Going to prison

Photo Illustration

Prison officials won't let anyone even take a close-up photo of the front gate at the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center, where all Oklahoma inmates begin their sentences, no matter the crime. Until now, only the guards and the inmates themselves ever got a good look at the other side. Here, for the first time, the Tulsa World follows one prisoner through the gate.


In Day 1: In the packet of forms to fill out, the new prisoners eventually turn to a page titled "Last Will and Testament." "It makes you think," Craig Steed says. "You could go home in a box." Read these stories here.	In Day 2: It's a bitter surprise when his eyes come to focus on a gray, concrete wall with graffiti scrawled next to his pillow. A black circle surrounds a cross with the letters "AC." "Instead of waking up with a woman, I wake up with the Aryan Circle," Craig Steed says. Read these stories here.	In Day 3: The newcomers walk single-file and sit together, with the other inmates watching them. Calling out to them. Winking at them. Whistling and blowing kisses. "We're the fresh meat," Craig Steed says. Read these stories here.