1. develop. of the penitentiary system

Prisons Throughout History

Mamertine Prison of Ancient Rome
(established 6th century BC)

"neglect, darkness and stench
make it hideous and fearsome to
behold (Sallust 86-34 BC) "

40 Boardman Place www.cjcj.org
San Francisco, CA 94103 © Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice 2013

Socrates Prison

Located in Athens this is the prison
where Socrates was held before his
execution in 399 BC


THE MEDIEVAL PRISON
• LACK OF UNIFORM PROCEDURES
• INHUMAN LIVING CONDITIONS
• UNTRAINED AND UNPAID GUARDS
• POOR QUALITY OR INADEQUATE FOOD
• NO CLASSIFICATION


Controlling the Pauper Class

The Origins of the modern Penitentiary


The Poor House and Control of the Pauper Classes


Work Houses and Bridewell Prisons
(1550s)


CESARE BECCARIA (1738-1794)

Author of Essays on Crime and
Punishments 1764 which laid the
foundation for the penitentiary
movement


Jeremy Bentham 1748-1832

English advocate of utilitarianism in
prison management and discipline.
Argued for the treatment and reform
of prisoners


John Howard (1726-1790)

English prison reformer who wrote
“The State of the Prisons in
England and Whales. Advocated
passage of the Penitentiary Act of
1779 by British Government


Penitentiary

• An institution intended to isolate and punish criminals
from society for a specified period of time and where
they would undergo reformation


KEY EVENTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE
PENITENTIARY SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES

1787 PHILADELPHIA SOCIETY FOR ALLEVIATING THE MISERIES OF
PUBLIC PRISONS FOUNDED

1786 WHEEL BARROW LAW 1786

1790 PENITENTIARY ACT

1790 WALNUT STREET JAIL IN PHILADELPHIA BECOMES FIRST
PENITENTIARY

1797 NEWGATE PRISON OPENED IN NEW YORK

1816 AUBURN STATE PRISON OPENED

1826 SING SING PRISON OPENED

1829 EASTERN PENITENTIARY OPENED


THE QUAKERS

The Religious Society of Friends began in
England in the 1650s, as A Nonconformist
breakaway movement from English Puritanism.


William Penn (1644-1718)

English Quaker, who
established Pennsylvania
colony. Created Quaker Code
of 1682 (Great Law) that
introduced more humane
treatment of criminal offenders


Benjamin Rush

Signer of the Declaration of
Independence and Founder of
the Society for the Alleviation
of Prison Miseries 1787 and
the advocate for the creation of
the nation’s first Penitentiary
based on separate
confinement.


FUNCTIONS OF THE PHILADELPHIA SOCIETY FOR ALLEVIATING
THE MISERIES OF PUBLIC PRISONS

• ADVOCACY

• INSPECTION

• DIRECT RELIEF


Penitentiary Act of 1790

Established penitentiary of
16 cells within the existing
Walnut Street Jail to carry
out solitary confinement for
"hardened atrocious
offenders”


SEPARATE/SOLITARY SYSTEM

A PENITENTIARY SYSTEM DEVELOPED IN PENNSYLVANIA IN
WHICH EACH INMATE WAS HELD IN ISOLATION FROM OTHER
INMATES, WITH ALL ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING CRAFT
WORK, CARRIED ON IN THE CELLS


PENNSYLVANIA SYSTEM

BASED ON THREE PRINCIPLES:

• SOLITARY CONFINEMENT

• WORK (work shops)

• PENITENCE


Eastern State Penitentiary 1829

The model for the Pennsylvania
system.

Charles Dickens visits the United
States to see Niagara Falls and the
Eastern State Penitentiary. He later
wrote, "The System is rigid, strict
and hopeless solitary confinement,
and I believe it, in its effects, to be
cruel and wrong...."


New York
and the

Congregate Penitentiary
System


Thomas Eddy, 1758 -
1827
“ New York's first prison
reformer” and is often referred
to as America’s Howard.
Developed and promoted what
became known as the
“congregate system” of prison
design:
The foundation for the modern
prison system


Primary Goal of the Prison

“Eradicating the evil passions and corrupt
habits which are sources of guilt”

Thomas Eddy


CONGREGATE SYSTEM
• A PENITENTIARY SYSTEM DEVELOPED IN AUBURN
NY, IN WHICH INMATES WERE HELD IN ISOLATION
AT NIGHT BUT WORKED WITH OTHER PRISONERS
DURING THE DAY UNDER A RULE OF SILENCE


Newgate Prison (1797)


Newgate Prison


Foundations of the Auburn System
• Solitary confinement at night

• Congregate work stations

• Enforced silence


ARGUMENTS FOR THE CONGREGATE/AUBURN
SYSTEM

• LESS COSTLY DESIGN

• INCREASED INMATE WORK PRODUCTIVITY (Factory system)

• LOWER OPERATING COSTS


Captain Elam Lynds
Warden of Auburn and Sing Sing

A staunch advocate for
harsh and repressive
methods for managing
inmates, Lynds advocated
and/or introduced:

 Silent system
 Routine flogging
 Lock step
 Prison strips


Life under the Auburn System

Rule by terror


Auburn State Prison

Pioneered the inside cell
block design with one
inmate per cell

Pictured is a classic five
tiered Auburn style cell
block (c1910)


Auburn cells

Exterior of a Convict Cell Interior of Auburn Style Cell


Single Cell

Under the Auburn
system inmates
were housed
separately only at
night in small cells


Auburn Lock Step


Auburn and the Contract Labor System


Auburn Basket Shop c 1905


Inmate Flogging

Flogging was the
most common
punishment in the
19th century prison


Early forms of Prison Torture

The Crown Pulleys


The Bath
A common form of
punishment at Auburn and
Sing Sing


1. develop. of the penitentiary system

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