Take a walk from the reception area of almost any prison or jail facility in the country to any cell block or other detention area, and you’ll have to pass through a series of heavy spring-loaded steel or barred doors designed for security. As you pass through each door, it shuts behind you with a resounding metallic SLAM. The sound is unforgettable, and lets you know you’ve been separated from freedom, and have entered a different somewhat-oppressive world, the “slammer.” It’s a world where shouting, bravado and anger flare every day, and fear, despondency and tears reign silently in the dark of each night. Its role is to protect society, to discipline the guilty and to rehabilitate amenable offenders.

The-SLAMMER is dedicated to all the people that spend time behind those doors in that other world — the inmates, former inmates, the correctional officers, other law officers, administrative staffs, chaplains, medical personnel, visiting attorneys and civilian volunteers.