When Los Angeles cartoonist and animator Elana Pritchard had to serve time in jail for violating a court order, she took her animator director’s advice to document what she saw in jail.
Using only a golf pencil and scraps of paper she could find, Pritchard would draw everyday scenes of life in both the Century Regional Detention Facility (CRDF) in Lynwood, and Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles, where she was held during her two months of jail time.
Her illustrations showed how she was sexually harassed by a group of male prisoners on the bus ride that took her from the court to CRDF, and the miserable living conditions in Twin Towers.
Head over here to see the entire comic collection she produced while in jail.
“A group of male prisoners ganged up on me and thought they could pressure me to show them my breasts — in exchange for crystal meth.”
“The dreaded squat-and-cough: You have to do it every time you enter the jail. In a room with about 40 other people, you strip naked, lift up your breasts, open your vagina, squat down and cough on command.”
“He asked me how many days I’d gone without a shower. I told him four. He said it wasn’t long enough, as some women hadn’t showered in a week.”
“You have to order supplies through the commissary system, a sort of monopoly drugstore run by the Keefe Group out of Missouri.”
“At CRDF they did what was called "linen exchange" once a week. You got two pairs of clothes, two pairs of socks, a few sports bras and about four pairs of underwear. Used underwear.”
“Supposedly, if you flushed your toilet several times in a row, the water in the sink would get hotter and you could use it to make tea or coffee.”
“The shower was a big see-through window, so if you were one of the lucky ones to get hot water, the whole pod could see your celebration.”
[via LA Weekly, Elana Pritchard]