The Fulton County Jail houses approximately 2,500 inmates ' five times the size of the Clark County Jail. Set in an urban setting, the Fulton County Jail has a heavy gang population with the Bloods, the Gangster Disciples and the Crips being the main forces in the pods. Two phases of the program with eight participants each were filmed back to back to get to the bottom of the drug trade, gang activity and corruption within the jail. Filming takes place in two different facilities ' men are housed in the main campus building in Atlanta whereas women are housed in a separate building about 30 minutes away. Participants are locked down for 15 hours every day with their cellmates. Men are housed in two person cells. Women bunk in cells with seven other inmates. Colonel Mark Adger
Colonel Mark Adger is the Chief jailer in this facility. Ager started out his career at the County Jail 30 years ago, stating that the facility has changed drasitcally since he first started working there. Dealing with a new age of criminals, Adger says he is now dealing with the children and grandchildren of the original convicts he had dealt with many years ago, expressing the imates are more dangerous than the imates before them. Managing aproximately 600 employees, Adger has entrusted the following volunteers to help him unravel the issues that he cannot see.
Don, 36
Don is a husband and and father of 4 children. Growing up in the projects, Don's father incarcerated multiple times when he was a child. Don admits that this had scared him into never wanting to step foot inside a cell. However, believing that the criminal justice system is rigged especially toward African- Americans, Don wants to make a change and allow others to see jail from his point of view.
Calvin, 26
Calvin is a husband and father of 3. He has a degree in social work, and works as a special education teacher for high risk kids. Many of the kids that calvin work with could possibly end up in jail- he wants his experience to be a testimony to the kids he teaches so that they see that jail is not where they want to be.
Jon, 37
Jon refers to the term “corrections” as a joke and believes strongly that the criminal justice system needs to change. Jon worked in law enforcement for 5 years. As a sheriff’s deputy, Agent with immigration and actualization service, and deputy US Marshall, Jon states he never liked his time in this line of work. This is due the fact that he’s seen innocent people go to jail, people get deported to countries they don’t even remember and believes that entities make a lot of money based on the illusion of security and safety. Jon wants to be a spokesperson and a hero that he set out to be many years ago. Matt
Matt is an ex veteran, who makes a living in the business of air conditioning and heating, he is also a musician. Matt believes that the idea of incarceration looks good on paper, but has huge faults when putting the idea to action. Matt describes himself as the rebel who never got caught, and strongly believes that he will blend in the jail perfectly.Matt aims to improve the system that so many "regular" people can easily get wrapped up in. Nate, 28
Ex marine Nate believes that jail should be more uncomfortable. Nate suggests that jail has a lot of luxuries, luxuries that he feels the inmates do not deserve. Nate has made it his mission to expose all things contraband. Although not nervous, he wants to help make the system better.
Gerson
Gerson is an inspirational Speaker and Youth Mentor. He wants to bring shed light on the youth incarceration rate in the country in hopes of more people becoming mentors to help stop this growing trend. In the 9th grade, Gerson met his first mentor who had stopped him selling weed and that was the day his life changed. Gerson states that if it wasn't for mentors- he'd probably be in jail.
Mauri
Mauri is a former corrections officer who worked in a male prison for 3 years. She knows the justice system isn't perfect, and wants to bring light to the inequalities and inefficiencies that are in the system. Above all, she wants to know how it feels when rights and freedoms are taken away from you. Jessica, 32
Jessica is the wife of Ex- Convict, who was locked up for a non- violent crime. They married the very day he was released, and happily became a father to her daughter. Jessica is participating in this program for her marriage, by trying to understand what her husband had been through when he was behind bars. Michelle
Michelle is a working mother with aspirations of going back to school to obtsain a bachelors and masters in criminal justice. As well as trying to shed light in the issues that the county jail is faced with, Michelle also hopes being on the inside will make her a desirable candidate for future jobs.Although petrified, Michelle has stated that she will go to jail for real if anyone harms her 19 year- old daughter.
