away ♪ >> you know, i want to live a normal life, you know what i'm saying? i've got a good girl on my side. she's there for me, sends me
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money, phone calls, letters, cards, things of that nature, visits, you know what i'm saying, the things, the small things that are important in places like this. it's going to be tough for me out there, you know what i'm saying, because i did crazy stuff like getting tattoos on my face and it's going to be hard for me to find a job, but whatever's necessary for me to do. i'm tired of being in the system, but i don't know where i see myself 5, 10, 15 years from now, hopefully not in prison. maybe i have a couple more kids with my fiancee. she's looking forward to that, living a normal life. >> his incarcerations have already cost him custody of two children from a prior relationship. >> the state of kentucky involuntarily took away my parental rights to my children, which is a hard pill to swallow. haven't seen them in four years now. >> sauer's not alone when it comes to missing children on the outside. >> okay, you've got a strong
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relationship, all right, but you're worried about it. you've got a lot of worry about this relationship. strong relationship coming up twice, and it's with somebody you love, so you're worried. it has more worry behind it, too. >> patricia smith has definitely had some worries. she has two daughters, a 4-year-old and a 7-month-old with two different men. >> shows him three times. >> smith was given probation after pleading guilty to drug possession. when she entered a methadone clinic for treatment, things only got worse. >> i probably started using the methadone and cocaine together when i was about 6 1/2 months pregnant, trying to sneak around and do it without nobody knowing about it, but that didn't work out so well.
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>> smith arrived at louisville metro eight months pregnant. >> it hit me that, yeah, i am eight, nine months pregnant, about to have a baby. what have i done to her? what is she going through? make sure that you bring the baby on saturday so i can see her. >> when she went into labor, smith learned the realities of giving birth while incarcerated. >> they shackled me. i had the cuffs on my legs and my hands. i was handcuffed going into the hospital. they put me in a wheelchair while i did my paperwork, handcuffed to the wheelchair. and so, i was in there by myself with a bunch of strangers around me, you know, no family there. >> the baby, named jada, seemed healthy at birth. the next day, she began withdrawing off methadone and had to be put on morphine. >> make sure she's not fussy. that yay, you know, y'all can
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stay for the whole visit. >> jada eventually recovered and now lives with her father. >> i can't believe i actually put this baby, who's innocent, had nothing to do with my problems, had nothing to do with any of my outside issues, through something like this. no, she's going to say dada first, she's not going to say mom. >> because she violated parole through drug use, she will transfer to a state prison to complete her two-year sentence. >> it's kind of sad that i didn't get to hear her say her [ bleep ] first words. he said last night that she actually said her first words, which was dada, rather than mom, which kind of sucks. but, so, of course i missed that, and i'm sure there's more, there's more that's going to happen that i'm going to end up missing. try to record the baby saying "dada" to you. at least i can hear that. love you. bye. coming up -- >> i wish i was there. i mean, this freaking sucks. >> close your eyes and tap your heels three times and you might get out. >> a bittersweet visit for
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how can i be a more fun mom? hmmm. can you dance? ♪ bum ba bum ba bum ♪ bum ba bum ba bum no. no? can you make campbell's chicken noodle soup? yes! [ wisest kid ] every can has 32 feet of slurpable noodles. now that's fun. mom, you're awesome. oh yeah! ♪ bum ba bum ba bum [ gong ] [ wisest kid ] m'm! m'm! good!
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>> most of the 2,300 inmates at the louisville department of corrections live in dormitory housing units, where they're able to move around and socialize throughout the day. but those who break the rules can wind up in disciplinary segregation. >> this is our disciplinary segregation housing unit. the doors down here are solid. they have plexiglass on the windows so the inmates don't throw urine or feces, water, anything like that out on the staff or the work aides as they go through. you'll see the black-and-white striped jumpsuits, which represents disciplinary. these inmates only are allowed to have their legal work in their cell and a pencil. they get to come out one hour a day. they'll stay in their cells for 23 hours a day. they do not get visits, they do
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not go to the gym, they do not get any commissary or anything like that while they are doing disciplinary time. you'll hear the inmates refer to this as the hole. it tends to get a little loud and noisy. >> ah! ah, ah, ah, ah! [ inaudible ] >> sometimes they get bored, sometimes they act out. so that's life in the hole. business as usual. >> come on, let's go. >> i almost got your back, man. >> all right. >> why do i got to go for? >> basically because you're running around and acting crazy. >> y'all are lying, man. >> a lot of these guys, you've got to understand, they're locked up 23 hours a day, you know, and they get bored. >> get your hands off me, man. quit touching me, man.
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>> you know, i've seen guys flood because they're bored, bang on doors because they're bored, broke chairs because they're bored. >> it's just jail. >> michael draper's recent behavior might also appear to be motivated by boredom. >> i was just playing, just acting ridiculous and acting silly and playing and stuff like that. >> draper has been in jail for the past 17 months, awaiting trial on charges including domestic violence, unlawful imprisonment and fleeing or evading police. his behavior has resulted in him spending most of his time in segregation, but he says that's by design.
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>> i'd rather be somewhere by myself where i can focus on getting out and trying to get my life back together, and so that's why i'm here in the hole is because basically i told them get me away from everybody. i need to get myself somewhere where i can get my head, focus on my case. >> michael draper likes to manipulate his housing. he prefers to be in a single cell. not common, but it happens with inmates that don't want to be in, what you'd say a chaos of a dorm, 30-man dorm, whether it's for reasons of fighting their case or just the solitude. but what he does is, when he's about to serve out his disciplinary, he'll create a situation where he gets written up internally, whether it be flooding, whether it'd be verbally abusive to an officer, create a situation where it warrants him getting written up, gets continuous disciplinary. >> draper isn't the only inmate with a history of acting out in segregation. [ bleep ] joshua schilling's recent outburst in his cell, which included banging on the door and flooding the hallway, prompted staff to remove him and place
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him in a holding cell, pending disciplinary action. >> joshua schilling, he received a write-up for damaging departmental property, being disruptive, stopping of the plumbing -- that's flooding. inmate schilling does that when he gets mad, i think it's 15 times in 12 months. inmate schilling got 60 days on this write-up. >> with schilling about to leave for prison to start his 15-year sentence, one of the jail's veteran officers, lieutenant collins, hopes to get through to him so that he might some day learn from his mistakes. >> how old are you now? >> 20. >> you're 20 years old, man. you know, you continue down that path, it's just going to go back and forth. you're going to be in the system. and you know what recidivism is? >> no. >> it's just you keep coming back, keep coming back. but you're only 20 years old now, so you have an opportunity
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to start maturing and get your mind right. you see what i'm saying? >> yeah. >> you got any kids yet? >> no. >> you want some? >> yeah. >> you want them to see you going in and out of jail your whole life? >> no. >> you know it gets easier every time. it will follow you, but if you get a chance now to get your life back on track. you have opportunities left. you're only 20 years old, man. >> yeah. >> don't fall into this trap, all right? you've been in prison yet? >> no. >> you're going to see, man, it's big boy stuff. >> yeah, but i'm a criminal, though. i can't -- i don't feel i can live out in the community because i'm a criminal. >> well, why do you feel you can't change? >> because it's easy, like easy money, so i get out there and try to -- i'm doing wrong -- >> to try to get easy money? >> yeah, i can't seem to do right. >> why don't you try getting a job and work up from the bottom? sometimes you've got to start as a janitor to be president of that company, you know what i'm saying? >> yeah. >> and you've got to suffer, and that's part of life's transition, maturing to a man. you know everybody's good at
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something, right? obviously, you told me you've been in the system since you were a juvenile, so you're not a good criminal. so you've got to do something better, all right? but you keep getting caught. for real, that's right here. you can change that. you're the only one with the ability to do that. you can't let these folks control you, you can't let me control you. you've got to do that. >> all right, man. >> all right, collins. coming up -- ♪ i get another letter from my granny the other day ♪ ♪ she says stuff's the same, ain't nothing changed around the way ♪ >> michael draper sings the blues after getting a letter from home. >> i got a letter from my grandmama saying my mother's sick. she's afraid that something really bad is going on with her body, and i pray that it's not true." ♪ oh, oh, mom i miss you clay. mom? come in here. come in where? welcome to my mom cave. wow. sit down. you need some campbell's chunky soup before today's big game, new chunky cheeseburger.
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as many as 1,000 people have been evacuated from the mall in nairobi. it's believed the attackers are still holding hostages. at least 175 people are injured, including fur americans. and over a week after historic flooding ravaged most of colorado's front range, 60 people remain unaccounted for. seven people killed by floodwaters. i'm veronica de la cruz. back to "lockup." due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised. you're limping right now. >> i'm not limping. >> you're limping! >> hey, johnson! >> at the louisville department of corrections jail, many of the staff have been working together so long that they think of one another as family. and some of them actually are. >> just to let you know, the new sanitation sheets that they're doing -- >> yeah? >> i got one today where you're not to fill anything out -- >> lieutenant dejarnett and his younger brother, who's a
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sergeant, have been on staff together for nearly 14 years. >> and i'll make sure we get something before it becomes a bigger problem. >> the mentoring part's pretty much done. he did that, though. he took care of me early on in my career. he bought my first gun for me. i paid him back, but you know, he really helped me along with a lot of things, you know, helped me out immensely coming through academy, you know. probably a big part of the reason that i was the honor grad out of the academy was because of what i knew coming in from him. we're pretty much equal footing now except for the rank thing, so. >> but when the brothers have a dispute about rank or anything else, there is one person they both like to call. >> i'm going to tell mom on you. your shirt. >> it's tore off. can't get any bars. not like your lieutenant bars. >> yeah. >> call mom. >> -- start a war, bro. >> over in the disciplinary segregation unit, michael draper would like nothing more than to
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call his mom, but he has no money on his inmate account with which to make a phone call. >> i ain't got no family with no time put on the phone. my family don't do that. they just do it old-school. writing her, and what do i say? ♪ fighting for my life, fighting for my life, yeah ♪ >> draper might not get to speak to his family, but they often make their way into his music. ♪ got another letter from my granny the other day ♪ ♪ she says stuff's the same, ain't nothing changed around the way ♪ ♪ she said my kids are growing up, they asking where i am ♪ ♪ i'm sitting in my cell, can only think of them ♪ ♪ singing, oh, oh, oh, you got me singing oh, oh, granny, i miss you ♪ ♪ i got another letter from my mama the other day ♪ ♪ says she's working overtime for another place to stay ♪ ♪ bills are stacking up, a new problem every day ♪ ♪ i'm thinking in my mind, next time my mother stays in ♪
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♪ oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, mom, i miss you ♪ >> and draper recently received some troubling news about his mother. >> i got a letter from my grandmama saying my mama's sick, saying my mama "has been going to the doctor. she's afraid that something really bad is going on with her body, and i pray that it's not true." so i don't know. that's why i'm really worried, because i don't know what it is. >> draper has been known to act out in order to stay in segregation, but the news about his mother has made the isolation harder to take. >> it's a bad day. they say there ain't nothing to do but sit in here and think. >> draper is due to be released from segregation in just days and placed back in general population, and this time, he might just let it happen. >> because i don't want to be sitting in here worrying about my mama because i'm really
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making it worse. i'm liable to snap out, catching whole new charges and all kind of crazy stuff. so, that's pretty much what i'm going to try to do, though, get my head together and do that. >> while draper copes with his mother's illness in jail, patricia smith has had to cope with being a mother in jail. she gave birth to her now 7-month-old daughter, jada, shortly after her arrival at louisville metro. >> tell her. >> today, jada and her father, jason, are scheduled to visit. >> today i get to see jada. i'm just excited to see her, see how big she's gotten. she actually said "dada" for the first time, so maybe i can get her to talk to me. >> and say what? >> and say maybe mommy. >> visits, usually most inmates, you can get your mind off your problems just for a minute. do you see mama? >> while visits help, they come with limitations.
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at louisville metro, they are noncontact and are conducted through a video monitor and telephone. >> they don't actually have a face-to-face visit anymore. >> why? >> because we had a lot of problems with contraband in the place, you know. we would sit them on one side of the table and the visitors on the other side of the table. they would distract the officer for one reason or another, throw something under the table or throw it over the table, you know. so, we had a lot of problems with contraband, so we decided video visits was a whole lot better. >> the last time i saw jada, i tried to get her to look at me, but she was too busy trying to get the phone, so, she really didn't say much. oh, there's my baby. hey. >> what's up? >> pick her up. i can't see her. she looks so cute! let me talk to her. >> jada. what are you doing? say dada. >> say hi to your mom.
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>> say mommy! oh, she's holding the phone. were you holding the phone? >> it's like she's ready for conversation. >> hi, baby. >> look. >> hi, baby. she's probably wondering where i am. >> talking to mama? >> yeah, she's so pretty. >> show mom your tooth. see it? >> she's sticking her tongue out. so, she only has one tooth? >> yeah, working on two. >> smith is waiting transfer to prison to begin serving a two-year sentence for drug possession. on the bright side, kentucky state prisons allow for contact visitation, so smith will soon be able to hold jada. >> i wish i was there. >> just close your eyes and tap your heels three times and you might be there. >> shut up. >> on the other side. ain't heard nothing on when
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you're being sent out? >> they don't tell you in here for security reasons when you're leaving. they just call your name and you go. this sucks. i wish i could hold her. we've got a minute left. oh, let me talk to her again. jada, mommy loves you. >> who's that, mama? >> love you. make sure you record her walking and talking and stuff, so i won't miss it all. i love you guys. put her up. >> it's kind of sad. last time i touched jada, she didn't have any teeth, she wasn't talking, she wasn't crawling, she wasn't sitting up. >> try to keep her where she still knows her mom, you know what i'm saying? because she really ain't held her or nothing like that.
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probably about a week total, like, that's it. so, i just try to keep it where she knows her. >> visit wasn't long enough at all. happy before and sad after. because i feel like i'm going to lose all the baby years, you know? all the baby things are going to be gone. so, it's kind of sad. coming up -- >> got one here that says "louisville." >> -- brian sauer becomes a jailhouse jeweler and michael draper finds trouble in general population. let us consult the scroll of infinite deliciousness. ♪ oh! perfect. [ wisest kid ] campbell's has the recipes kids love. like easy chicken and cheese enchiladas. so good! can i keep this? you already have it at campbellskitchen.com. nice. [ blows ] [ gong ] m'm! m'm! good!
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under the best of circumstances, that doesn't stop inmates at the louisville metro department of corrections jail from displaying their talents. ♪ but one day, you know they say, at the end of the rainbow ♪ ♪ yeah, rainbow, at the end of the rainbow, they tell him it's gold, tell him it's gold ♪ >> over the years, you see talent from singing to rapping to artistry to general, i mean, just about every field you can think of. if given the right path at an earlier stage, you know, could have been very successful at whatever they had done, but for whatever reason, it's turned out, you know, they've made choices that's landed them in here. never too late to utilize that talent, but for some people, it becomes harder and harder when you're caught up in the system for someone to give you a chance. >> when brian sauer came to jail, he knew he had talent as a singer. ♪ look at me now, i've lost some hair, watched my heart grow cold ♪ ♪ the pain inside
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the tears i cried ♪ ♪ what i don't know i can't let go, look at me now ♪ >> but in the time he's been at louisville metro, he's discovered a new talent. >> got one here says "louisville." gotta represent louisville, kentucky, where we're from. that's a pretty popular one throughout the jail. and i make -- these are smaller ones, actually. these are for, like, the girls. >> sauer makes rings using a number of items he scrapes together in his dorm. he starts with a plastic deodorant bottle, some string pulled from his mattress. >> i'll take three of these strings here and braid them together, makes this right here. >> he uses the string to slice off the small, ring-shaped neck of the plastic bottle. >> cut that off. >> three for a dollar! >> i've got to pop that ball out of there. the ball's the hardest thing. i so pop that ball out, take the ring, file the ring down on the ground.
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>> sauer uses plastic bags for the ring's outer coating. >> take a strip of the garbage bag, take a couple bar of soap, tie it around there, put it on there. spin it around. then i stretch it. this is the string used to make the white. ♪ >> for lettering, he uses cellophane wrap from jail-issued sandwiches, and he creates dye by rubbing colored pencils on the floor and adding water. >> this one's green, could be light green. the less color you put, you could make them lighter colors,
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but you know, there's a certain way you weave it in there. it's a pretty tedious process, but you know, in jails, in prisons, we don't got nothing but time. >> it takes sauer about two hours to make one ring. >> it's a great time-passer. >> and a hustle, huh? >> and a hustle. yeah, so, i sell them. sometimes i'll sell them for $2, but sometimes i'll just sell them just for a noodle or a shot, you know what i'm saying? >> inmates typically refer to the trades they do for snacks and favors as hustles and sauer is not new to having one. >> marriage. another relationship. another trip. >> angela griffin's is foreign-telling. >> whoo, there's some money on top of love. you've got some money coming with love, girl. actually, they used to call me gypsy lady, like a long time ago. >> griffin's latest customer, patricia smith, is awaiting transfer to prison for drug possession. no surprise to griffin. >> you're about to travel. hopefully sooner than you want to.
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here's your alternate love card. and then you have worry. >> of course, all that worry. >> you're always worried. there's money on that journey, for some reason. there's that strong relationship. that's like the fourth -- >> oh, my god, that's crazy. >> that's like the fourth time it's popped up. look. >> and marriage. >> and marriage, with a man who's worried about you. >> jason, of course. >> michael draper has a hustle as well. his involves the creative use of soap. >> i don't know what it is. i don't know what it is for real. >> draper was recently returned to general population, where he has been busy making soap sculptures that he trades for commissary items or favors. >> did this last night. this is soap. the brown stuff is coffee. the gray for the hairs and all that is strands of blanket. and the black stuff right here is like the soot and stuff in the windows, the black, sticky
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stuff. all this other material is just bars of soap, broken little pieces and stuff. >> in the short time he's been back in population, draper has traded his sculptures for envelopes to mail motions he's written to his judge. and since he has no money in his inmate account, he talked another inmate into making a phone call to his mother to check on her health. >> they called and said she said she was all right and she was doing okay now, but i didn't get to talk to her, but they said she's all right. >> using jail-issued items for purposes other than for what they were intended is technically a rule violation, but when draper's confronted about it, he has a ready-made alibi. >> i'm ready to get in the shower right now, then. i'm going to go jump in the shower right now. coming up -- while one inmate leaves the jail behind, another returns to his home away from home. >> left ad seg and went back to
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[knock] no one was at home, but on the kitchen table sat three insurance policies. the first had lots of coverage. the second, only a little. but the third was... just right! bear: hi! yeah, we love visitors. that's why we moved to a secluded house in the middle of the wilderness. just the right coverage at just the right price.
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an inmate's stay at the louisville metro department of corrections jail can range from mere hours to years, depending on the complexity of the charges. some will leave here only to serve their sentences in state prison, but for many others, their last day on the inside is their first day of renewed freedom on the outside. today is that day for farrah burleson. >> i'm going home. >> after how long? >> a long time, 543 days. yes. whoo! >> yay! >> oh. >> aww. >> after violating probation and spending nearly two years in jail for stealing scrap metal to fund a drug habit, burleson now
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has a second chance. >> i have five years probation, which is going to be really hard because it's going to keep my nose to the grind. i'm going to finish college and go see my babies. i'm so excited. >> yay. >> among the dormmates burleson will leave behind is patricia smith. after a recent visit with her 7-month-old daughter, smith will soon leave the jail as well, but for a different reason. she's due to transfer to state prison any day now and copes the best she can. >> i like to sleep away my time because it seems like it makes the days go by a lot faster. i usually wake up around dinner time, which is about 4:00 or 4:30 and then eat, and then when i get done eating dinner, i'll try to call jason and talk to him, and then i'll come back here and put in my earplugs and just try to sleep. when i sleep, i'll have dreams, and sometimes nightmares about this place and about my girls, and that's probably the worst
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part about trying to sleep. to sleep is to try not to think about what's going on on the outside world because there's nothing i can do it. >> others at louisville metro find their own ways to deal with that emptiness. for brian sauer and a few friends, it includes finding new ways to play old games. >> what are these? >> these are dominos made out of shower shoes. you've got to be innovative. >> this is what we made them out of. what we take a shower with. >> tell me what do you do? >> you just take a little something and you cut little blocks out. you see how they are? >> you have to take a string out of a mattress. >> yeah, because we ain't got no knives. >> there goes our board made out of a shower shoe. >> who's going without shoes now, though? >> we try not to let people go without shoes, because it's nasty in that shower. >> while sauer enjoys dominos -- >> what i call a dominologist. >> it provides just an escape from more pressing concerns on
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his mind. he's facing charges of burglary and fleeing or evading police. >> the prosecutor made an offer of ten-year sentence in exchange for a guilty plea, but i declined his offer. >> because he has two prior felony convictions for drug possession and theft, he could be looking at as much as 25 to life if convicted on his current charges. he is scheduled to go to trial in just days. >> i mean, i'm nervous about it, you know what i'm saying, even though i've been in these situations a thousand times over, but when you're looking at that amount of time, you're thinking 25 to life, not knowing what the outcome of, what the case is going to be, it's just, i guess it's just in the hands of god and -- >> the jury. >> the jury, actually, yeah. >> even though he's faced with an uncertain future, sauer says there's one thought that keeps him going. >> i keep my mind fixated on the day that i get out, because i mean, there's nothing like the day you walk out of these doors, you know what i'm saying, and stepping back into society.
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it's just like a feeling of euphoria. you feel elated. it's like, weird, because life still evolves out there. you know what i'm saying. two or three years, your kids were 12 and 13 years old, when you get out, they're 16 and 17 years old with their own kids. it's like, damn, i have nieces and nephews that i've never seen in my life. so it's a little mind-boggling. it's like a trip for us to get readjusted back to society. >> that's a challenge michael draper would gladly take, but he's found it difficult to readjust to general population. >> what'd you do? >> he's now back in segregation. >> you can't remember this time? that much, huh? >> disruptive behavior. >> oh, disruptive behavior? what, beating -- >> yeah. >> i've known draper for -- he's been here 19 months. he doesn't follow rules very well. he was just in administrative seg not a month ago, and now he's back -- he left ad seg and
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went to a dorm, apparently, and got in trouble in a dorm and now he's back in disciplinary, and it's just a revolving cycle for draper. >> can't deal with all the people in there. i like the peace. >> uh huh. it's jail, man, come on. there's always somebody. >> huh? >> there's always somebody. all right, well, good luck to you. are you going back to court soon? >> yeah. >> are you getting out this time? >> i hope so. >> uh huh, right. >> draper has been working on his case most of the time he's been at louisville metro, and he's feeling pretty good about his chances. >> said i might really beat this case. no witnesses showing up. i'm ready to go home, hopefully. >> and how is it you're going to beat it? >> because there ain't no witnesses showing up. can't find the witnesses, so. i'm going to go back. if you don't have the star witnesses, then you don't have nothing. it's basically your word against whoever else, and if there ain't nobody there, you can't cross examine nobody, so there's no
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case. >> am i going to see you again? >> no. >> right. >> going to hand to me like that -- >> no. >> i'm going see you again, but i'm going to see you at walmart. >> walmart? >> yeah, all right. >> take it easy. >> see you, draper. >> yeah. >> even if he gets out, i'll see him again. a lot of these guys, i don't mean negative by it, but this is what they know. they come to jail, they get out, come to jail, they get out. very rarely will they do something the right path, i guess you could say. it's just a lifestyle choice that they make.
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it was -- boom, boom, boom, boom. >> putting video and audio in a living and breathing drug house and handing the keys over to the gang when you wanted to turn them over, that had never been done before. >> look, big shots. i got 30 shots. >> it's 24 hours a day. and you actually see 24 hours a day of what these people are doing and how they live and how they operate their business in amongst their personal lives. >> he's gonna swallow all this. >> i asked my husband at least four or five times, "what did he say? did he say 42 years?
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