A jail is where you are held before and during your trial, prison is where you are sentenced to serve out longer terms.
Comment on What happens to those who are severely disabled while in prison?
Successful_Try543@feddit.de 2 years agoWhat is the difference between a jail and a prison? As a non-native speaker I’ve learned that they are synonyms.
Lemjukes@lemm.ee 2 years ago
moosetwin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 years ago
To add-on to other comments, it should be mentioned that the two terms are often used interchangeably, despite the differing meanings.
AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 2 years ago
My understanding is that jail is where you go when you’re awaiting trial for something or being held pending charges. Prison is where you go as punishment when you’ve been convicted.
Successful_Try543@feddit.de 2 years ago
So jail is for custody. Thank you.
WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 years ago
Counter intuitively, jail can sometimes be worse conditions. People in there are often detoxing, in the middle of a mental health crisis, or simply haven’t accepted or adapted to their condition yet. That can make jail a more volatile place than prison, since people in prison are more likely to be aware that this is their life now and they had best find some sort of equilibrium.
Drusas@kbin.run 2 years ago
In most places, jail has worse conditions than prison does.