A
prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal
freedoms for a crime they have committed.
Imprisonment or
incarceration is a legal
penalty that may be imposed by the
state for the commission of a
crime. Other terms used are penitentiary, penalty school, correctional facility, remand centre, detention centre, and jail or gaol. In some legal systems some of these terms have distinct meanings. In the United States the difference between jails or detention facilities and prisons is primarily a function of the length of incarceration. Jails and detention facilities, under city or county jurisdiction, typically hold offenders awaiting trial or serving short sentences. Correctional facilities and prisons are more often run by the state or federal governments and house offenders serving long-term sentences.
Similarly Ontario, Canada, jails and detention centres are used to hold remanded prisoners awaiting trial, sentencing or other court proceedings. Jails are typically small facilities originally designed to serve the local community and have been gradually replaced with large regional detention centres. Jails and detention centres are run by the provincial government. Once an offender is sentenced, he or she would be transferred to either a provincial correctional centre or a federal penitentiary.