Shot from downtown New Orleans. Later in the prison compound, we heard someone screaming in the toilet, “Bitch, do you know me? Gosh, do you know me? “
Jailbirds New Orleans is the sequel to the 2019 documentary series Jailbirds;
This time, producer Rasha Drackovic’s camera is inside the Orleans Justice Center in New Orleans. Instead of showing someone in handcuffs, this time, we start with the popular one from the first season that aired on Sacramento: Some Toilet Trash Talks.
A woman named Juice, who tried to put her eyelash line out of her last prison, called her neighbours downstairs and taunted her for the things she heard from him.
This is just one of many muscular incidents we see on the women’s side of the judiciary. As a community prison (Louisiana County’s version), the Orleans Justice Center holds people short term and people wait to be tried. Many of them were in and out of prison several times.
Although we saw several men (which were more than 15-1 women in the facility). The correctional staff said they mainly were relaxed; the action is in the women’s ward. The likes of Juicy come in with the guys or old name Jamie (also known as “Short” because she’s only 4’9). Who plays around every corner, indoors or outdoors. We also meet Harley. She immediately comes out and says that life in New Orleans is terrible for her, and she prefers an ordinary life on the inside. He gets released and tells his best friend Taylor that he wants to get together this time.
After talking about cold fake gamblers and using wax for things other than hair removal.
We do get to hear some more from Juicy and get more out of the “toilet conversation”. Between women and men locked up on another floor. Then we see the commissioner’s fight between Jamie and a prisoner named Magen. Magen, who is from Memphis and believes NOLA is one of the worst places he’s ever been, is in quarantine and puts money into Jamie’s account so he can buy commission items; Jamie took it all for himself, of course. So CO deletes everything because everyone else broke one rule or another.
When we saw the first season of Jailbirds, we enjoyed what happened on camera, but we were a little annoyed that the women on the show had lives and hopes and families, and we feared they would be a bit exploited. We are not sure we will think like that in this new season.
Essentially because Drackovic’s cameras found prisoners who had spent so much time inside that they felt more comfortable there. Plus, at some point, you have to sit back and let the toilet take over and not worry too much about the inside of this older woman who all knows the cameras are there.
Sounds cold? Certain. But when convicts like Jamie are almost proud of the fact that they lost a finger on their last trip outside but happy that he managed to get THUG tattoos written on his knuckles, you have to realize how vulnerable these women are.
The difference between this season and last season, at least so far:
It is that Drachkovic seems to be focusing on perennials, people who admit that outdoor life isn’t for them. Some, like Juicy, have ambitions about when they will finally come out, but no one in the first episode focuses on explaining their innocence or being surprised by what happens there. There also seems to be another toilet talk; maybe this is common in all significant prisons, but it also feels like Dracovic and his team are promoting based on the reactions of season one.
It’s interesting to see how correctional officers make laws. More motherly than anything else. They also seem to be there so prisoners can talk and ask for advice. Even when half of their interactions are conflicting. Along with the idea that New Orleans criminal justice. Which is still weighing on the BIPOC population. That will add a necessary dimension to the season.