00:06This is a horrible situation. I hate when someone tells me what I'm doing wrong, what I'm bad at.
00:30It's hard to take.
00:35We're in Mariah Shock Prison, New York State. The special feature? No fences, no barbed wire, no locks. Instead, rigorous
00:45military drills. The prisoners could escape at any time, but they don't. How does the prison without walls work?
00:575.30 a.m., time to wake up. 15 minutes later, the 300 inmates have to work out, like soldiers,
01:06every day for two hours. New in prison, Thomas Eisenberger. He's in for drug trafficking. Every minute here, a challenge
01:15for the 35-year-old.
01:18When I first got here, the PT was a little hard. I would personally never run away.
01:27Military drill instead of prison walls. Eisenberger deliberately chose this. Like everyone else, he had a choice in court. Several
01:35years in jail or six months at Mariah Shock.
01:39Eisenberger hopes to be reprogrammed. The drill takes its toll. He needs his energy. There's a tough test ahead.
01:50What the drill can achieve is best shown by Brian Kohler. He's been here for five months. The system has
01:56turned him upside down.
01:58I feel great, man. It's a beautiful morning. Closer going home. Getting my mind and my body right. Can't ask
02:07for anything more right now.
02:08Well, it's like medicine.
02:09It's like medicine. It's like medicine. It's nasty, but it must feel better.
02:13Drill instructor Dave Adams' task, making the prisoners compliant. The objective, blind obedience.
02:24Fiscal training starts today, all right? Get some motivated.
02:27Second platoon. Fall out.
02:30Yes, sir.
02:32Quickly.
02:35They get excited about PT. Not so much in the beginning when we first start the program, but after they've
02:41been here about a month, six weeks, they look forward to it.
02:46Second platoon, you look forward to PT.
02:48Yes, sir.
02:51Second platoon, what about PT?
02:53We like it! We love it! We want it! We want more!
02:56Make it hurt! We're the strength to make it hurt!
02:58Hooray!
03:01That's the tone of the day. They like it.
03:05Six months of military-style drill is too hard for many.
03:0820% of the inmates drop out and voluntarily go to the normal jail the
03:14others have to push through and hope to be better people after six months after
03:22two hours of physical training the inmates are allowed to have breakfast
03:25one of three meals a day they have exactly 15 minutes every day they get
03:31the same menu two glasses of milk coffee potatoes cornflakes a banana everything
03:39the men do is carefully coordinated to the smallest detail no walls in jail this
03:45works only through coordination nobody is allowed to step out of line no walls also
03:53means no privacy Eisenberger lives along with 45 other inmates in the same room
03:59the reason behind this mutual control and it works because if an inmate is
04:05messy everyone gets punished a lot of my fellow peers lockers are higher and
04:09tighter than mine they they make this look a lot sharper than I do I do well I
04:13pass my evals so I'm doing good but it can it can look a lot better than this it
04:17can also look a lot worse just like in other jails there are no personal
04:22belongings I knew it was coming no packages nothing like that it's these are
04:28personal belongings that's what I accept in a few hours Eisenberger will face a
04:33tribunal he doesn't know about it yet eight o'clock time to raise the flag
04:40organized into various platoons the prisoners have to stand upright for an
04:45hour each day without even moving a finger while they do so freedom is always
04:51present the smallest mistakes are immediately dealt with by the sergeants
04:57he was touching himself even with bonds and stuff like that they gotta maintain the military
05:01ground for newcomers like Eisenberger it's hard to keep his nerve
05:09so whenever drones are just come around someone says you why are you moving I'm locked up even
05:13tighter hoping it wasn't me that was moving was I moving am I moving am I doing something wrong
05:17you're asking yourself these questions while you're worried about getting corrected PT some
05:21punishments are borderline bullying or they seem deliberately arbitrary the sergeants first have
05:28to break the inmates in order to transform them everything matters everything every little thing
05:33matters they're a parade rash they could they're not supposed to move around
05:42attention the eyes report as a reminder all inmates are here voluntarily hoping to become better people
05:51in six months but not every offender can apply the prisoners in Mariah are petty criminals and don't have a
05:57history of violent crime
06:02therapy is also part of the program here inmates are to tear down their personal walls they shouldn't
06:09have secrets prison veteran Brian colon has to deal with his past drug abuse today and open up about the
06:17darkest chapter in his life colon did and sold heroin he spent five years in a normal jail
06:28but the time was more a swampland of temptation than of improvement for the 39 year old in real prison
06:36there
06:36is no caring community there's probably more drugs in prison then in the outside world there's more
06:44violence in prison anywhere else in the world the staff here is phenomenal they genuinely care they may come
06:52down on you hard but it's all because they see in you what you should see in yourself i've become
06:57a
06:57better me every way in every way possible colon wants to become a better person at any cost escape
07:05from the prison without walls not an option i never thought about leaving never thought about quitting
07:11if anything every day i try a little bit harder
07:17brian appears to us as an honest guy but also robotic the shock program changed him every day a bit
07:24more
07:27we discussed how security is ensured with superintendent rawson boys since the founding of mariah in the 1980s
07:34he significantly influenced the prison there are certain criteria that they have to meet before they're
07:40sent to a correctional setting that doesn't have a fence there's also several accounts and there's
07:45several security measures that we take hardly anyone relapses and it's cheaper the shock program
07:52saves up to twenty thousand dollars per inmate by comparison in germany sooner or later every second
07:59inmate relapses and ends up back behind bars in this setting also the inmate has the advantage of going
08:07home in six months rather than being incarcerated for his entire state bid so the inmates don't want
08:13to jeopardize that the huge reduction in the prison sentence keeps most of them from running away in the
08:19morning the risk of escaping is at its highest the inmates perform charitable work in the next town
08:27today i believe we're going to clean up some campsites
08:31it's 11 o'clock without shackles in an unsecured van eisenberg's group is on its way the destination
08:39a campsite 10 kilometers away in the middle of an idyllic national park
08:54only three guards to look after the 10 inmates on the large site unarmed as well a great moment to
09:01make a break for eisenberger however the thought never crosses his mind i would i would personally
09:06never run away there's too much at stake i was sentenced to five years this shed's almost 30 months
09:13off my sentence to come out here and i mean rake and on the edge of this lake and look
09:17at these
09:17mountains and it's a blessing in disguise and i'm thankful to be here
09:24only two people have fled in the prison's entire history
09:27in a situation like this one at work both were caught and sent to normal jail
09:42time for dinner pasta peas white bread a yogurt and a glass of milk are being brought to the table
09:48the most important thing now is food because after 10 hours of continuous drill the prisoners have been
09:55pushed to their limits and even then the sergeants don't back down
10:03eisenberger has to adjust to the pressure
10:10we only had eight minutes to eat so the key is shoveling in as fast as i can
10:16the short amount of time isn't the only thing adding pressure on the inmates
10:20especially when the guards spoil their meal where's that go sir why isn't it in there sir no excuse
10:30sir that's right enjoy your meal on the back wall sir yes sir see ya
10:54man this ain't many things that it's reasonable because
10:58all of my fellow peers and myself we we know what we're going wrong
11:03so it'll make us not it'll make us not do it again next time
11:13are these antics really necessary
11:18we talk to one of the guards the discipline here for the very small things is the small things make
11:25the big things come together in the end and we create structure which means the guards educate
11:31the prisoners for everyday life even at the dinner table newcomer eisenberger looks pretty exhausted
11:39there's no private time at all it's very exhausting mentally challenging
11:44eisenberger still has the biggest challenge of his day ahead of him after dinner this means surrendering to
11:51the conflict course
11:58inmates tear down walls amongst themselves they even drill criticism all against one if you're the one in
12:06the pillory you're not allowed to defend yourself when we sit down here in this group we have to air
12:12each other's issues and shortcomings and defects of character it's a horrible situation
12:16yes sir today is eisenberger's turn for his first run in the hot seat his platoon has a lot to
12:24say
12:25he seems to be far down the group's hierarchy now he has to deal with the criticism
12:33you're a whole new person i can barely talk to you you're too busy running around
12:36politicking of the shock program you're extremely loud out there you're the house mouse which seems
12:42somewhat aggressive still you're just working on the surface eisenberger has to bear it all
12:47only when all the inmates have had their turn to speak is he allowed to justify himself but not
12:53before the drill sergeants speak they said you wanted to be our friend you want to shoot the willy
12:59with me sir no emmett eisenberg does not want to be your friend sir good i don't want to be
13:04your friend
13:05emmett eisenberg was asked by his platoon leader to help with issues that are involved in the platoon
13:11dress code locking up on time eisenberger begins ranting but the sergeants are only expecting short
13:18apologies thank you for helping out i don't want to hear your bullshit sir yes sir sir yes sir i
13:23don't
13:23want to hear the bullshit sir take what he's saying serious this isn't high school if you're not going to
13:29take it serious then you're going to end up locked up again you don't want to take responsibility for
13:35your actions if you change you become a better person well you're going to be on quiet time
13:45my favorite time the conflict course is over i'm mad at myself i'm upset with myself i need to slow
13:54down
13:54more and this program is helping me with patience i'm very you know positive all right please
14:02forward march lock it up for your lockers 9 30 p.m lockdown
14:15the prison without walls a tough drill and the hope for a better life nobody thinks about leaving
14:27so
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