Everyone’s a Critic: Prison Reviews on Yelp

The Lew Sterrett Justice Center in Dallas is a jail built to hold inmates awaiting trial or transfer to state or federal prison. It’s also, according to its Yelp page, “the crappiest place on earth.” Yes, Lew Sterrett is reviewed on Yelp, a site better known for allowing users to rate restaurants, hotels, and hair salons. Rikers Island, San Quentin, and Sing Sing, it turns out, also have Yelp pages. Lew Sterrett’s Yelp page is currently the third result that comes up on Google.

Are the reviews for real? Some of them clearly are not: “The industrial vibe of the accommodations, combined with the summer camp atmosphere among the guests, somehow managed to be both sophisticated and good old-fashioned fun.” Others, however, sound like the work of people who have spent time at the facility (and, possibly, some of its competitors) and have set out to honestly relay what it’s like.