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The prison system is not based on the strict application of rules, nor on the systematic identification of infractions, and even less so on the automatic application of penalties. Inverting the usual perspective, this article proposes to analyze the process by which an incident report does not lead to a penalty. This teaches us about the ordinary functioning of detention, the balance of power, inmates’ flexibility, and the corrections staff’s power “held in reserve.” The disciplinary process in prison, contrary to representations which often reduce it to a rigid and perfectly disciplined system, involves an entire practice of negotiation between prisoners, guards, and corrections administrators: each group contributes to the “negotiated order.”