Articles

A reader asked a good question about today’s story on the Ramen noodle craze at the Harris County jail. The story reported that inmates purchased more than 3 million noodle packs last year, but also detailed how inmates buy other food, clothes and personal hygiene items when they’re serving time...

By Frank Green - The Richmond Times Dispatch Monday, Nov. 19, 2007 Dalvert Gilchrist stuffed two tote sacks with bags of chips, Ramen noodles and other goodies purchased from the prison commissary this month. Stepping back from a pickup window, the James River Correctional C...

TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 2011 One of the things I did not consider when I went to prison was that I would no longer get coffee. Of course, this was the least of my worries as I was readying myself to surrender, but having had significant amounts of coffee every morning for my entire adult life--the ...

Pure Writing,Yahoo! Mar 17, 2008 By now you are probably wondering what is prison commissary? I am here to inform you what it really is. This article will only take a few minutes out of your busy schedule. All this information is true; I witnessed this in person. Prison commissary is conside...

Sale items spice up life at Rikers prison By JEREMY OLSHAN March 1, 2010 Customers at Rikers Island's commissary might get shanked -- but they're never gouged. The reasonable prices at snack bars at all the city's jails account for the success of the commissary operation, where last year ...

Prison and jail inmates earn cold, hard cash (a few cents per hour) for the work they perform during their incarceration. They’re also allowed to receive money from family and friends. However, prisoners are never allowed to touch even a single coin, so all cash received is placed into...

Just because you're behind bars doesn't mean you have to forgo your favorite snack foods and electronics. Today the Post takes a look at some of the stuff for sale to prisoners on Rikers Island, finding that the number one seller is Ramen, which can be had for 35 cents. (Most prisoners discard th...

by Matt Stiles - April 8, 2010Inmates serving time in Texas prisons can buy certain “free world” goods — snacks, clothes, even cosmetics — provided that people outside unit walls send them the money.It’s a bustling business. During the last fiscal year, inmates spent about $95 million at priso...

by Matt Kelley · April 12, 2010 Most people don't think about prisoners as consumers. But a new interactive graphic from the Texas Tribune sheds some light on prisoners' purchasing habits. The most popular items at the state's prison commissaries include instant Ramen noodles, sugary soft drin...