Present-day Penal Institutions

 

Modern prisons are quite diverse, but it is possible to make some generalizations about them. In all but minimum-security prisons, the task of maintaining physical custody of the prisoners is usually given the highest priority and is likely to dominate all other concerns. Barred cells and locked doors, periodic checking of cells, searches for contraband, and detailed regulation of inmates’ movements about the prison are all undertaken to prevent escapes. In order to forestall thievery, drug and alcohol use, violent assaults, rapes, and other types of prison crime, the inmates are subjected to rules governing every aspect of life; these do much to give the social structure of the prison its authoritarian character.

 

The need to maintain security within prisons has prompted many countries to separate their penal institutions into categories of maximum, medium, and minimum security. Convicted offenders are assigned to a particular category on the basis of the seriousness or violent nature of their offence, the length of their sentence, their proneness to escape, and other considerations. Within a prison, the inmates are often classified into several categories and housed in corresponding cellblocks according to the security risk posed by each individual. Younger offenders are usually held in separate penal institutions that provide a stronger emphasis on treatment and correction.

 

Prisons generally succeed in the twin purposes of isolating the criminal from society and punishing him for his crime, but the higher goal of rehabilitation is not as easily attained. An offender’s time in prison is usually reduced as a reward for good behaviour and conscientious performance at work. The privilege of receiving visits from family members and friends from the outside world exists in almost all penal systems.

 

The Tower of London

 

Founded nearly a millennium ago and expanded upon over the centuries since, the Tower of London has protected, housed, imprisoned and been for many the last sight they saw on Earth.

 

It has been the seat of British government and the living quarters of monarchs, the site of renowned political intrigue, and the repository of the Crown Jewels. It has housed lions, bears, and (to this day) flightless ravens, not to mention notorious traitors and framed members of court, lords and ministers, clergymen and knights.

 

In the Middle Ages the Tower of London became a prison and place of execution for politically related crimes, with most captives being put to death (murdered or executed). Among those killed there were the humanist Sir Thomas More (1535); the second wife of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn (1536). Other notable inmates included Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth I), who was briefly imprisoned by Mary I for suspicion of conspiracy; the infamous conspirator Guy Fawkes (1606) and the

 

 

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adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh (1618). Even in the 20th century during World War I several spies were executed there by firing squad.

 

The Bastille

 

The Bastille was a medieval fortress on the East side of Paris that became, in the 17th and 18th centuries, a French state prison and a place of detention for important persons charged with miscellaneous offences. The Bastille, stormed by an armed mob of Parisians in the opening days of the French Revolution, was a symbol of the despotism of the Bourbons and held an important place in the ideology of the Revolution.

 

With its eight towers, 100 feet high, linked by walls of equal height and surrounded by a moat more than 80 feet wide, the Bastille dominated Paris. The first stone was laid on April 22, 1370, on the orders of Charles V of France, who had built it as a bastide, or fortification (the name Bastille is a corruption of bastide), to protect this wall around Paris against English attack.

 

The Cardinal de Richelieu was the first to use the Bastille as a state prison in the 17th century. Prisoners included political troublemakers and individuals held at the request of their families, often to coerce a young member into obedience or to prevent a disreputable member from marring the family’s name. Under Louis XIV, the Bastille became a place of judicial detention; and later persons being tried by the Parliament were also detained there. It is noteworthy that prohibited books were also placed in the Bastille. The high cost of maintaining the building prompted talk of demolition in 1784.

 

On July 14, 1789, when only seven prisoners were confined in the building, a mob advanced on the Bastille with the intention of asking the prison governor to release the arms and munitions stored there. Angered by the governor’s refusal, the people stormed and captured the place. This dramatic action came to symbolize the end of the ancient regime. The Bastille was subsequently demolished by order of the Revolutionary government.

 

Alcatraz

 

Prohibition and the Great Depression changed the United States’ strategic needs. Organized crime turned government attention away from outside threats, toward the need to contain highly dangerous criminals within the United States. In 1933, Alcatraz Island was turned over to the Department of Justice to serve as a new kind of prison. Housed inside the old military prison building, Alcatraz Prison was a last stop for the nation’s most notorious criminals. Prisoners were guaranteed shelter, food, medical care and clothing. Everything else, from contact with relatives to recreational activities, had to be earned. The most notable prisoners in Alcatraz were gangsters including Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly, as well as Alaska Gold Rush pimp and murderer Robert Stroud, better known as the Birdman. Frank Lee Morris and the Anglin brothers, John and Clarence, became notorious as the only Alcatraz inmates who may possibly have made a successful escape. Their story was dramatized in the 1979 film “Escape from Alcatraz,” although many experts doubt the escape was a success.

 

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Alcatraz Prison closed in 1963. The prison was closed due to the 1962 disappearance of Morris and the Anglin brothers, the decision had been made before that. Operating expenses were extremely high, as the island produced none of its own resources. Even drinking water had to be shipped in. In 1969 the island was claimed as Native American territory.

 

In 1972, Alcatraz Island became part of the new Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It opened as a monument under the National Park Service in 1973. Daytime visits are largely self-guided, allowing sightseers to walk around both the island and the prison. Guided evening tours focus on the prison and include demonstrations and special activities designed to teach visitors about prison life.

 

Prisoners’ Rights

 

The idea that a prisoner has rights that may be protected by actions in the courts has been developed in Europe and the United States. In England, in the absence of a written constitution, prisoners resorting to the courts have relied on the general principles of administrative law, which require fair procedures by disciplinary bodies. Although many actions brought by prisoners have been unsuccessful, prison disciplinary procedures have been improved as a result of such litigation.

 

In the U.S. actions brought under the provisions of the U.S. Constitution (notably the Eighth and the Fourteenth amendments) establish that prisoners are entitled to the protection of the Constitution. Early U.S. court decisions ruled that prisoners had forfeited all of the rights enjoyed by free citizens. Eventually, the courts recognized certain rights and legal remedies available to prisoners, who may now file their own suits, have direct access to the federal courts, and file writs of Habeas Corpus and mandamus. Under Habeas Corpus the prisoner may request release, transfer, or another remedy for some aspect of confinement. Mandamus is a command issue by a court directing a prison administrator to carry out a legal responsibility ‒ to provide a sick prisoner with medical care, for example ‒ or to restore ‘the prisoner’ rights that have been illegally denied. Prisoners have sought remedies for many problems, including relief from unreasonable searches, release from solitary confinement, and the procuring of withheld mail. Recent decisions have indicated, however, that the courts are now willing to limit legal writs by prisoners in deference to the security requirements of the prison.