by Brian A. Wilkins
11/15/08

This day corresponds with Thursday, July 24. I did not have a chance to get out of there until July 29, the next court date. My new job at the University of Phoenix was to start Monday, July 28 and all I could think about was if I was going to be able to make it there.

Though I was more tired than I’d probably ever been in my life, I only slept solidly for a couple of hours. Not only was that cell approaching 55 degrees, but the air conditioning vent was only 3 … Read Entire Article

by Brian A. Wilkins
11/14/08

This is Day 2 of the “55 Days in Maricopa County Jail” series. This was July 23, 2008. Note: Some names in the story are deliberately changed to protect the identities of those who did not give me permission to use their name.

It had to be well after midnight and I hadn’t moved a muscle in over 6 hours. Many of the 70+ men in the “tank” had lied down on the filthy concrete floor hours ago and fell asleep. Many of them had their face a few inches from someone else’s butt; others were contorted in position I’ve … Read Entire Article

by Brian A. Wilkins
11/14/08

This is Day 1 of the 55 days I spent in Maricopa County Jail.

It was about 4 a.m. on Tuesday, July 22 when I was put into a cold, empty cell; not knowing what was going to happen next. I assume it was located at the Tempe police complex near 5th Street and Mill Ave. I was really tired, but had no intentions of sleeping in there. I went down to my knees, faced a wall, and just stared blankly at it for who-knows-how-long.

An hour or so later, a female cop came by … Read Entire Article