PRISON CITY AMAZING STORY OF RIOTS AT JACKSON

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26746, 2 June 1952, Page 6

PRISON CITY AMAZING STORY OF RIOTS AT JACKSON

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AM ArW (Mlbhitafl), May i-lf peafefe last week, wfetfe a Wbfk of natiiralisUb .fietiori It would riltferidy dfe if tela wiffi bfiljr Bate edtHpetehtfe, Would become a classic; and dramatic ferities wotlia begin to pfhbe the returned tq tefeit cells to riwriii the irievitablfe vefigfeance of the teW. As it is the film companies are already fighting for possession of the record, and ri sbctolbgiferil flbcumenl is promised by trife Professor of Criminology at the University of California WHb flew out at the Goverhdf’S rfedUSsf to gb Otfer the Scene and recommend the means to fctevent its repetition.,, The bare rfetdrd of the fepiSbde was told here in a previous article. A Hot of more than 2000 at the world’s criminals, isolated in a punishment cHI black, held out for five days, bargaining cqojly. with the lives of felght ptiSbfi guards they had captured at hdstageS. The ring-leadfefS We ii pfeychbpath Hathfed Bail Ward and ope “erazy” Jrifek Hffitt. They drafted the terms oh Wfiifch they Would willingly Set and Submitted thfettl Ss art seteffin promise bf GoVfernor WilliamS that ihfey Wotild Sufffet rio reprisals* th* r i°i& re te & jed their hostages and te exact P»ymWt of one th Jir terms! a steak and tee-crtaifi dinnfet tb be served before thfey Werit brick tb tlieit cells.

Thfe Sfettteinent Wheti thfe guards staggered out Weeping tb sde their families, ‘and the a s ain in foeir eens, and the small afmy of reporters heard the prison gatfes Close behind them, the granting bf d Reform Bill to a horde of dangerous criminals seetaefi a sfoall price to bay for their dreadful cbmplacerict. By thfe end of the first night, whfe/ the rebels had their hostages terrified, the no ifimates of the punishment Cell Werfe gaudy With power. Thejr knfeW they had the prison authorities cowed. Thek wfehfe bfeing watched by hundreds of pacified ebnvicts crouching against, the barred Windows of thfeir cfelis. At the first abproaehi of a guard, they threatens the head a fiostage ana drop it at his feet. The guard knew .(d e Z £ f nd ittrebels reatagfed the original bedlam. A score of luhatic homnran tH n°^ h cell block mstT H Uipi ifc ter £ C y°°a e d y ° ff t ® erd ’" d sporadic obfieenities. The* squabbled over newspapers to gloat over the headlines They were (S LS'S * b « men. Tb the Governor it Was a news t lem into the men to show tviom grim presfi conferences, statldihri a vlrrnn 11 f as the De b ut J' Wkrdefi, Dr. young Psychologist who had acted as g courageous sotheir morale and generally playing

tfife ingratiating part at fit Dbuglas’s canny policeman in th* film of “Fourteen Hours.” Dr. Fox came to the prison two years ago and has been at, odds «w sinfcfe with the old-tiffie gukral Aixnat the eflfectlVSness of What, is rathtf ominously called “restraint.” Th« inmates call it brUtallty compirahla with the Nazis, ahd their complaint! on this Scdffe touched off the not Fox believes punishment cells should be abolished. He has used them onlf to sit dtid talk things ov6f with u>u«h Cases. Hfe has engaged 12 young psychologists to art as “counsellors for the ihmaifes,” thus ehdearing himself lesfi Wtiritily still tb tfife oto« guards and Other practitioners of the “bedt’em and break’efh” school He is Very popular With the eonviCU To him this id itfi 6Wh reward, ’ft the old staff it is the final prbbf that “discipline” ih the state prifiori is in a periltnjs way. Wheii Thfe peace treaty Was Dr. Fo* praised Ward and his hWw men as foeii of their Word. WaiM, Hfe thought, was "a natural Idadtt. x He add the other boys are to be gratulated on the good faith with which they have bargained. This may presage a fifeW fefft 0t good relationships between inmates and admihistratdts in American prisonfc" It presaged the firing of Dr. Jp. His psyCHbldgical victory was to® much fob this system and an emMr* rassment to the clear duty of IM' state’s Attofhey-Gfeheral tb punisii the riotdrt; Broken premise Ofice the. prison WM simmfetirt pack td riormdf. the GbVfernor, Waf-den, and the other exhaujlM authorities bfegan to rUe the proffiit* that had brought abodt thfe surrthderThfe Attorney-General bf Michigan Frfank Millard; id a law enfottemeat offiber, not bound bv the independent wdrd bf the Goverhor. Mr Millard has sent in investigators to gfj evidence for a profePCutioh. H 8 would seek warrants, he said, charging kidnappifig, rioting, fend malicious destruction of property. The Governor VWs Ih dismay. He recalled Earl Ward’s threat tb kill the Warden and go berSfetk through the prisoh if «* authorities violated their promise of no reprisals. The Attdrney-Gfencrnl brushed this off with the reminder arn c °ta|tenfed by my oath d ■ t i prbSetGtfc eVery person wh® violates the criminal statutes. N° slate official; not even the Suptem® PJhlrt Justices, can grant immiiWU for the cottimissloh of a crime." or. E”?L* as ‘‘relieved of his .-Hi n uuties. The Governor went W insisting that the treaty of surrender should be fibhoured. Thfe Jackson story cah hardly ,?* 9Y er ; ®, ut H has stirred penology parole boards; and criftiinologists, * reiterate a feW facts about AmerW |idnki barbarity will nbt soften. Thert H agreement that oven crowding and badly paid, pbo# Prison personnel are at tW i’Obt of the trouble. Where therfe c* o on Jy be “mass treatment.” said co f a H!P°rjty. discipline is most conVfenirtitly bought in the form of tdiign. rather primitive disciplinarians. “Idleness,” says the California pro«W>r studying the riot, “is the fertile SoiW®r , d *?°™cr of every personal and coW; tlvfe fibrt.” A director of the NatWh®' Probation and Parole Association believes that a prisoh sentence il automatic ffesbrt of lazy magistrate* 40 per cent, of the inmates do be l°Q«. there.” / But there is one evil, Old as Atfith* can statfe government, that reacts gfr* tmuously against the painfitaw** psychological research that h)» D .- American ihstitUtions are doihg. Thi’ is the rotation of state govethh* ll ” and the entrenched habit of pay)'’; off political debts by giving pen®’ posts and administrative authority men who know nothing about crime the other side of the bars.