*He's not in prison, he's in jail, and there's a big difference.* What?! Jail an... | Hacker News

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		bmunro on Feb 13, 2014 \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: The Facebook Comment That Ruined a Life He's not in prison, he's in jail, and there's a big difference. What?! Jail and prison are synonyms. There is no real difference. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/prison - A building to which people are legally committed as a punishment for a crime or while awaiting trial. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/jail - A place for the confinement of people accused or convicted of a crime. Both refer to being detained both before and after conviction.

zacinbusiness on Feb 13, 2014 | [–]

The main difference is that you go to prison after a conviction, where s you may sit in jail (nearly) indefinitely without trial or legal counsel.

Jails are also usually less well funded, older, and generally less pleasant (oh yeah) than are prisons.

_7h4m on Feb 13, 2014 | | [–]

There's a difference (in the US at least).

A concise summary:

http://sheriff.org/faqs/displayfaq.cfm?id=4f892698-5c5d-40f8...

rangibaby on Feb 13, 2014 | [–]

I think by jail he is referring to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remand_(detention)

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