C H A P T E R 14
From Walnut Street to Alcatraz:
The American
Prison Experience
SUMMARY
Throughout history, the range of punishments has been vast. At one time, the death penalty was an almost
universal form of punishment. Corporal punishment, particularly in the forms of whippings and torture, was
also widespread. During the Age of Enlightenment a new ideology began to emerge in a reform movement
that concerned itself with examining the dignity and imperfections of the human condition, in addition to
admonishing the harshness of criminal law and the cruelty of various types of punishment. The reform
movement also produced the classic school of criminology. Particularly influential was Beccaria's liberal
doctrine of criminal law and procedure, which emphasized the principle of free will. This principle sought to
establish the pleasure-pain theory, suggesting that individuals choose the course of action that will bring them
the most pleasure and avoid the course of action that will bring them the most pain.
The American prison experience began during the 18th century in Philadelphia. The Walnut Street Jail was
the nation's first penitentiary. Throughout the 1790s its physical structure and separate system of confinement
characterized it as a model prison. The separate system approach was based on the notion that recidivism
could be eliminated by obstructing "evil associations" between prisoners through separate living quarters. The
decline of the Walnut Street Jail occurred in the beginning of the 19th century, largely due to overcrowding,
periodic riots, and inadequate disciplinary control. This correctional approach was subsequently rivaled by
New York's silent system as it emerged at Auburn Prison in 1823. The silent system prevailed over the earlier
system of separate living quarters for primarily economic reasons. It allowed for smaller cells and large,
congregate work areas while attempting to accomplish the same objective: prevention of corruption through
obstructing communication among inmates. Ultimately, profits extracted from cheap inmate labor served to
weaken the silent system, since perpetual silence on the workfloor was counterproductive.
The work of Alexander Maconochie in Australia and Sir Walter Crofton in Ireland influenced America's
reformatory era. Maconochie was responsible for inventing the "mark system" through which an inmate could
receive early release by working hard and exhibiting good behavior. Crofton's "Irish system" built on
Maconochie's earlier work, but in addition it established a series of stages through which inmates must
successfully pass before receiving a conditional release. Based on these systems, the first reformatory was
opened at Elmira, New York, in 1876, but by 1910 this correctional experience was abandoned.
As corrections moved from the mid-1800s into the early years of the 20th century, the American prison system
evolved into an expanding hoard of maximum security institutions. This period first witnessed active prison
industries and then idle convict populations. Following the Depression years, new treatment ideas were
introduced against a backdrop of growing apathy and decaying institutions. The 1960s through the 1990s saw
even greater contrasts—an emphasis on individual prisoners' needs and rights in settings of unrest and
massive overcrowding.
The emergence and growth of the federal prison system has been a much more recent phenomenon. From
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1776 through 1891, all federal prisoners were housed in state and territorial institutions. Following the
passage of the Mann Act (1910), the Harrison Act (1914), the Volstead Act (1919), and the Motor Vehicle
Theft Act (1919), the number of federal prisoners in state institutions grew rapidly, ultimately forcing the birth of
the first federal penitentiaries in Atlanta, GA, and Leavenworth, KS. The Federal Bureau of Prisons was
created in 1930 and became responsible for the development of a graded system of federal institutions that
ranged from maximum- to minimum-security facilities and camps.
The jail is a detention facility quite distinct from a prison. Unlike prisons, which are run by state and federal
governments, jails are administered by local authorities and house only those individuals who are awaiting trial
or who are convicted of relatively minor crimes and receive comparatively short sentences. The jail is one of
the oldest known institutions for detaining offenders, dating back to 4th-century England. Jails first appeared
in the United States in 1626 and were modeled after the English detention facility. Today, jails vary greatly
depending on the area and the demands of the local criminal justice system. One nearly universal similarity,
however, is the overcrowded and inadequate living conditions characteristic of most jails today.
CHAPTER TOPIC OUTLINE
1. Historically and cross-culturally, the range of corporal punishments has been vast, including executions,
mutilation, branding, whipping, torture, banishment, and transportation.
 Exhibit 14.1, International Perspectives on Crime and Justice: Van Diemen’s Land
2. In the American colonies, sanctions included the stocks and pillory, the ducking stool, the branks, and
the scarlet letter.
3. Punishment Versus Reformation
a. The punishment ideology, based on the idea that prisoners are enemies of society who deserve
punishment, has endured throughout history.
b. Classical school of criminal law and criminology: a body of ideals from Enlightenment philosophers
and reformers for transforming criminal law and procedure
4. American Prisons in Perspective
a. In 1790 Philadelphia's Walnut Street Jail became America's first penitentiary.
 A model prison visited by officials from other states and Europe
 The separate system
 The Pennsylvania plan
b. In 1823 New York's Auburn Prison was built. See also Exhibit 14.2, A View from the Field: A Day at
Auburn Prison
 The silent system
 Sing Sing Prison in 1825 adopted the Auburn plan, and more than 30 other states built similar
institutions in the years that followed.
c. Prison industries
 Contract labor and the piece-price system (Exhibit 14.3, Historical Perspectives on Criminal
Justice: Contract Prison Labor in the Post-Civil War South)
 Lease system, state-use and state account systems, and public works system
d. The reformatory era
 Maconochie, Norfolk Island, and the "mark system"
 Walter Crofton's "Irish system"
 Zebulon Brockway and the Elmira Reformatory
 Exhibit 14.4, Gender Perspectives on Crime and Justice: Sexism and Indeterminate Sentencing
e. The 20th-century industrial prison
Mass congregate incarceration with rigid discipline and security
 Inmate labor and industries
 Opposition to inmate labor
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 Hawes-Cooper Act
 Ashurst-Sumners Act
 Walsh-Healy Act
5. Federal Bureau of Prisons
a. For more than a century after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, federal offenders
were confined in state and territorial institutions.
b. In 1891 the first federal prisons were authorized by Congress.
c. In 1905 institutions were opened at Atlanta and Leavenworth.
d. In 1930 the Federal Bureau of Prisons was created.
e. In 1934 Alcatraz was opened and had 600 one-man cells. It was closed in 1963 because it was too
expensive to operate and too typical of a retributive justice model that was no longer a part of the
federal ideology.
6. Jails
a. Jails are facilities of local authority used for temporary detention and short-term imprisonment for
minor crimes.
b. The American jail is rooted in the English gaol tradition.
c. Contemporary jails are under the jurisdiction of a sheriff or chief of police.
d. Jail conditions include overcrowding, an unsanitary environment, poor facilities, an inadequate staff,
and idle populations. See also Exhibit 14.5, A View from the Field: Brooklyn’s Raymond Street Jail.
e. The jail population.
Other Topics of Interest:
Critical Thinking in Criminal Justice: A New Scarlet Letter?
Careers in Criminal Justice: Federal Bureau of Prisons
Famous Criminals: Robert Stroud, the “Birdman of Alcatraz”
KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS
Cesare Beccaria
classical school of criminal law and criminology
contract system
corporal punishment
jails
lease system
mark system
piece-price system
prisons
separate system
silent system
state account system
state-use system
ticket-of-leave
Walnut Street Jail
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After a thorough study of Chapter 14, students should be able to answer the following questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What is corporal punishment, and how was it administered in colonial America?
What were the contributions of the classical school of criminology?
What were the differences between the "separate" and "silent" systems of confinement?
What were the types of, and problems with, prison labor during the 19th and early 20th centuries?
What were the contributions of the reformatory era in American corrections?
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6. What are the problems with jails today, and how might they be alleviated?
7. What is "home incarceration," and is it a useful correctional tool?
8. Are the terms prison and jail just different names for the same thing?
SUPPLEMENTARY LECTURE MATERIALS
Chapter 14 for the most part covers historical issues. There are numerous sources for supplementary
materials, many of which are cited in the notes at the end of the chapter. In addition, these specific items are
recommended:
Ayer, Edward L. Vengeance and Justice: Crime and Punishment in the 19th-Century American South. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1984.
Irwin, John. The Jail: Managing the Underclass in American Society. Berkeley: University of California Press,
1985.
Morris, Norval, and David J. Rothman (eds.), The Oxford History of the Prison: The Practice of Punishment in
Western Society. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Radzinowitz, Leon. Ideology and Crime. New York: Columbia University Press, 1966.
Should you wish to elaborate further on the leading figures in the classical school of criminology, consider the
following biographical sketches:
Montesquieu (1689–1755). Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brede et de Montesquieu, the French
lawyer, philosopher, and man of letters, epitomized the Enlightenment’s concern for the rights of humanity. His
book The Spirit of the Laws and essay Persian Letters condemned the barbarous injustice of the French penal
code and advocated reforms that would make punishments less severe and more adapted to the crimes for
which they were imposed.
Voltaire (1694–1778). Francois-Marie Arouet, or Voltaire, the French humanist and satirist, was also the most
versatile of the 18th-century philosophers. In his writings, he condemned the arbitrary powers of judges, the
secret trial, and the use of torture, and he demanded that the purpose of the law be the protection of the
citizen and that all persons should be equal before the law.
Diderot (1713–1784). Denis Diderot, the French encyclopedist, novelist, dramatist, and art critic, was also a
philosopher who attacked the orthodoxy of his time. He revolted against the unquestioning acceptance of
tradition and authority, and in many of his works he heavily criticized the chaos and corruption in political
institutions as well as the superstition and cruelty that pervaded penal practices.
Beccaria (1738–1794). Cesare Bonesana, Marchese di Beccaria, the Italian economist and jurist, proposed a
whole new concept for the administration of justice. His major work, An Essay on Crimes and Punishments,
became the manifesto of the liberal approach to criminal law. It condemned capital punishment and torture,
suggested that the law should be specific, and advocated the prevention of crime and rigid rules of criminal
procedure.
Bentham (1748–1832). Jeremy Bentham, the English jurist and philosopher, was the leader of English
criminal law reform. He believed that punishment should be a deterrent. His “hedonistic calculus” argued that if
punishments were designed to negate whatever pleasure or gain the criminal derived from crime, the crime
rate would go down. This ethical doctrine was founded on the notion that the morality of actions is determined
by utility, a concept appearing in his major work on the administration of justice, Introduction to the Principles
and Morals of Legislation.
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Howard (1726?–1790). The name of John Howard, high sheriff of Bedfordshire for almost two decades,
became synonymous with English prison reform. His State of Prisons was based on observations of prison
conditions throughout England and continental Europe and influenced the passage of the Penitentiary Act of
1779. This legislation resulted in England’s first penitentiary, one that incorporated many principles of basic
prison reform.
Romilly (1757–1818). Sir Samuel Romilly, the English lawyer and law reformer, devoted his energies to
changes in the harsh criminal codes. His efforts secured the repeal of many Elizabethan capital statutes and
numerous other harsh and irrational laws. He also influenced the construction of the first modern English
prison.
Peel (1788–1850). Sir Robert Peel, the English statesman, member of Parliament, and prime minister,
influenced legislation that reformed the criminal law. He established the Irish constabulary (called the
“Peelers”) and pushed the legislation that created the London Metropolitan Police (the “bobbies”) both named
after him.
CLASS PROJECTS AND DISCUSSION TOPICS
A student trip to a state prison or local jail can usually be arranged. Many jurisdictions permit it, and a few even
encourage it as an exercise in deterrence.
For students on the West Coast, a trip to Alcatraz is strongly recommended. The prison is maintained by the
National Park Service. It can be reached by motor launch from San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf. Park
Service staff provide an excellent tour through the prison; picture taking is encouraged, and visitors are
permitted to be locked in the “hole.” Taking a picture in Al Capone’s cell is not possible, however, since even
the park officials have no idea which one was his.
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