Prison system

“ Almost inaccessible to the outsider is the heart of a convict, or the criminal's point of view of life. In fact their hearts and their points of view differ according to their natures and experiences. But to think of our prisoners in the mass—the thousand or two thousand men cut off from the world and immured in each of our great penitentiaries—is to think of them as the Inarticulate. The repression of their lives has been fearful. All that was required of them was to be part of the machinery of the prison system; to work, to obey, to maintain discipline. ”

“ It is obvious to what extravagance such a system can be pushed, but the underlying principle is sound, and a perfect prison system, based on science, would adapt its treatment to a far greater degree than at present to the varying categories of offenders, who, under the old classical system, which recognized only the uniform and abstract type of crime and criminal, would be consigned equally to the one abstract and uniform type of penalty—the prison cell. ”

“ I think that, on the whole, it may be claimed for our Prison System that it has stood the test, and emerged from the search-light thrown upon its inner workings, with at least the admission that the humanities are not neglected: that it is doing its best with the very difficult material with which it deals, to save, encourage, and rehabilitate, when that is possible. ”

“ Till the people shall stir effectively, make their voice heard and their power felt. Why not change our system of imprisoning and put it fully on that of reform? Why not adopt the course of dismissing prisoners only on condition of good evidence of reform and on further condition of being returned in case of relapse into crime? Why not arrange for those who will not reform, as some will not, to serve in prison for life, thus freeing society of their depradations? ”

“ The reformative influence of Camp Hill and the Parole Line System deserve commendation, and the fact that none of the 175 prisoners who have been located in the Parole Line Cabins made any attempt to break parole, and that it has only been necessary to remove three for misconduct, testifies to the success of the plan which provides a stepping-stone from imprisonment to liberty. ”

“ In the prisons and reformatories the inmates should be taught the habits of industry and obedience to law and order, under humane and strict discipline.
There should be a complete separation of the first offender and the individual subject to reformation, from the weak-minded, physically deformed, and old and confirmed criminals; a reformatory for boys and first offenders, a separate prison for women and an industrial school for girls, with a parole system in each of the institutions. ”

“ Humanity, too, recoiled from the cruelty of such inflictions as the lash, and the brand; and as the effect of such severity was no argument for its continuance, humane legislators devised the Penitentiary system, by which criminals are confined to labor, and should be allowed full opportunities of reflecting on their conduct, and of reforming their lives. ”

“ When to these influences operating inside, while the man or woman is still in custody, is added the ever-watchful care of a highly organized system of help and protection, on which all can rely on discharge, if ready and willing to respond to advice given and help offered, 'Prison reform', in the sense of the reform of the individual prisoner, is realized in its best and most practical way. ”

“ They are conducted on prison lines only so far as is necessary to ensure safe custody and control, and on strictly asylum principles in all matters referring to the treatment of inmates. The application of all restraint and punishment is controlled by the medical aspect of the question. The majority of inmates are persons who, through a long life of debauch, immorality, violence, and crime, have given [Pg 157] constant trouble to the Police in the streets and to Prison Authorities during innumerable penal sentences. ”

“ Neither do I consider the present system, as practised at Sing Sing, the state prison of New York, as tending to reform the offenders; it punishes them severely, but that is all. Where corporal punishment is resorted to, there always will be feelings of vindictiveness; and all the bad passions must be allowed to repose before the better can gain the ascendant.
The best system that is acted upon in the Penitentiary at Philadelphia, where there is solitary confinement, but with labour and exercise. ”

“ A short historical retrospect will show that it is only in comparatively modern times that 'Imprisonment' became the recognized method for the punishment of crime, and that prison reform, in the sense of moral improvement by imprisonment was formulated as a political duty, and became an earnest pre-occupation of statesmen and philosophers. ”

“ And we are coming to see that the protection which society enjoys through the imprisonment for a few months or years of a small proportion of the criminal class is dearly purchased by a system which returns the offender to society less fitted than before to cope with the conditions of a life of freedom. ”

“ Therein lies the prophylactic of crime. No Prison Authority can be indifferent to the great social effort now being made, the effect of which is perhaps already visible in the diminishing number of young persons convicted of crime. ”

“ It is a curious and interesting fact that a dispute between two neighbouring States in America as to the best plan to follow in dealing with offenders—whether it was better to keep them in their cells day and night, or during the night only, should have determined for England, France, and other parts of Europe the method of imprisonment to be adopted, viz:—the Cellular System. ”

“ The object of the System for males is to apply, us far as practicable, having regard to the length of sentence, the methods followed at Borstal Institutions, for the special treatment of offenders 16-21 sentenced to imprisonment. The shortness of sentence, of course, operates against any manifest result, but experience has shown that with lads of this age much can be effected by close personal interest and oversight on the part not only of the prison authority, but of voluntary workers. ”

“ Distribution of power among so many Justices—some 2,000 in all—gave occasion to the exercise by them of different views and methods of punishment, with the result that no standard of treatment was maintained, applying equally to all prisons, and severity or leniency of treatment seemed to depend on the accident of the locality in which the offender was arrested. ”

“ Though for moral and financial

reasons the convicts must work, it is evident that on these grounds we cannot accept the cellular system as a pattern of prison organisation.
It is quite sufficient, in prisons for the segregation of criminals, to provide for isolation by night, which requires buildings far more simple and less costly than those of the cellular prisons.
Work in the open air is the only useful basis of organisation for convict prisons. ”

“ It may be stated broadly that to France and America must be given the credit for the impulse and energy which lit and kept alive the torch of prison reform during those years of the last century, say 1830-70, when, by reason of dynastic changes on the Continent, and political struggles at home, the flame might have been obscured, or even extinguished. ”

“ At the same time I know, as all men do or should, that the subject of Prison Discipline is one of the highest importance to any community; and that in her sweeping reform and bright example to other countries on this head, America has shown great wisdom, great benevolence, and exalted policy. In contrasting her system with that which we have modelled upon it, I merely seek to show that with all its drawbacks, ours has some advantages of its own. ”

“ Many Voluntary Associations and other bodies in this country interested in its administration are advocating an extension of its provisions, and I think we can anticipate with every confidence the time, to which the prison reformer has so long looked forward, when those unhappy persons, who through mental affliction drift inevitably into criminal courses, are removed from prison surroundings to the more appropriate atmosphere of institutions where they can remain under proper care and control. ”

“ Every ease in the Special Grade will be specially considered every two months by the Institution Board, with a view to conditional licence. The behaviour of inmates on parole will furnish the test of trustworthiness, and by its appeal to higher instincts, on conduct or behaviour, will strengthen the probability of successful liberation. A careful study and individualization, therefore, of each inmate in state of parole or semi-liberty, will furnish the necessary evidence for determining her fitness for liberty. ”

“ The key-note of the system is, therefore, the "individualization" of the inmate. Inmates will be interviewed regularly—those doing well encouraged; those doing badly cautioned, and made clearly to understand that they will not be allowed the privilege of the higher Grades until the Institution Board is completely satisfied that they are doing their best in every way to profit by the opportunities afforded. ”

“ New Jersey State Prison.—We learn that there are now confined in the State Penitentiary at Trenton 350 convicts. In many of the cells three prisoners are put together, and some far-seeing newspaper observes, that unless the prison premises are enlarged, there is danger that the separate system, which the law requires to be carried out in the prison, will have to be abandoned! If a man was as near being dead as the separate system is to being violated there, most doctors would give him up. ”

“ Said Thought—If you were to answer that advertisement, and obtain the situation, it would place you upon missionary ground, and at the same time give you employment which would afford you a support while you are teaching the ignorant. You would get knowledge in the position. A new phase [iv] of life would be opened to your view. You would have an opportunity to observe, practically, how well the present system of prison discipline is adapted to reform convicts, and repress crime. But the cost is too much. I cannot become a Matron in a Penitentiary. ”

“ In France we are lamentably behindhand in the matter. Though we have some prisons which are model, we have a great many more which are shamefully behind the times. For my own part, I have come to the conclusion, from all I have seen and heard, that seclusion in cells at night, with work in common during the daytime in small easily managed workshops, or better still, in the open air as at Portland Prison in England, is the penitentiary system which offers the fewest drawbacks. ”

“ The whole aim of the parole system is to supervise the actions of the prisoner, without adding to his irritation or humiliation, but with sufficient strictness to guard him against temptation and to replace him in prison if he proves unworthy of the trust bestowed upon him. ”

“ It is not denied that prison rules and regulations press hardly on men and women who, under normal circumstances, would never have become the subject of those punitive and repressive conditions, which are inseparable from the deprivation of liberty by the State. ”

“ These rules introduced the following important arrangements; viz., the treating the inmates, as far as possible as sane persons, both in conversation and manners toward them; to allow them as much liberty as possible; to engage them daily to take exercise in the open air; to allow them to wear their own clothes and no uniform prison-dress; also to break up the inhuman system of permitting the promiscuous idle curiosity of the public, so that no one was allowed to see them without permission ”

“ These State Institutions are under the control of the Prison Commissioners, and form part of the Prison administration. They are controlled by minute regulations, approved by Parliament, and their function is to reconcile, as far as possible, a strict custody and control with certain alleviating conditions and privileges for those who deserve them. Their population is however, relatively small, the average for the three years prior to the War not having exceeded nineteen Males and fifty-seven Females. ”

“ The system here, is rigid, strict, and hopeless solitary confinement. I believe it, in its effects, to be cruel and wrong.
In its intention, I am well convinced that it is kind, humane, and meant for reformation; but I am persuaded that those who devised this system of Prison Discipline, and those benevolent gentlemen who carry it into execution, do not know what it is that they are doing. I believe that very few men are capable of estimating the immense amount of torture and agony which this dreadful punishment, prolonged for years, inflicts upon the sufferers; ”

“ They are worse than failures now, because the public mind is lulled into a false security by them, and efforts at genuine prison reform are defeated. It is very significant that the criminal class adapted itself readily to the parole system with its sliding scale. It was natural that this should be so, for it fits in perfectly well with their scheme of life. ”

“ One hundred and thirty convicts with terms ranging from 2 to 15 years, too busy with their day’s labor or their evening’s sports to think of evil, are building the new penitentiary or tilling the soil. Only nine hours a day, that time allotted for sleep, are the prisoners under lock and key. They go about their various duties under the direction of a guard or overseer, but the shotgun or rifle, usually accompanying such officer, is conspicuous by its absence.
The prison gives promise of being the ideal penal institution of the world.
The site is ideal for the work to be accomplished. ”