Chatham County Jail

If your arrested and given a bond and a court date but no one can bond you out what happens next?

JM: Did you have police stop by your house for questioning?
ME: No

JM: What was your court appearance like?
ME: IF possible, the court appearnce is worse than the actual jail. You are transported from the jail in chains (no matter your offense.) One heavy chain around your waiste that handcuffs are attatched to (making a simple act like scratching your nose feel like a contortion act) and another chain around your ankles (that cut into your achilles tendon rather baddly.) Once you arrive at the court house you wait in a large anctient holding cell (this portion of the Chatham County Court House formally was the jail.)It is cold and dirty with an assortment of exposed rusty edges. About an hour before you are to see the judge you are trasported to a different holding cell on another floor. You are then given about 5 minutes to speak with your attorney. You are then ushered into the courtroom and speak to the judge. No matter the outcome you are taken back into holding and repeat the process in reverse until you are taken back to the jail.

JM: Tell us about the pre-sentencing process:
ME: The pre-sentencing process can be pretty grim. When you first arrive to jail you are kept in a holding cell for anywhere between one and twenty hours, with anywhere between one and twenty other people in the same cell as you. This is not a large cell by any means, it is roughly the same size as your averege kitchen. There is no privicy, as the toilet is in the same (unventilated) cell as the rest of you. There are large plexy-glass windows that look out into the booking center. It is hot and it can be violent. Since no-one has been processed yet a kid who got a traffic violation could be sharing the same cell as a seriously violent offender. After you have been processed you are placed in one of six units.