Eastern State Penitentiary Reflection Paper Essay

eastern pass on Penitentiary is believed to be one of the very first prisons established, non only in the United alleges, but in the world. easterly stir was functional for 141 age until 1970 when the prison closed down. Located in Philadelphia, dad the prison is now a stabilized ruin open to the general for tours. After personally touring the facility I was able to understand the master(prenominal) purpose of the prison, the living qualifys and the daily routines of an easterly State Penitentiary flimflam, and act escapes which is why prisons like eastern State should not be utilize in our modern Criminal Justice System.It was designed for strict anchorite confinement and had little to no rehabilitation programs. The prison was and still is not temperature controlled. The inmates suffered extreme summers and harsh winters mend staying at Eastern State. Their rooms were kind of small and only had a bed, some sort of dresser, and a toilet. The condition of the cubicl es, with the exception of Al-Capones cell which was much larger and more than cozy than the rest of the cells, suggest that the designers of the prison wanted the inmates stay at Eastern State to be unpleasant.This prison was built for the sole purpose of punishment. For example, Elmo smith was the 350th person to be executed by the electric chair in the United States on April 2, 1962. He was also the last person to be killed utilise the electric chair in Pennsylvania. Although the inmates were required to work inside the prison walls they did not recover help with the problems that landed them in Eastern State in the first place, such as alcohol and dose abuse. Therefore the type of punishment that was seen at Eastern State did not maximize the welfare of individuals because inmates were not rehabilitated.As stated earlier, the inmates worked in the kitchen, infirmary, workshops, and barbershops. In the twentieth century you could see an inmate barbershop in almost both cell block. The barbershops became a place of socialization by the inmates and often the guards would go in for a free cut. When I learned this I was take a buttocks that the guards allowed the inmates to have sharp tools that had the potential of being used as weapons. In fact, one story weheard on our audio tour was of a guard who said an inmate pressed his tool to the guards neck and threatened to take his life. The inmate was joking and the officer was left(a) unharmed but inmates were known to create weapons that were used for protection and a way of threating former(a) inmates.These weapons were called shanks or shivs and prison guards discovered a volume of them before any harm could occur. Unfortunately there were stories of inmates killing all(prenominal) other such as Joseph Havel who stabbed his fellow cellmate to death in the heart of the night. Another important component in the life of Eastern State Penitentiary inmates was the opportunity to practice in religious act ivities. Upon entry, both inmate was given a Bible in hopes of one day they would receive salvation. Also, in the beginning of the prisons life there were periodical religious services in every cellblock that the inmates had the chance to beware to from their cells. In later years, Christians had the opportunity to worship in the chapel during Sundays while Jews had the opportunity to worship in the synagogue. Religious license was the only freedom that the inmates received. They were strictly monitored and had to wake, eat, work, and sleep when the guards told them too. Although the guards did their best to keep an eye on every inmate, the schema employed at Eastern State was flawed.Eastern State Penitentiary was designed for strict solitary confinement but that system failed and the population of inmates increased dramatically leaving the guards outnumbered. They tried to maintain charge and control of the institution. One way they monitored the inmates was using forming the cellblocks into a pentagon and having a learn tower in the middle. This design was flawed because it was impossible for the guard in the watch tower to see every cell and every section of the cells. Prison guards at Eastern State hated working in the watch tower, a position left for new recruits, because they felt more restricted than the inmates. They could not listen to music or read, had little kind contact, and had to call their commanding officer every fifteen minutes to hindrance in.Prison officials liked to believe that these methods of surveillance worked but there were numerous riots and move escapes by the inmates. The largest riot was on January 8, 1961 in cellblock club when two inmates over powered an office and then they proceeded to opening other cells. They tried to set their criminalrecords on fire. Another example was William Francis Sutton who attempted to escape five times. Lastly, there was the great escape from cellblock seven, cell 68. Clarence Klinedin st had a reputation as a good worker which he used to be transfer to cellblock seven where he started using the tools from work to build a tunnel. Riots and escapes such as these lead to the closedown of Eastern State Penitentiary in 1970. Prisons such as Eastern state should not be used today because, according to the functional theory of justice, the ends do not justify the means. A lot of bills is put into them when all they do is hold inmates for a number of years and then they are released into the community. With no form of rehabilitation the released inmates revert back to crime and are reincarcerated. The cycle is never ending and prisons become overpopulated and prone to riots as was Eastern State Penitentiary.