Hard Time: A Look At The Law Inside The Walls

In this true crime episode, Jon—a former corrections officer—dives into the horrifying case of Josef Fritzl, the Austrian monster who imprisoned his own daughter for 24 years beneath his family home. Joined by a special guest who jokes she’s lived her whole life like a prisoner—and who happens to be a direct descendant of a criminal—they unpack captivity, control, and why history keeps producing people who think “secret basement prison” is a lifestyle choice.

A Virginia correctional officer saw it coming — threats, warnings, even a weapon with his name on it. He went to work anyway. Months later, he was dead.Now his widow is asking the questions the Department of Corrections won’t answer — and exposing what officers already know: the danger isn’t hypothetical, it’s daily.In this episode, we break down the killing of Officer Jeremy Hall, the ignored warnings, and the silence that followed. Because when an officer dies, administrators hold a press conference, issue a statement, and move on — while the same policies stay in place.Understaffed. Underpaid. Outnumbered.Officers are told to keep quiet, keep working, and keep risking their lives — because speaking up means retaliation, unemployment, and becoming the next problem the system needs to manage.The inmates aren’t the only ones trapped inside the prison system.

Subhuman David Alan Funston a convicted serial child kidnapper and molester was eligible for parole under California's new Elderly Parole Program. Jake breaks down the heinous crimes, how the fuck this happened, and what the current result is. It doesn't end up as bad as you'd think, but unfortunately, he's still walking around.Oh and there are some Jake Jokes. I need a few drinks after this one. As a warning I get a little heated. Enjoy!

In this episode of Hard Time, Jon is joined by Allie Siebert from Allie in the Archives to examine 19th-century crime and punishment through her tour of Jackson State Prison.Michigan rejected the death penalty, but prison life was still defined by overcrowding, forced labor, corruption, and failed reform. Drawing on archival research and firsthand experience, this episode explores how early justice ideals often collapsed in practice—and how those failures continue to influence modern incarceration.Want to go to the Archives? Bloodstained: Exploring Michigan's Darkest Murders Forgotten By TimeHouseholdhistory.comInstagram: @allieinthearchives

JON RETURNS to talk about the death of Robert Brooks-- it sparked widespread outrage when the story first broke — headlines, social media fury, and demands for accountability. But when the sentencing of the prison guards responsible finally arrived, it barely registered. In this episode, we examine how the Brooks case became a flash-in-the-pan moment of public attention, and what the muted response to these sentences says about how little most people think about what happens inside prisons once the cameras move on.While lives have been permanently altered — Brooks’ family, the convicted guards, and the correctional system itself — the broader public has already shifted its focus to the next controversy. We break down the sentencing, the legal outcomes, and why accountability behind prison walls rarely sustains public interest. This episode challenges the idea that outrage equals engagement, and explores how incarceration exists largely outside public concern until a shocking death forces it briefly into view.A hard look at justice, punishment, and how quickly society moves on when suffering happens out of sight.

A bonus episode where Jake tests out some new equipment and covers the latest Trump and Diddy News.

Drones! The bane of this podcast are back. Humming into action for the good guys this time! But the Cartels and criminal organizations are continuing to adapt them into new roles. A bold prediction from Jake. A tale from across the pond. And a few Jake Jokes as well. Enjoy!

In this episode of Hard Time, Megan takes us inside one of the most infamous abandoned institutions in America: Pinehurst Asylum in Pennsylvania.What begins as a tour quickly becomes something more unsettling. Reports of paranormal encounters, unexplained sensations, and an atmosphere that feels frozen in time collide with Pinehurst’s very real and deeply troubling history. Long before it became a destination for ghost hunters and urban explorers, Pinehurst was part of a mental health system marked by neglect, overcrowding, and abuse—yet also by a sincere (if flawed) attempt to care for society’s most vulnerable.As Megan walks through the decaying halls, we confront a harder question beneath the hauntings:Was dismantling the asylum system progress… or did we replace it with something worse?Today, the United States has largely eliminated long-term institutional mental health care, shifting the burden to families, streets, jails, and emergency rooms. Pinehurst stands as a silent reminder of what once existed—both the horrors and the intentions behind them.This episode explores:Reported paranormal activity and firsthand experiences inside PinehurstThe real historical record of American asylumsWhy these institutions were closed—and what replaced themWhether modern society should reconsider long-term mental health facilitiesThe uneasy beauty of abandoned places that refuse to be forgottenThis isn’t a ghost story alone—and it isn’t nostalgia for a broken system. It’s a conversation about memory, accountability, and whether we’ve truly found a better solution.

In this episode of Hard Time, Kristy and Jon reflect on her visit to the Port Arthur Historic Site in Tasmania, a place where Australia’s national identity was forged—twice.Port Arthur began as part of a vast experiment in punishment. As England deported its most hardened and unwanted convicts, Australia effectively became the largest outdoor prison in the world. Forced migration, isolation, labor, and brutality didn’t just build infrastructure—they created a culture, a people, and a new destiny born out of exile.But history didn’t stop there.In 1996, Port Arthur became the site of a mass shooting that shocked the nation and triggered one of the most dramatic shifts in law, policy, and personal freedom in modern democratic history. The aftermath reshaped Australia’s relationship with firearms, government authority, and individual rights—decisions whose consequences are still debated, echoed, and re-examined today.This episode explores:Port Arthur’s origins as a brutal penal colonyHow forced deportation shaped Australian identityThe emotional weight of walking a site layered with suffering and memoryThe 1996 Port Arthur massacre and its immediate aftermathThe sweeping legal changes that followed—and what was gained and lostWhy the repercussions of that moment continue to grow louder across the worldThis is not a political argument and not a simplistic morality tale. It’s a conversation about how trauma reshapes nations, how laws are born from moments of fear, and how history never really stays in the past—especially when it’s written into the land itself.

What does "Celebrity" get you in jail? Harassment? An extended sentence? Bodyguards? An early release? In this episode of Hard Time we discus cases from the US, France, and Belgium of Celebs in trouble with the law, incarcerated at federal jails and imprisoned for Political reasons. Updates on former cases, and of course new Jake Jokes as well as the latest from Jakes Jail. Enjoy!

In this week's Spotify exclusive episode, we discuss Ian Watkins formerly of the band The Lost Prophets. The disgraced and disgusting singer was in prison for drug charges as well as a host of sex offenses that will shock even the hardest of consciences. I will cover his multiple attacks in HMP Wandsworth Prison in England where the worst of the worst are held. I also cover the case of a CDCR inmate who was pushed too far by the creepy behavior of the Chomo inmates he was housed with so he decided to take matters into his own hands. Don't listen to this one with the kids around. Not that Jake is ever safe for work. There are however Dad jokes of course.

20 of the world's most dangerous men just escaped prison, and the FBI is going to help find them. You will find none of this in the mainstream news, but you will find reports of human trafficker Ghislane Maxwell received special meals and time spent with a puppy while in prison. The news loves it's sensations, but not the information you might like to know.

She helped Jeffrey Epstein traffic women and boys to a secret island to cater to the prurient desires of the world's rich, powerful and elite. Now she's going to Camp Bryan, a minimum security detention center. The news says it's compensation for not naming the President as an Epstein Client. Idiots will read this and believe in the quid-pro-quo arrangement. But does it bear 5 seconds of critical thinking? Jon can at least do 4 so the rest is up to you. And what about minimum security-- is it appropriate or special treatment? Re-uploaded, do I don't get sued.

The United Nations is recognizing Olukemi Ibikunle for all her hard work to make prisons in Nigeria/Congo/Etc a nice place again. Women get beans there now. Heated by human fecal matter or something. The whole thing is a strange thing to even talk about and yet here we are, both Jon and Jake.

The French prison system is le' fucked. They have dangerous prisoners going out with the wash, the "fly" getting away on transport and inmates throats getting cut. To solve their many issues, they built Lyon-Corbas-a new shiny facility to house France's worst organized criminals, but four walls do not a prison make. Find out why with Jake on this episode of Hard Time.

It's summer 1999 and event's that may have inspired Shaggy's "it wasn't me" have been set in motion. A man is arrested for a crime he says he did not commit; he has an alibi but is convicted of a purse snatching. He spends 17 years in jail before he meets his doppelganger-the purse snatching son of a bitch that sent him to his fate. Can he be exonerated? Will the man who did the evil deed face justice? What is this week's Jake Joke? Find out on Hard Time.

The State is pursuing the death penalty for Charlie Kirk's murderer. Is it the right thing to do? The answer may seem obvious but the truth so rarely is. This episode is an absolute sermon on what it means to approach the death penalty legally, spiritually and practically-- but you won't get a lecture. More important is having the debate, which is what Charlie Kirk would want us to do. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Every day as an officer you will face a thousand battles. Will you say yes? Do you have the courage to say no? Can you back it up? And are you smart enough to talk yourself out of a situation? Former CO Jon and current SGT Jake will talk review an every day problem in a jail, and what went right and what went wrong.

The killer of four students in Moscow Idaho took a plea to avoid the death penalty. Now he is finding out what the life penalty means: spending time inside J-Block, where the worst offenders in Idaho are held. What can he expect out of his daily routine? People say he is cracking under the pressure, but are the claims of danger and abuse inside the prison realistic? Two corrections officers give you insight into the probable life of Brian Kohberger.MERCHhttps://my-store-108c6f6.creator-spring.com/listing/hard-time-podcast?product=1565&variation=104921

He was an asshole who killed two women for the sake of killing. His own father turned him in, knowing the death penalty was on the table. Now these trashy ugg boot oatmilk true crime women-- the 'wade wilson wives' are crying out. Some for leaked phone calls, others for wade having a bad time in prison. wilson himself has earned a rap sheet of 163 pages just since he's been inside-- he's giving hell to FDOC employees and fuck this guy.

Trump is doing a thing, so how could it be good? The BBC teams up with Floridian Native Americans and The Swamp Defense League to say that putting some tents on a tarmac is the same as building an Auschwitz that also dumps pink slime into a public pool. They decry overcrowding, they decry efforts to reduce overcrowding, they decry. Well It's trump time crybabies, and we're gonna let him cook. All that and more on THE UNDISCOVERED PODCAST.

Check out the I STAND CORRECT PODCAST for more Jon.

Bleeding heart human rights groups uncover the brutality of the prisons in the failed Soviet cast-off state. But how bad is it really? BBC, the same new organization that decries conditions in the US describes them as having unbelievably low violence. The lesson? Everybody's got an agenda and nobody understands prisons. Except us. 🔴 MERCH https://thecommcenter-2.creator-spring.com/

She hired the Latin Kings to kill her ex-son in law. She was arrested at the airport about to fly to Vietnam-- where there is no extradition. That's the main thing you need to know about her. She comes from privilege, wealth and entitlement, and she got overinvolved in her daughter's custody battle. She has no remorse or sympathy for Dan Markel-- only for herself. Lawyers and a judge will hear about how bad jail is-- but are Donna Markel's complaints legitimate or even novel? Two REAL correctional officers will tell you.🔴 MERCH https://my-store-108c6f6.creator-spring.com/

A new detention center in the heart of the everglades evokes the imagery of the most famous prison in US History. Erstwhile, the law and order president talks about re-opening the island prison in San Francisco bay made famous by movies and it's inmates. Should we dispose of its legacy in favor of safety? But would it only be a symbol? And wouldn't something more practical be better? Competing interests, political maneuvering, history, they all come together in this riveting episode. Also a Jake Joke

He was on a mission from God, he says. Well so were those 9/11 guys. Sheaf felt like crucifying 76-year-old Pastor Bill, who was a real threat to the manifestation of the Kingdom of God on the planet earth. In reality he's just an asshole-- not crazy, not a true believer. Just some guy who's sole superlative is that he's evil. He wants to be put down, and if he's making the question about his fate so easy, why not let it be? Send him off to his reward-- ours will be having him gone.

Dubbo is a place in Australia, that kookie kontinent down south. It's been 120 long years since they last let out the rope for a dastardly dude down there. To mark that milestone, we will recount some of the stories of the last wild weirdos force to bite down on the bitter end for their crimes. A lighthearted episode about executions is what we have here.

Today we review a couple massive changes of fortune-- a former federal inmate who racked up felonies like they were going out of style was pardoned by Trump years ago. Now he's the top dog at the US Bureau of Prisons. Meanwhile, a small town cop who liked to abuse power, as well as killing and raping, escaped from prison in Arkansas, as profiled in a new documentary.

This asshole thinks he's important enough not only for the prison to kill, but to conspire with the Aryan Brotherhood to carry out the hit. He's been watching too much Mayor of Kingstown. Now his lawyers appeal to the top dog-- Donny J. Wallbuilder himself-- to save the day. That and all the other news that's fit to print from inside the walls. https://my-store-108c6f6.creator-spring.com/https://thecommcenter-2.creator-spring.com/

Yo, in dis episode we go rap 'bout how folks in the joint talk real differnt, all tied to that prison vibe know what I'm sayin', and how that slang's evolved over time, shaping they whole culture. Jon, this educated white dude, gon hustle to stay on top of what’s being said while Jake holdin' back them laughs 'bout how whack he sounds.🔴 MERCH: https://my-store-108c6f6.creator-spring.com/

The Louisiana Ten was just another case of corrupt officials setting up COs to look bad, and the professional takes another beating. In this episode, Jake attempts to cheer Jon up. Attempts being the operative word. Here are some low profile stories of COs that really turns into sort of a mixed bag.

Ten inmates escaped f rom the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office law enforcement center. They ripped out the toilet with some help from a maintenance guy afraid of taking a shank, and ran across the interstate to freedom. 5 have since been recaptured but everyone in the jail looks like a big jabroni and only big goddamned terrible embarrassing things like this drive any changes in corrections. Oh yeah, most of them were murderers. Hard time for COs these days.🔴 MERCH: https://my-store-108c6f6.creator-spring.com/

Nayib Bukele scares the left. He cleaned up the murder capital of the world-- El Salvador-- and he did it with a tough on crime approach that would that would shock our 8th Amendment. He's a Trump acolyte to boot. Does his record of success down south have something to teach us about restoring law and order here? Or do his detractors make a good point about power run amok? They say he imprisoned millions, he says he freed millions more from being victims of crime.

Today we look at Rickey Ray Rector, who killed people. Then, refusing to go to jail, he stove his own brain in with a .38. He survived of course. His lawyer said he was like a 4 year old. Bill Clinton, trying to look tough on crime in 1992, put him death as the governor of Arkansas. Erstwhile in interwar Switzerland, a boy born wrong was beyond control to the shame of his family. Institutionalized from age 8, by the time he was 21 he committed one of the most savage crimes against a child. The answer: a double lobotomy. Is it proper care for the hopelessly deranged? Or just a way to make them more manageable?

In Montgomery County, Christian Black stole a car, crashed it, went to jail, banged his head against the wall, fought the officers, despite tasing a pepper spray, and managed to put himself in the restraint chair. Well he ended up dying, and now the cause of death is that ol' chestnut 'positional asphyxia' that we all know and love so well. But what happened and why is the chair even used-- and was it even used improperly? Will other facts come out to exonerate officers? Meanwhile 3 officers have been attacked in Virginia by MS-13, I'll bring you up to speed. Also some housekeeping about Jon stuff.

Dying is ugly. Killing someone is even uglier. Nitrogen asphyxiation is being sold to us as the new, easy and painless way to put people to death. But are we finding that it isn't easy for the condemned, or not easy for us? Out of the woodwork come the critics, all tacitly concealing their over-arching anti-capital punishment agenda. The dilemma? We have no intellectually honest conversation about how humane nitrogen is when no one who is pro-capital punishment has been invited to the discussion table. Without context and comparison to other methods, we can also arrive at no real conclusion about whether or not the method itself is humane, only a new modality for criticizing the practice in general. Exposing all this silly bullshit is Jon and Jake, to the benefit of the very few as always.

Hijinks in Britain, Jake and Jon discuss.First thing you must realize is that the cocoa powder is not water soluable, it's fat soluable. Use whole milk if available or half and half, as a decadent philistine would. If the powder just clumps or won't get "wet" by the milk, you are not using an alkalized ("dutch-processed") powder. The clumping also tends to increase with finer powders-- if you can find a brand closer to granular that will make it easier although some like the final experience less. With fine powders there is less air space between the particulates for the milk to flow into. It can be frustrating. Without high fat content you are not getting a solution so much as a suspension: the powder or granules are merely mixing uniformly as a result of vigorous shaking or stirring. For me the high level of commitment and work throughout adds to the ultimate satisfaction of special drink, something neither God nor science intended. References to Community and The Simpsons.

Blame Sillimander for this episode about the Pendleton Maximum Security Prison which has partnered with the Animal Protection League to start a new cat-based FORWARD program which imports cats into the prison behind the walls. Proponents point to relief for animal shelters and rehabilitation benefits for inmates. Seems like a perfect situation-- or does? Don't worry, Jon has a story from inside the walls that will ruin all your faith in the program. Jake Joke included.

A documentary made in 2017 paints a picture of a facility in Gainsville Texas as made of caring people who are making a difference in the lives of at risk kids. As it turns out the school has critics at all levels-- the State Senate, non-profit advocacy groups and the United States Department of Justice. If Gainesville is having to punt on every possession- who is really to blame? Jon and Jake take the critics to task for complaining rather than helping.

In Texas' Gainesville State School, a juvenile detention facility and not-traditional school has a great idea: high school athletics. Half school, half prison, a small group of people dedicated to reforming kids-- a superintendent, principal, coaches, correctional officers-- set up organized football in order to develop their focus and discipline, goals and ability. These kids are success cases in the making, recognizing that it was their own poor choices that got them here but recognizing that although they fumbled their last drive, they have the ball again. This time, no excuses.

In Polk County Florida, an off-duty Correctional Officer saw a suspicious male near children waiting for the bus. The stranger grabbed an 11-year-old girl, kidnapping her. Cops run towards danger when others merely dial 911: he ran after him, rescued the girl, and performed an arrest until police arrived. Now he's using his recognition to tell the County Commission and the community about the unknown heroes among them. In other news, Correctional Officers killed on 9/11 may better rest in peace after a foundation has taken care of the families left behind. And a sneak peak at an upcoming Netflix Doc you cannot miss.

Jon returns for a solo episode-- that's right, it's full divorce and it's split custody and this is your weekend with dad. In this episode Jon talks about the 23 indicted in OPERATION NIGHT DROP, a federal investigation into drones flying in and out of Telfair and Smith State Prisons. Also in the news, Monkey Pox breaks out in Iowa, and Diet Satan Wade Wilson receives two death penalties for being a son of a bitch down in America's Wang.

Jake and Jon take down an informative article about Pakistan that India-toucher in the Indus Valley region of the far east-middle east, or western far east, or whatever, and talk about how the Islamic Republic puts down their bad dogs. But in a country that executes blasphemers of the Islamic religion and homosexuals-- who are the bad guys in Pakistan, anyway? Jon and Jake relax and enjoy one more for the road.

It calls itself "America's Finest City." Hidden away in San Diego is the brig at Naval Base Miramar and it has a dark secret: they ship in all the sex offenders from all over the military to serve time there, then they cut them loose into the community. Through a quirk of the law Jon can only describe as "typically federal," these sex offenders aren't having to notify anyone that they've infiltrated the community.

An impromptu live with Jake with news, updates and of course Jake Jokes.

Richard Matt and David Sweat were discovered missing during a morning bed check at the maximum security Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York. The two had tunneled out, and exited through a steam pipe, and disappeared like farts in the wind. Instead of taking twenty years, it took merely ten-- and significant assistance from two staffers compromised by sex, money and complacency. A listener request.

Tony The Tiger said it best. Now as it turns out every frosted flake carries with it all the sins perpetrated by this country since it was founded. The Associated Press did a two year exposé on the reality of prison labor and how it figures largely into the American economy. You're made to feel guilty and a party to amoral oppression with only half the facts being presented. Feel how you want to feel, but here is the rest of the story. Jake Joke: See Minus

Remember that French guy that couldn't stop breaking out of France's prisons? You loved it. Another experienced French guy gets away in a helicopter. But this time, he's gut art supplies, full creative liberties and some fruit. This one turns out a little differently though. France needs to start just wildly firing their guns at all helicopters.

So many dead. So many taken hostage. Seven prisons in the equatorial country have turned into fortified bases for organized crime, which is battling the legitimate government for control of the country. The shit started at Guayaquil when one of the most powerful narcotics bosses, Jose Adolfo Macias, aka "Fito", escaped. Riots in response erupted at five more prisons, sending security forces into terror. The feeble government called in the military to retake the prisons, but Ecuador still has a problem. What is the source of the mafia's money and power? It may surprise you to find out that it is you.

Jake jokes, some breaking news and a few tales of Aussie escapes.