Prison

History of State and Federal Prisons

Jessica Blocker

CJS/230

11/7/12

The developments of the State and Federal prisons have been a long time coming, dating back from developing from methods used in England. The state prison systems came first and were developed in the nineteenth-century. It was based off the reforms of the eighteenth century (Foster, 2006). Before this the way of holding prisoners it was consider inhumane, so after half a century they developed the penitentiary.

Dr. Benjamin Rush and others took the example already set by England and developed the Walnut Street Jail, that opened in Philadelphia in 1790. It incorporated principles of isolation, work, and penitence to change the inmates (Foster, 2006). Jeremy Bentham proposed a huge prison with a glass top. The Auburn Model became the dominant model because of its cheapness. Some of the United States used industrial prisons into the great depression. As where other parts developed agricultural prisons post-civil war. Some states also saw the ability to utilize prisoners for labor outside of the prison.

Today’s state prisons have evolved a lot from their early days. Most know them as “Department of Corrections” and when the main part is the adult felons they house, the state prison system may also include probation for adult and juveniles, parole for adult and juveniles, juvenile training schools, work release and halfway house facilities, juvenile group homes, and other special purpose facilities (Foster, 2006). There is no set model for the state prisons today.

The birth of the Federal Bureau of Prisons was due to an act of congress signed into law by President Herbert Hoover in 1930 (Foster, 2006). It is under the federal Justice Department. Federal prison existed before this but there was no exact office to manage them. The first federal prison was opened in the 1890’s but before that federal prisoners served time in state or local prisons (Foster, 2006). The first was...