Jails offer inmates holiday hospitality Thanksgiving meals, extra visitation help residents through ‘tense time’

Even inmates deserve a little turkey, it seems.

Hundreds of jail residents throughout Maine will be spending Thanksgiving at one of the state’s many lock-up facilities where they will be treated to at least some degree of holiday hospitality.

At Penobscot County Jail, which has the biggest inmate population in eastern and northern Maine, 153 inmates will dine on a traditional Thanksgiving meal at lunchtime.

The jail also will screen a movie each night through the weekend in an effort to boost spirits, jail supervisor Lt. Linda Golden said Wednesday.

“We usually keep a heightened watch on inmates because it’s a holiday,” she said. “Sometimes being away from family might make them more depressed. That’s why we do the movies, too.”

Mental health issues and suicide attempts are always more prevalent around holidays, she said, which means the smallest of gestures can go a long way.

Even Penobscot County inmates who normally are restricted to solitary confinement will be allowed to join in the holiday meal.

“I imagine it’s tough enough being in jail, let alone being confined just to your cell,” Golden said, adding that while Thanksgiving hospitality is good for morale, “it’s the right thing to do.”

In other parts of the state, the jails for Waldo and Washington counties, which currently house 36 and 52 inmates, respectively, will alter their visitation schedule to include Thanksgiving day. Normally, Thursday is not open for visits.

“It’s important,” Waldo County Jail supervisor Chris Lauriero said. “I’ve been here for 15 years, and this is typically the time of year, through Christmas and New Year’s, where we see a change in our inmates. A lot of these kids, these 18- and 19-year-olds, this could be their first holiday away from family.”

Capt. Robert Gross at Washington County Jail agreed that a show of humanity around the holidays makes a difference.

“We do a traditional dinner for all the holidays, but lately we’ve been trying to do more,” he said. “At Christmas, we now give gifts and show a movie. It’s small things, but they seem to be appreciated.”

Maine’s state prisons offer similar hospitality.

At the Downeast Correctional Facility in Machiasport, which oversees 146 inmates, the staff offers a typical Thanksgiving meal, something it has done each year since the facility opened in 1985.

Visitation hours are extended as well, supervisor Scott Jones said, offering inmates the chance to spend more time with family.

“Holidays tend to be very tense times,” he said. “And because it’s a stressful time of year, staying connected with family is very important.”

Some jails, like those representing Hancock and Somerset counties, already offer visitation on Thursdays so those facilities don’t need to change their schedules.

Others, such as Knox County Jail and Piscataquis County Jail, treat Thanksgiving no differently than any other day of the year, representatives said Wednesday.