Surviving Statesville

Episode synopsis

Built in 1925, and aging badly, Stateville Correctional is a dangerous place filled with dangerous men, nearly all serving 20 years minimum. Half are in for murder and another quarter are serving time for violent crimes. For many, the thing that makes life bearable are family, loved ones, girl friends and friends in general but its a struggle. Simkatyah Winfield is a drug dealer doing 60 years for murder but hes also a devoted dad. Yet how can he really act as a good parent behind bars, especially now that his 17-year-old daughter is pregnant? Some inmates look beyond the gates of the prison to sustain them. Other inmates are trying just to be themselves behind bars, without getting punished for it. Guiding us through Stateville is veteran of 16 years, Sgt. Baldwin who expresses the importance of the outside world to inmates and how it keeps them sane. It turns out family, romance, and friendship are the things that make life go around, even among the worst of the worst.

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