Miami Mega-Jail
So we have a new show coming up this Sunday May 22, the first installment of a two-parter entitled Miami Mega-Jail. It’s about life in one of America’s toughest and most violent jails, in particular the two floors of the Main Jail in which many of the most volatile and unmanageable inmates reside. Some of you may recall that we made a documentary about San Quentin prison a few years ago. Believe it or not, what we experienced in Miami was even more extreme. Unlike prisons, the inmates of jails are mostly pre-trial. They have not been convicted and are technically innocent. Something about this atmosphere of uncertainty, as well as the sheer scale of the place (7000 inmates), makes it all the more chaotic and volatile – at least, in the areas reserved for problem inmates. On the fifth and sixth floors there are up to 24 men per cell and a gladiatorial code exists in which inmates are expected to fight to prove themselves. We taped the two episodes over the course of a couple of months, starting late last year. I’ll post a bit more about it when I have time. That’s it for now!
Looking forward to the new documentary!
Can’t wait!
Are you for real?
Louis, your documentaries are always very inspiring. I look forward to Miami Mega-Jail.
Greetings from Miami! Looking forward to watching.
Urm, hello Mr Theroux, this sounds good, what channel is it on haha? I always used to watch your shows
x
Excellent, looking forward to this.
hi mr. Theroux,
I’m looking forward to see this!
Thanks for letting me and the rest of the world see all this crazy and wierd worlds and people.
I learn a lot from your shows and i really like your unique style of doing this.
Thanks!
Michael
(The Netherlands)
I honestly can’t wait for this upcoming documentary. Iv seen all of louis tevevised experiences and he is honestly the best gonzo journalist iv ever seen.
keep up the good work!
Ha mr. Theroux,
I just wanted to share that I am a major fan of your work!!
Greetings from Holland!
Miami Mega Jial, try looking at UK justice, even worse.
On man in prison for 36 years and no murder, man-slaughter, rape, paedophillia, still in seg block. All bullshit.
watcjing this programme, proves that this is a really weird world. we are only on this earth for a short time, its amazing how people use their time.
Louis, once again a great job..Hope one day to work with you….looking forward to the up and coming episodes….
Hey. The jail looks terrible – I was horrified to see the guards suggest that the Martinez kid might get raped or beaten and they wouldn’t know until they did the headcount.
What a disaster! I dropped Mr Obama a disapproving email via the White House website but I’m not sure the auto-reply exclaiming delight at hearing from me will be accurate!
Thanks for the insight.
Really my instincts make me want to start this post with ‘ I really enjoyed the show ‘ but I’m not sure enjoy is really the right word. It was interesting that in your comment you distinguished between prisons and jails, hadn’t really thought there was a difference. Either way it looked set up to systematically dehumanise individuals who already appear emotionally damaged. I can’t imagine the stress of living in such a charged atmosphere. Reminded me of sections of the book A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe.
Thanks Louis, always enjoy your work x
Saw the 1st part last night. Good stuff, as always. will definitely not miss part 2!
I’m not sure if I was imagining it, but part way through the documentary you had some rap tune playing over the footage that sounded like it was the Florida rapper Rick Ross.
If it was Rick Ross, was he selected on purpose due to him being ‘exposed’ as a former correctional officer by the website Smoking Gun?
He of course vehemently denied this at first until finally ‘admitting’ his prison experience was not of the usual type bragged about by rappers?
Just wondering if it was a little inside joke, as I have it somewhere in the back of my mind that you are into a bit of rap.
Really enjoyed yesterdays show. I work as a psychiatrist and I think you have quite a talent in interviewing people who in the most part appear to be psychopaths. A fascinating and slightly disturbing documentary.
Keep up the good work.
J
The programme really made me think. How comfortable compared to that life is mine! On the practical side maybe one thing we can do is just ‘tweak’ the system a little. Nothing much, but I’m going to write to Amnesty International all the same. What gets me is that the prisoners have maybe only 2 sessions outside in the yard a WEEK! And that can be TAKEN AWAY from them if there is misbehaviour.
I advocate that a) Yard time CANNOT be taken away from any prisoner whatever. If they are on solitary they have solitary yard time. b) Yard time ie under the sky time should be once a day. We do not starve prisoners. Nor should we deprive them of air and sky once a day. Yard time should not be in the ‘privelege’ box. I think that this small change is possible in the system without upsetting too many people.
You are doing a great job Louis! I have watched ALL your documentaries and they are all awesome! I hope you keep on doing documentaries for a long time! I especially like your style of asking questions and getting people to talk! Keep up the great work! Greetings from Austria!
“Really enjoyed yesterdays show. I work as a psychiatrist and I think you have quite a talent in interviewing people who in the most part appear to be psychopaths. A fascinating and slightly disturbing documentary.
Keep up the good work.”
I spent some of my teenage years in a rough Mexican/Black area of the US, in Oakland – these blacks guys aren’t psychopaths, they’re just stupid little kids, with the mental age of children and a lot of testosterone.
They either need a whole lot of leadership and discipline, or otherwise just lock them up and DO NOT LET THEM HAVE KIDS – their “offspring” (possibly too kind a word) turn out just as brainless and crap as they are.
There are lots of jails across the US like this… Dont think the guys locked up are all bad though.. the wardens and police in some of these states can be the worst. (especially in the southern states)
Vicious circle.
People can get trapped in that system when all they have done is run a red light or miss a parking fine.
Should really be investigated…………..
Check out Harris County Jail.
Happy to talk to you about things…
I watched the first episode last night. I admire the way in which the prisoners are interviewed by Louis.
He brings out the particular essence of the place and how terrible and inhumane this jail system is. The prisoners brutality to each other appears to be a reflection of the acceptance by the guards of the whole bullying regime. They can’t intervene because they are fearful for their own safety, perhaps.I have just been reading a book about the Hulks on the River Thames called the “Intolerable Hulks” by Campbell and the similarity to the system in Miami is shocking. In fact some of the conditions, regarding excercise, were a little better in1776. Campbell worked in the US prison system and,I believe, still lectures.
The end of the hulk system in 1857 was partially brought about by a prisoner writing to his MP. Incredible as this sounds, the inquiry it provoked led to the end of the system. Can’t expect to see that result any time soon in Miami.
Interesting watch as always, the small runty white fellow showing out of his dorm after the first night without a scratch on him is only testament to the fact that the guy is undoubtedly a complete fruitcake with a prison jacket to match. Did anyone else pick up on this? He was sketchy as anything in his interviews with Louis, sidestepping and semi-denying everything Louis put at him. Methink he ended up on the 5th and 6th floors for a very real reason that belies his nerdy appearance…
Louis this was unbelievable, the horror of such a life and the acceptance that violence and brutal intimidation was the norm, among the guards, was appalling. Why were all the inmates seen only Black? actually for that matter most of the prison officers were too.
I absolutely love watching your documentary programmes and after watching the first installment of this series, I am already looking forward to the next. You are, without a doubt, a master mediator!-excellent work!
Enjoyed every bit of your article post.Thanks Again. Awesome.
I really enjoyed your site. It is nice when you find something that is not only informative but entertaining. Excellent!
I appreciate, cause I found exactly what I was looking for. You have ended my four day long hunt! God Bless you man. Have a nice day. Bye
As always, great documentary Louis!
Hello just wanted to say wonderful web page.
Thanks for all of your work on this web page. I am looking forward to reading more of your posts in the future.
BRING CHARLIE BACK.
You actually make it seem so easy along with your presentation however I find this topic to be actually something which I feel I might by no means understand. It sort of feels too complex and very broad for me. I’m taking a look forward for your subsequent put up, I will try to get the dangle of it!
Can you really not grasp where the inmates are comming from LT?
As an intelligent guy you must be able to comprehend, along with identifying the common denominator, however it conflicts with your beliefs/politics/philosophies.
Interesting, as when in South Africa you attempted to belittle and mock some of the Afrikaaners because of their position towards some of their countrymen.
Imagine being surrounded by guys like these inmates LT, all around your neighbuorhood and trying to reason with them about the volume of their t.v. having backed into their partner’s car, confronting them in your lounge where they’re seeking the things which you have and they don’t.
Allow yourself to imagine LT.
It seems to me that the justice system is failing in so many ways. The first and rather obvious one being the fact that many of those incarcerated really didn’t stand a chance in the world. I was surprised to see just how many of the inmates shown were in gangs and from ‘the streets’. They spoke openly and quite matter of fact about where they came from, what they saw growing up and didn’t seem at all surprised or perturbed to be in jail. Almost seemed like a rite of passage to them in a very disturbing, sad and messed up kind of way.
On a more philosophical note. I am a firm believer that as beings with just one time on this earth, the removal of one’s liberty is a huge punishment to any individual. I therefore don’t really see the point in making prisons such dreadful places to be/ failing to prevent them from becoming so. It seems to me that if conditions in prisons were better and even quite comfortable, it might provide respite from the ‘dog eat dog’ culture therein. Which in turn would still provide justice, through the deprivation of one’s liberty. It would afford prisoners some sort of existence where they aren’t treated like cattle, unworthy of their other rights. Prisoners are so preoccupied with surviving and asserting their authority over each other (which many will have been doing outside in their gangs) and are not actually being reformed at all. Prisons to me appear not to be houses where citizens who have gone off track can be reformed, but actually just an environment where they are confined, viewed as animalistic and somewhat inhibited from making any positive change. Surely the justice system ought to be seeking to stamp out the gang culture by which prisoners live and upon which free men have ended up in prison? There seems to be no focus on retribution at all. Take away their freedom, give them all they need to become good citizens and let them out after they have served their time to enjoy what the world has to offer. Death penalty is something I cannot even begin to understand.
Again, there will be the bad egg prisoner who just is that dreadful and incapable of change, but I can confidently say the majority can be reformed and freed to enjoy life. Such a shame they are being failed and not being given the opportunity to change. Prisoners need the things missing in their lives that caused them to offend: Structure, time to reflect, encouragement, and ultimately prospects. Putting them in cells and allowing them to live by similar rules to as before is not the solution. We seem to have been locking people up who need guidance and letting them die having not enjoyed the world at all nor seen the good they are capable of. Such a travesty. Buddhists say the human life is the most precious one any being can experience and I really believe it. I thought the boot camp programme was great…It’s exactly what they need, there needs to be so much more of this but for all inmates.
Then again, do we trust those who get through and come out ‘reformed’ will not reoffend? After all they will have to go back to those worlds when they get out. Reoffending will likely be far easier than resisting.
The issue is not as black and white as that for sure and there will always be policy and public safety reasons. But I am certain we are not getting it right. At all. And that we ought to be spending more money to address these issues. Incarceration rates have gone up hugely in America in the last 30 years or so but there has been little change in crime there.
I can’t beleive people would get arrests for dancing
I have watched all of the LT documentaries and look forward to new material with great excitement. Always very clever interviewing methods and also somehow he seems to get the respect from all the subjects which for ordinary people will not be so straightforward. I mean how many times have we seen a TV journalist team to go and interview multiple prisoners in Miami Mega Jail. Even the Most Hated Family In America, The City Hooked On Crystal Meth, Muscle Worshippers, Hypnotists…..and the list goes on. Excellent Work!!!
Hi,
Just wondered what happened to the 14 year old boy in part 2 of the documentary that had been placed in an adult jail with no support / education?
Great documentary, terrible system,
Thanks
Great show – you’re a brave man Louis Theroux!
Keep up the great work.
I enjoy your documentaries Louis. Most hated family was quite good. It cracks me up when they pan to you and you are just there looking at them, not calling them idiots but seemingly insinuating such, lol. Not all of us who believe in God are insane however.
Hey Louis! Love your shows. Best ‘reality’ reporting on TV (well, someones reality). I was mooching around your website several months ago but it was pretty sparse back then. Good to see you finally up and running. I’m in Australia so we get dribs and drabs of your shows on BBC Knowledge over here. Actually, I’m a POM. There is plenty of stuff going on down here that you could certainly get stuck into.