"In every area of life there is correct terminology. The words 'jail' and 'prison' are frequently used interchangeably by the public, but they are not the same thing. The jail is the local lockup. Sheriffs and deputies run jails and therefore, the atmosphere, rules and programming can vary tremendously from one county to another.

The state runs prison through an agency, . the Department of Corrections. While there are great differences from prison to prison, because uniform policies control them, there is also homogeneity. Without question going to prison is not the same as going to jail. More than this, within prison there is 'jail.'

Technically or officially, our jail is called segregation (seg.) In old-time movies and blues songs, segregation went by the name of the 'hole.' But we call seg. 'jail.' We are usually sent to jail for some variation of disorderly conduct, fighting, disrespecting an officer, stealing, being in an unauthorized area in just the same way people on the outside are sent to jail for disrupting civil order. In addition stays in seg. are generally short compared to prison terms.

People are also put in jail when they are under investigation. If something happens, all inmates involved are placed in seg. until the investigation team clears them. Once cleared of any wrongdoing, prison officials reinstate the inmates by returning them to general population. It is similar to the process of being remanded into custody while you await trial and them being released once found not guilty. Even though the rules of evidence are a little different and even a hint of suspicion can detain a person, the Department of Corrections does investigate and release people at a far faster rate than the court system. Our jail, however, is rather more unpleasant than the regular jail experience.

As traumatic as it is to be jailed, especially for the first time or when they are extremely overcrowded, many jails are run in an orderly, compassionate way. The food is usually decent (compared with prison food) and most people, irrespective of background or experience, find others with whom to share and take the edge off the fear by learning to play spades, pinochle or backgammon, watching TV, discussing legal angles and the mysteries of prison life.

Jail in prison on the other hand is stark and lonely. Being in the hole is to be isolated from everyone and everything. No TV. Restricted reading materials (quantity rather than substance) and very restricted personal possessions. It is bare bones living. While our hole isn't quite like the segregation units shown on TV--dark, damp, dangerous--it is not a place most inmates care to visit. (Yes I've been and no, I don't want to go back.)

Then there are mental lockups. I tend to think of these as little prisons that limit my thinking. There is also a jailhouse mentality where people are so consumed with gaming and scams and getting over on others they forget the mores and ethics of the culture of freedom.

For freedom is a culture, a way of thinking and acting. It is analogous to democracy. Unless people vote, the political system is not really a democracy. It is an oligarchy. Unless people practice the principles of freedom, they are not free. They are imprisoned. Linguistically any selfish, self-absorbed, materialistic tendencies could be labeled as jailhouse mentality--in or out of prison, such a jail is an isolated position, full of rationalization and fear. Don't get caught there." (Elizabeth Haysom, Fluvanna Review, March 10, 2005)

Elizabeth Haysom is presently incarcerated at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women in Troy, Virginia. This column is one of a series, published under the general heading 'Glimpses from Inside.'