Historic Prison Stories – Vol.2

Historic Prison Stories - Vol.2

The Never-Ending Story

Once upon a time in a prison, a long, long time ago, and not too far away, there was a whipping post and stocks, a dungeon, gallows, iron cap, dunking tank and many other wonderful inventions designed to torture the criminal intent right out of the inmates housed there. This prison featured new and improved torture devices that would surely lead inmates of the time to throw off their evil ways and follow the straight and narrow path to righteousness.

This new and modern prison was meant to take the place of public whippings, stocks, hangings and even witch burning. “We will put them behind closed walls and bring all the criminals together” they said “we can punish them together and they will learn a skill working at hard labor. They will work in factories that will be supplied by entrepreneur’s and paid next to nothing while the prison would make money for the prisoners’ labor. That would attract industry to this city and it will grow. Everybody wins all around. What a deal!

That city was Auburn, New York. By 1837 when Michigan became a state, that system was the standard throughout the United States. Jackson, Michigan was a village of 400 or so pioneers with a dream of becoming a vibrant city and they fought hard to win the right to be Michigan’s Prison Town. That dream was realized when Jackson became fast growing cosmopolitan city with a rich future. Great wealth was generated through the Auburn System and industry and railroads found a home here. By the turn of the century Michigan had added a women’s prison in Detroit, and men’s prisons in Ionia and Marquette. However, it was not popular with everyone. Oddly enough the biggest detractors were the entrepreneurs that had to compete against what amounted to slave labor. This slave labor was different than that of the southern plantation owners; in the prisons the state was a partner in the business. Of course, the prisoners had no say in the conditions at all, but their lot was dismal.

Though the harsh punishments and the long sentences are sold to the public as being tough on crime; those tactics have never been proven to reduce the crime rate. Still, politicians will pass laws that create longer sentences for the same crime, to promote civil obedience, while, they are pandering to special interests that make their fortunes from full and numerous prisons. The next time you hear a politician say they are increasing the penalty for a crime ask yourself, why. The two best examples of this are “prohibition” and “the war on drugs”. Both led to more and larger prisons. However, other less noticeable laws are just as devastating including minimum sentencing and three strikes laws.

Americans spend more today to keep inmates in our jails and prisons than we do to educate our youth. Yet you are never asked to vote for a millage for prisons. They keep funding them and the people that profit from them keep getting richer.