mack n.— «Mr. Levine and his client were prisoners in California’s Lompoc Federal Correctional Complex. Like other federal inmates around the country, they found a can of mackerel—the “mack” in prison lingo—was the standard...
million-dollar block n.— «He said in the United States they’ve coined a phrase “million-dollar blocks,” clusters of apartments or houses where a million dollars each year is spent sending some people who live there to prison...
snapper n.— «Police said a correctional officer overheard Campbell say to Morrissey, “At least I’m not a snapper like you.” Officials at the prison said that in Vermont prisons “snapper” is a derogatory term for an...
Puzzle Guy Greg Pliska presents a puzzle about William Sn akespeare—you know, the great playwright whose works are just one letter different from those of his better-known fellow writer, William Shakespeare. It was Snakespeare, for example, who...
jump on a case v. phr.— «This kind of convoluted back-and-forth is common in prison; inmates do communicate, even when they are not supposed to. And it’s fairly routine for inmates to turn over—and sometimes even invent—damning material...
cell warrior n.— «Among prison guards, Tavares became known as a loud-mouthed malcontent who spat at guards passing his cell, tossed feces or urine at them, and made violent threats. “He was what guys refer to as a cell...