CC CH 3

Contract and lease systems

system devised to contract inmates’ prison labor out to farmers and other employees

convict codes

infromal rules that inmates live by vis a vis the institution and the staff

correctional institutions

institutions that carefully classify inmates into treatment programs that address their needs and perceived deficiencies

they are also intended to be places where inmates can earn good time credits and eventually parole

marks system

a method used in some correctional systems to reward inmates for good behavior with credits that can reduce their time served.

medical model

a framework for understanding criminal behavior that emphasizes treatment and rehabilitation over punishment, focusing on the psychological and physical needs of inmates.

The walnut street jail

origionally constructed in PA in 1773 and operated as a typically local jail at the time

• held pretrial detainees and minor offenders

• failed to separate by gender, age, or offense

• fee system

Remodeled in 1970 and many scholars regarded this as the first prison

Based on reforms envisioned by John Howard and later Bentham and fry had envisioned for English and European jails

• fee system was dropped

• inmates were adequately clothed and fed regardless of their ability to pay

• separated by gender and offense

• debtors were separated from convicted

• medical care was provided and services was required

Philadeplhia society for Alleviating Miseries of public prisons

was led by Benjamin Rush and focused on prison reform, advocating for humane treatment of inmates and the establishment of better living conditions

• in 1789 the General Assembly of Pennsylvania enacted legislation based on these recommendations and the Pennsylvania system was born

Roberts (1997)

stated that the reason the Walnut Streets jails new wing was considered the first real prison as opposed to others such as preceding ones such as new gate, was because it carried out incarceration as punishment, implemented a rudimentary classification system, futured individual cells, and was intended to provide a place for offenders to do penitence”

Reality reality of Walnut Street jail

• overcowded (4x what was acceptable)

• institutional industry buildings that provided work for inmates burned down leading to idleness

• by 1816, the prison was little different than before the reforms

• corrupted by contamination of those who worked together

• corrupted by indolence due to the individuals who were plunged into solitude

Newgate Prison

Modeled after Walnut Street Jail in 1797

Thomas Eddy- warden of newgate who was a quaker and the focus of prison was on rehabilitation, religious redemption, and work programs to support prison upkeep

• did not use corporal punishment

• crowding caused violent outbreaks

Western Pennsylvania Prison

Built in 1821 in Pittsburg (little remarked upon as compared to the eastern prison)

• devised to operate in solitary and separate fashion (labor prohibited)

• thought labor might interfere with the ability of the criminal to reflect and feel remorse for their crime

• reduction of communication for fear of contamination

• abandoned due to architectural and operational issues

East Pennsylvania Prison

Also known as cherry hill for much of its 150 years of operation

had an idea that inmates could be contaminated or corrupted by their fellow inmates

• largest building in America in the 1920s

Inmates weren’t allowed to work at first but then they were allowed to in their cells

the only contact the inmates could have was with clergy and some vocational teachers

• silence is required for self-reflection to be closer to God

• solitary confinement as a practical matter remained in existence until after the civil war and was not formally abolished until 1913

Indications that it drove inmates insane; it debilitated people by making them incapable of dealing with others

Pennsylvania Prison Model (whole)

A correctional approach developed in Pennsylvania that emphasized solitary confinement, rehabilitation, and moral reflection, aiming to prevent inmate contamination by limiting social interaction

• there were indications that it was not completely silent

• inmates tortured to maintain discipline

• food and supplies meant for inmates were given to guards

• use and abuse

  A debate raged among prison experts as to the value of separation

• idea of total separation was under siege

• serious psychological problems for inmates, but despite this, many institutions still copied this Pennsylvania model

Preferred

NY preferred over PA system and copied extensively by American prison builders in part because it rejected the solitary confinement that dickens and others laminated in the PA prisons

Auburn Prison

Silent but congregate (worked together during the day but in silence)

cornerstone was laid in 1816, and the cells were bult back-to-back with corridors on each side

received its first inmates in 1817, but wasn’t finished until 1819

bee in existence for more than 200 years

Elam Lynds

first warden of the Auburn prison in 1821, who was strict disciplinarian and former army captain/ Strict obedience was expected and allowed the staff to use whips to ensure it

Under his regime:

• inmates were not allowed to talk or look at eachother during meals or work

• solitary confinement and flogging were used for punishing and controlling inmates

Originator of some widely adopted practices

• lockstep for inmates

• striped unifomrs

• the classification system

• ball and chain system

VERY SERIOUS ABOUT SILENCE

Sing Sing Prison

Modeled after the Auburn Prison architecturally in that the cells were small and there were congregate areas for group work by inmates, but its cell blocks were very tiered and long

inmate operations exactly mirrored the auburn protocols

built from inmate labor from the auburn prison under Lynds

• being sent up the river

Prison inmate labor was contract labor and were subject to abuse

• contractors paid a set amount of inmates labor and would make sure they got the most work out of them

• cut costs where they could and bribed wardens and keepers when they needed to

Eventually contracts were ended as the cheap labor made prison-produced goods too competitive with products made by free workers

Early prisons and Jails not reformed

beaumont and Tocqueville said that many people believed that all prisons were reformed after this time, but that was not the case

jails noticed no reforms at all, jails copied their large, locked up, and controlled atmosphere without any philosophy of reform to guide their construction or operation

the creation of prisons was a grand reform

promoted by principled people who were appalled at the brutality of discipline wielded against those in their communities

supported englightemnent ideals of humanity and the promise of reformation

Dorthea Dix

A social reformer and advocate for the mentally ill, who played a significant role in improving conditions in jails and asylums during the 19th century.

preferred PA model because she thought inmates benefitted from separation from others, but she agreed they were both abject failures in terms of reform for inmates

• advocated for shorter sentences for minor offenses

• pardoning power was used to often

• health issues

• bad quality of water and food

• found eastern PA prison to do more than others to alleviate miseries by changing the diet, providing adequate clothing, and making warm water available

  Claimed that the eastern prison was far superior to most prisons and sing sing was far inferior

The failure of Reform is noted

• great deal of laxity and brutality

• prisons were overcrowded and understaffed

• labor was exploited

• inmates were largely unsupervised

• had access to contraband

• lack of space and staff= more severe punishments

• solitary confinement popular

• little sustenance

The 1870 American Prison Congress

was a gathering of prison reformers and officials aimed at discussing and implementing improvements in the prison system, emphasizing rehabilitation over punishment.

• held in OH

• remedied all themes, except desire to reform

• established the declaration of princioples

• provided a blueprint for the prisons we see today

Elmira Reformatory

was a progressive prison established in New York in 1876, focusing on rehabilitation through education and vocational training, rather than punishment.

• reward/marks system that was practiced by Maconochie

  Zebulon Brockway- appointed to the head of the reformatory and was intent on using the ideas of Maconochie to create a model prison

• persuaded the NY legislature to pass a bill creating the indeterminate sentence which would be administered by a board rather than a court

• younger men because they were more susceptible to change

• planned to create education and vocational schools that would educate inmates from elementary to college

A lack of funding brought back the old ways

• inmates did not conform as they were expected to

• staff wasn’t educated and trained like he envisioned

The marks system has a three pronged purpose:

To discipline

to encourage reform

to justify good time in order to reduce the sentence of the offender

Southern Prisons

prior to the civil war, prisons were rarely used because labor was needed in agricultural practices

once the 13th amendment abolished slavery, southern states in the Reconstruction began incarcerating more people, especially ex slaves and recreated a slave society in the corrections system

North, Midwest and later western prisons

built somewhat on the Auburn model, but for the most part abandoned the attempt to completely silence inmates

worked in larger groups under private or public employees

• order was maintained through lashing or other innovations in discipline

• no pretense of high minded reform, but their conditions and accommodations of inmates were much better than that of southern prisons

Contract and lease system

A method used by southern states post-Civil War to hire out prisoners to private businesses or landowners, effectively continuing forced labor practices under a different guise.

Industrial Prisons

Facilities designed to utilize inmate labor for manufacturing goods, often emphasizing productivity and profit over rehabilitation.

As the strength of unions increased and as the depression struck in the 1930s, the sale of cheap, prison made goods was restricted by several state and federal laws, limiting the production of goods in prisons to just products that the state or non peodfits might be able to use

Stateville prison

The penitentiary in mass society

built in Illinois in 1925 as a panopticon in reaction to the bad conditions of the old Joliet prions built in 1860

classified into programs and provide treatment

(used the medical model that assumes criminals are sick and need treatment)

became a big house prison

Warden Ragen (1936-1961)

Big House Prison

A large, often overcrowded prison facility characterized by strict discipline and minimal inmate interaction, typically housing long-term offenders.

convict code

A set of informal rules and norms governing the behavior of inmates, emphasizing loyalty, respect, and the importance of maintaining a tough persona while in prison.

do not inform

do not openly interact or cooperate with the guards or the administration

do your own time.

Warden Ragen (1936-1961)

The influential warden of Stateville Prison who implemented significant reforms and maintained strict discipline during his tenure, focusing on inmate treatment and management

• inmates favored by the staff were given better housing and more privileges

• corruption simmered with the relaxation of rules for tougher inmates

  Under internal pressure from more career-oriented professionals interested in management of prisons and external pressure from their greater racial consciousness and emerging inmates’ rights movements

Warehouse prisons

Facilities designed to hold large numbers of inmates with minimal rehabilitation efforts, often characterized by overcrowding and limited programs.

many super max prisons are warehouse prisons today

no rehab

incapacitation

severe punishment as deterrence

Themes that prevail in correctional history

how to fund the prison

ability of funding

how to spend money

ways to utilize inmate labor

greater compassion and humanity

the influence that the demographics of inmates themselves have played

religious sentiments about punishemnt and justice

architecture as it aligns with supervision