First Week In (Spoilers)

The Flush said:

I am not sure how much to believe about any reality show, but even moreso anything said by the inmates.

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Having previously been in jails (as an employee, not a guest), I can say that this is the most accurate and honest depiction of what it's like to be in there that I have seen on TV in a long time. Hearing the sounds, the officer commands, the inmates yelling, etc. brought back memories from years past. It's very surreal watching that stuff and I have no doubt that every bit is true (excepting comments by inmates which may or may not be true).

While the story about the lawyer's child support amount sounds fishy, I wouldn't say it's impossible. Different states have different laws towards that sort of thing and I have heard before of courts awarding amounts greater than what the parent makes. It's very sad but I can see both sides of the story. On one side, that sounds cold-hearted to have a large amount held against you, but on the other side, a set amount, rather than a percentage, is a way to keep deadbeat parents from leaving a good job and going to a low paying job or stopping work altogether just to avoid paying it.

My thoughts were that the judgment probably was more than he was making, but he didn't say if he was working as hard as he could to make as much money as possible. If he had been turning down jobs to look more sympathetic, then it's his own problem and he deserves to be arrested. However, there is obviously WAY more to that situation than what we armchair commentators can see. I mean, what kind of woman refuses to let a man see his own kids, excepting cases of child abuse. That's just evil and she should be locked up too.

Anyway, love this show...looking forward to more.

Jeff

Did you see episode 5 where yet another new inmate (Benjamin Pratt, 34 with glasses) was in jail for not paying alimony or child support. At the end of his part of the episode, I couldn't stop laughing.

In this example, he went to court to get his support payments modified based. But, since he was $35,000 in arrears, they arrested his butt for contempt of court.

Like, nataylor and jeff92k7 said, we only get to see one point of view and don't have the whole story. However, this guy did seem reasonable. He worked out a reduction of payments from $900 to about $350/mth with his ex-wife and a mediator.

When he went back for his modification hearing the judge said, nahh - I think you can make it $600/mth. The inmate then said to the judge: "Your honor, I-Don't-Have-the-Money!" "What do you want me to do, Print the Money?"

Hahahaha!

I guess you know what happened next. The judge says "You in contempt of court!"

These situations are sad and something anyone of us could find ourselves part of, real easy, due to the bad economy.

But I can't help but laugh at this guy. He was free and clear. You never talk back to a judge when they can throw your ass back in jail in half-a- heartbeat!