Tonight on 20/20 ` Your kitchen, your bathroom and your living room and your bedroom's all in the same room. we go inside the world of women behind bars. TEARFULLY: I'm no different than any other woman. None of them. You know, we're all in here. Guilty or innocent,... 36 years, growing up in here. do they deserve a second chance? Wow, I'm doing a life sentence. It finally me that I was here for the rest of my life. Contraband, currency and conspiracy. You just gotta know somebody that knows somebody. And those secret relationships,... Most people, like, they absolutely swear, oh, they'd never do it, they'd never do it, and now they are. (LAUGHS) It's called beating the compound. It just is. You make your way. ...do they really happen? It does not mean you're gay. You're just what they call 'gay for the stay.' What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. What happens in the penitentiary stays in the penitentiary. Copyright Able 2015 Kia ora. I'm Sonya Wilson. Tonight we begin a journey into the world of women living behind bars. America's high incarceration rate and lengthy sentences have prisons across the country bursting at the seams. Now, while that fact may not be surprising to you, this one might be ` The fastest growing prison population are women, and their crimes and sentences pose tough questions. We begin tonight with Eraina Pretty, serving life in prison for first-degree murder and asked the question does anyone sentenced to life for a violent crime deserve a second chance? BUZZER Tonight across America, there is a nation of women living behind bars ` 200,000, far more than any other country on the planet. Whole world shattered. Whole world shattered. We're all in here for stealing, killing, something. When I first came here, I was suicidal. You enter the closed universe through a labyrinth of doors, security, the body check to make sure you're bringing nothing in. After that, gates, barbed wire. This prison is in Maryland. So this is basically the door to the rest of your life. A life filled with prison codes and mystery. Where a woman who looks like your best friend or your absentminded aunt, or someone on the Dean's List could have caused pain or damage and have an awful secret. Here, you look at the inmate today and wonder about the woman she used to be in that second before she knew she had become a prisoner. Go ahead, take your clothes off one at a time. Officers give the order to strip naked. Let me see the bottom of your feet. Let me see the bottom of your feet. WOMAN: I was scared. Clothes off, you're told to squat, cough... WOMAN COUGHS WOMAN COUGHS Turn and face me. Open your mouth. Lift up your tongue. Why does Security ask someone in here to cough? When you cough, it releases the muscles, so if they are hiding anything inside of them, it will show. Cigarettes, drugs. You name it. It's clear some prisoners don't want us around. Girl, please get away from me. Girl, please get away from me. No, come on, hey. So who are the women here in this vast continent of prison? 63% are in for non-violent crimes like drugs and theft. Black women are still incarcerated at a higher rate than white women ` two to one. But the rate is closing because of the new population here ` white women, many driven by prescription drugs. they are young and old and women like Nicole Koester, who says don't be sure her story couldn't happen to anyone. Watching you on Good Morning America. (LAUGHS) I was thinking about that today. I was like, every morning, that's you and Charlie, every morning. That's who I watch, getting ready for work and getting the kids' lunches packed. A loving husband, three kids, a good job as the manager of a car company. She was a Little League mom. One day, there was a painful car accident; an Oxycontin prescription. And when those pills got too expensive, she turned to something cheaper ` heroin. And it just happened. It just` And it just happened. It just` What do you mean just happened? It was for pain, and then I realised it made everything so easy. She stole cheques to pay for drugs. Nicole Koester now has a sentence of 13-and-a-half years. Her husband comes to see her. She's only seen one of her children, her eldest son. TEARFULLY: He's the only one that talks to me. (SNIFFS) Um, but I` I mean, I ruined their lives. I'm not different than any other woman here. None of them. You know, we're all in here. Here, not only in large numbers, but with long sentences. In the last seven years there has been a 14% increase in the women given life. They're called toe taggers. So we head out to find the woman named Eraina Pretty, who's been in prison longer than any other woman in the state of Maryland ` 36 years. 36 years, growing up in here. Do you still remember the day you walked in? 'Wow. I'm doing a life sentence.' It finally hit me that I was here for the rest of my life. When she came here, she was 18 years old. She says from a filled with abuse. I was a little scared kid. All I wanted was attention. I wanted somebody to love me. She says she met a boy, and with his friend, they set out to rob the store where she worked. She admits she was there for the robbery. This is Eyewitness News! Three people accused for the murder of a north-west Baltimore grocer this week. Eraina Pretty's boyfriend shot the store owner and the clerk. She says a few years back she asked to be executed. Um, in 2003 I wrote Governor Earl and, um, asked him for, um, lethal injection. You asked? You asked? Yes, because of the victim's family and everybody. I wanted them to know that I was sorry for the crime that I had committed. We reached out to the family of the store owner who died. They know we've talked to her. We've not heard back. The pain is that when my boyfriend told me to tie them up, and I saw in their eyes, they didn't want` they said, 'Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me.' And I told them to just listen to what he tells them to do, and nobody was going to die. TEARFULLY: So I had to live with that too. Here in prison, Eraina Pretty got a college degree. A previous warden and a supervising officer have argued for her release. Are you still dangerous? Are you still dangerous? No, ma'am. She wonders if America is ready to let her try again. It'd be nice to be freed, but... just give me a second chance, because I have done so much to better myself. At the end of the day for this older prisoner... SHOUTS: Let's go, ladies! ...we head over to another cell block. It's filled with the newcomers and more rebellious inmates, nicknamed the Hood. Inside, raucous energy, a kind of pandemonium. CHEERING, CHANTING, SHOUTING CHEERING, CHANTING, SHOUTING It's deafening. I can't figure out exactly what's behind it. Some of the inmates are trying to watch movies on television, but they say they can't hear. Yeah, you don't hear the movies. You just read the captions. Others are playing games. Others are lining up for the 30 minutes you get on the telephone. But when I asked the crowd who was the best singer here, when she walks up, the noise starts to subside. Her name is Elvira Brown, Pumpkin, serving eight years for robbery. She sings a famous spiritual. # Should I feel # this scared? # And why should the shadows # come? # On the walls are graffiti. Messages from some of the thousands of women who were here before. READS: I was here, and now I'm gone. I left by name to carry on. Those who know me know me well. Those who don't can go to... ...Hell. Step into this room, please. # He watches me. # After the break, conspiracy, currency, contraband. And what about love behind bars? Well, just like on Orange Is The New Black, the prisoners are pretty creative when it comes to getting what they need. That's how much I love my girl. It does not mean you're gay. You're just what they call 'gay for the stay.' There's physical contact. Aren't there still penalties for that here? Come on, Miss Diane. You know I'm not gonna say none of that. What are the rules about sex? What are the rules about sex? We don't recognise consensual sex. There's no such thing. Welcome back. You are about to see how the black market works behind bars. The daily duel of wits between inmates and guards, and the intricacies of contraband, currency and conspiracy. Inside these walls, the women still find ingenious ways to get the food they crave, the make-up they miss and sometimes even sex. REGINA SPEKTOR'S 'YOU'VE GOT TIME' # Trapped, trapped, trapped till the cages fall. # It's like the TV show Orange Is The New Black. By day, so many officers, so many women. An ocean of conspiracies, currency and contraband. Where the cigarettes at? Where the cigarettes at? No, no, no, no, no, no. You ain't taking that fruit outta here. By the way, the inmates can't see Orange Is The New Black in prison, because it costs money on Netflix. What's this Red Is Black? Black Is` What is this? (LAUGHS) 24 hours a day, they're trying to figure out how to get it in. Eight hours a day, we're trying to figure out how to stop them from getting it in. Drugs, contraband. In Maryland, random cell searches try but can't catch everything. Where are you looking? What are you...? Where are you looking? What are you...? Every inch in every crevice. When you look at a room, you suddenly realise there's an infinity of places that you can store things. Yes. Yes. The smallest switch is an opportunity. There's a screw at the top, and they screw it out and stick stuff up in there. There can be drugs hidden in the soft tongue of a tennis shoe,... ...the toilet paper holder and also the toilet itself. Officers smell everything in the cell. Making sure it is what it is. If it's soap, it's supposed be soap. Smells like butter, it's not supposed to be in here. Other prisoners in the past have made what looks like candy. What's that? What's that? Uh, a homemade lollipop. At one point they were melting the drugs down, and... ...making it into a lolly. ...making it into a lolly. Yeah. As we filmed, no drugs were found in this cell. Captain Kevin Branch is an investigator and says the hot drug in prison is called boxes. It's Suboxone, a chemical which mimics the effects of heroine. It can be found in strips as thin as cellophane. He shows us how one was sneaked in under a stamp on a letter. Under the stamp? Under the stamp? Under the stamp. So that's the box in there. PAPER TEARS Officers search for it like needles in the stack of hundreds of letters and magazines. But as you look at the paper, you see this clear square? It looks strange to us. We tore the whole thing apart, and inside was a Suboxone strip. And one strip of Suboxone is enough to keep you high for eight hours. And the cost? $80-$100. But on the street, they only cost six dollars. And inmates in Tennessee will pay $200 for cigarettes, $1200 for a cell phone. You do know how they bring the phones in, right? God's pocketbook. God's pocketbook is prison lingo for the word vagina. There's also a technique known as the dip. Digging for any contraband. They like to hide stuff in their dip. The front of your pants they call the dip. The dip is anywhere right in this area. They hide contraband. I'm searching. Turn around. They'll see me and they all get to scattering. Lieutenant Anderson in Maryland has her own constant patrol. When I do the searches, I'm looking for notes, drugs. In their breast area, inside their panties, in their hairs. Officers and women are sometimes opposing armies. Come on, James! I gotta move! I gotta see what I got! A prison employee needs help. Can you tell me what was going on in here? No, I-I can't. I'm not at liberty to discuss it. Who is the most dangerous for the security of everyone? Our inmates can be dangerous. There's no doubt. Pull your shirt down here. Step over here. Captain Valerie Hampton has been an export on the duel in prison and manipulation for 30 years, saying sometimes the officers become co-conspirators. The starting salary for an officer in Tennessee is $25,000. In Maryland, it's $38,000. We have procedures that we set up to catch these bad people, and we deal with them. These young inmates are using art class pencils for make-up. It's allowed, but they say a prisoner will pay a fortune to get real lip gloss from the outside. So how do they do it? You just gotta know somebody that knows somebody. Hell, officer bring it in, we buy it, and we sell it. (CHUCKLES) Officially, the women accumulate 17 cents to $2.50 an hour from prison jobs like yard work, sewing flags. They also have $50-$75 credit at the commissary, a kind of small store of packaged goods, which they can use for bartering, since pretty much all prisoners told us they hate prison food. I don't eat what I can't recognise. WOMAN: Good morning, Diane! WOMAN: Good morning, Diane! Good morning! (LAUGHS) So we go behind the walls into the kitchen. You've got a lot of hair like me, so we better get you a red one, OK? Jennifer tells us every item here can be traded for cash or a favour. Everything's for sale. Cheese, things that we don't get on commissary, those are for sale. Especially fresh fruit. Put sugar in it, keep it warm; you can make alcohol, prison hooch. Here they call it jump. Make sure you don't have no apples and oranges on you today. Wouldn't want y'all making no julep. These are their tiny rooms. This inmate, 5'3" tall, shows us how tiny. This is it. That's the thing, the constant smells. Strong smells ` ammonia, people, life, cooking. In every cell, someone seems to have made a specialty from items in the commissary. Um, this is called foreplay. It's so good. Like, you just can't put it down. Your kitchen, your bathroom and your living room and your bedroom's all in the same room. Are there good manners that you use with the toilet? I do, but not everybody does. I guess that's all in how you're raised. Grown women, tiny space, so many years. And something else you see on Orange Is The New Black ` That's how much I love my girl. As the show points out, no code in prison is more mysterious and more complex than the one governing sex and relationships. For some prison veterans, what's happening is simply shocking. They said to me that, um, 'It's the way it is out there now, Miss Pretty.' And I'm, like, 'And this is all right?' It does not mean you're gay. You're just what they call 'gay for the stay'. We may not be able to do all the things that a man can do for you, but you still get that companionship, and you still get the physical needs. Those people, like, they'd absolutely swear, oh, they'd never do it, they'd never do it, and now they are. (LAUGHS) And then they end up arguing and acting` crying and acting so in love, I'm like, 'No, you're not. (LAUGHS) You're not even gay.' In prison language it is known as dom and femme, dominant and feminine, and everyone says inmates can find places to be alone. It's called beating the compound. It just is. You make your way. Depending on how the officer... you know, perceives it. Feels about it. Feels about it. (LAUGHS) Right. There's physical contact. Don't you` Aren't there still penalties for that here? Come on, Miss Diane. You know I'm not gonna say none of that. Finding places in Tennessee ` In the closets, the laundry room, there's no cameras. In the freezer, in the kitchen, and I've caught two in the chapel. And in Maryland too. But the warden tells us this is not just a game. What are the rules about sex? What are the rules about sex? Well, we don't recognise consensual sex. There's no such thing. And we're told this is where a women's prison can be dangerous too. That is what will get you more in trouble here than anything else, are the girlfriends. That's what most of the fights are. The warden in Tennessee spots a binder clip in a prison cell used for constructing a sex toy. Yeah, I found a binding clip that they can't have. Can you show me the` Can you show me the` No, no, we're not going to. That's a security issue. And when you leave, your secret goes with you. It's almost, like, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. What happens in the penitentiary... stays in the penitentiary. After the break, families behind bars. Dealing with the consequence of being away from loved ones, and sentenced to 13-and-a-half years. How does Emilia stay connected to her kids? Hey, boy! Look at you. Why can't we call you? Because it's a special phone and it don't take, um, in-calls. You know, just trying to make me feel, it` just to know that someone loves me. I love you more than all of the leaves on the pages in every book that has been printed. She's always gonna be my girl. She's always gonna be my girl. Better or worse, remember? (LAUGHS) She's always gonna be my girl. Better or worse, remember? (LAUGHS) Yep. Welcome back. America has one of the largest prison populations in the world, and the fastest growing group? Women. So how do they deal with a life behind bars when their family is all on the outside? For some inmates, they won't see family members again. Children will grow up, finish school, new kids will be born ` all moments they will miss out on. So how do they stay connected? You'll remember Nicole Koester, who started out on prescription drugs. Her husband Tracy makes the two-and-a-half hour drive every week to spend 60 minutes with her. She's my girl. She's always gonna be my girl. For better or worse, remember? (LAUGHS) For better or worse, remember? (LAUGHS) Yep. With a 13-and-a-half-year sentence, she's eligible for a parole hearing in May. Are they here? On another day, Eraina Pretty, who's served 36 years, is waiting to see her 9-year-old grandson. Hey, boy! Look at you. You're looking like Mama. Imma take you places, and it's gonna be me and you. We're going all over the place. I'm just gonna smuggle you. Why can't we call you? Because it's a special phone and it don't take, um, in-calls. You understand it? Nuh-uh. Nuh-uh. If I had a cell phone, I'd be like... (MOUTHS) Eraina is eligible for a parole hearing in June, but it will be her fifth try. And someone else is waiting. Remember Selilah Stokes? Her mom's with her 93-year-old grandmother who has had two strokes. She loves me. I know that. Yes. > Yes. > And I love her too. Oh, there she is! Oh, there she is! What's up, Mama? Oh, there she is! What's up, Mama? (LAUGHS) Give me sugar. (KISSES) Mwah. You my baby. (SOBS) Don't cry. Don't cry. Hold your tears. Doing OK? Doing OK? Yes, Mama. Doing OK? Yes, Mama. That's good. 'We do a little, uh, game, or a competition, you know ` how much I love you more?' You know, just trying to make me feel it` just to know that someone loves me. I love you more than all of the leaves on the pages in every book that has been printed. I love you more than all... the holes in every vent in every prison in the entire universe. Boom. Boom. What holes? (LAUGHS) Boom. What holes? (LAUGHS) Oh, we got holes in the vents! I still` I still think my books beat that, though. I really do. Miss, spending time with visitors is now over. Mom, I gotta go. > Mom, I gotta go. > You gotta go. It's time for us to go. Oh, so rude. Oh, so rude. You wanna stand and give her a hug? Oh, so rude. You wanna stand and give her a hug? LAUGHTER Selilah Stokes with her full sentence, it will be 43 years before she leaves. Love you. She'll be 69. Everybody I love will be gone. That's it. Bullets pierce, handcuffs are tight, cells are lonely. And tonight, at this moment across America, hundreds of thousands of women are getting ready for the sound of the door locking again. DOOR THUDS You're just asking for a little understanding. For us towards you, and from you towards us. LOUDSPEAKER: Letting you know once again, there will be no more inmate movies for tonight. Next week, we meet the women on that notorious corridor death row and the inmates tasting freedom for the first time in decades. Am I scared? Am I afraid? Absolutely. Because I've been locked up such a long time, but I'm gonna be all right. In for second-degree murder, she was a mentor over the years for Selilah Stokes. Oh, B, you're always crying. It's gonna be all right. I need to tell you something. (SNIFFS) The same way that I made it, you're gonna make it. 'To live is to suffer. To survive is to find meaning in the suffering.' On the day she walks out, she has $68, three tee-shirts, a few notes from her girlfriend, and even though she's supposed to be given 14 days of medication, she says she has nothing. A younger sister picks her up. Their first stop, Taco Bell. Can I have a Cheesy Gordita Crunch? In the car, a favourite song. PASSENGER'S 'SCARE AWAY THE DARK' PASSENGER'S 'SCARE AWAY THE DARK' # If you feel like you still have a choice, # if we all light up we can scare away the darkness. # Hello, how are you? They are Tiffany Cole, now 33, and Emilia Carr, now 30. Two separate crimes, two separate lives until they became neighbours on the notorious corridor. Do you call it death row? Now, we call it life row. Now, we call it life row. It's life row. Life row? Why? Cos we're not dying. We're living. Do you ever think, 'I might be executed'? No, You can't have that mentality, because that means you've accepted this. You've already died. You're already dead. Yeah, you cannot have that mentality. Well, that's our show for tonight. Thanks so much for joining us.