xt795x25f21d https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt795x25f21d/data/mets.xml Kentucky 1963 newsletters English Eddyville, Ky.: Kentucky State Penitentiary This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed. Permission must be received for subsequent distribution in print or electronically. Physical rights are retained by the owning repository. Copyright is retained in accordance with U. S. copyright laws. Please go to https://exploreuk.uky.edu for more information. Castle on the Cumberland Kentucky State Penitentiary -- Periodicals Journalism, Prison -- Kentucky Castle on the Cumberland, January 1963 text Kentucky State Penitentiary v.: ill. 28 cm. Call Numbers HV8301 .C37 and 17-C817 20:C279 Castle on the Cumberland, January 1963 1963 1963 2021 true xt795x25f21d section xt795x25f21d V APenalprGSSPubllcatwn »_ Janfiélfiyfi.‘ 15 :19537 -- Ththanp , } VolumeII f : ' > IN. HHHH HoHHHH CASTLE HBydit’éfzk'lél: A Message ‘ : To Our OutszLde Readers TheCarmvaHFlctlon) Volume II, Number VII January 15, 1963 CA$TLE ON THE CUMBERLAND ADMINISTRATION The Honorable Bert To Combs, Governor Wilson W; Wyatt, Lto Governor W} C. Oakley, Commissioner Dre Harold Black, Director Department of Corrections Div. of Institutions, Dept. of Cor. Marshall Swain, Deputy Commissioner W5 20 Carter, Director of Education Department of Corrections Department of Corrections PRISON ADMINISTRATION Luther Thomas, warden Lloyd To Armstrong, Deputy warden Kathlyn Ordway, Business Manager W; To Baxter, Guard Captain Reverend Paul Jaggers, Chaplain H I Henry Ea Cowan, Educational Supervisor William Egbert, Vocational Instructdr* BOARI)0F‘PARDONS & PAROLES Dro Fred.Moffatt, Executive Director Walter Ferguson, Board Chairman Simeon Willis, Member Ernest Thompson, Member CASTLE STAFF Lawrence Snow, Editor Leonard Rule, Associate Editor Stanley Brawner, Lithographer The CASTLE ON THE CUMBERLAND is published monthly by the inmates of the Kentucky State Penitentiary at Eddyvilleo Subscriptions, one dollar a year, payable by money order at: CASTLE ON THE CUMBERLAND, Box 128, Eddyville, Kentucky; and by inmates at the Chief Clerk“s Officeo Articles are solicited, but the CASTLE rem serves the right to reject, edit or revise any material submittedo Opinions ex» pressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the administrationo 'Permission is hereby granted to reproduce any part of this magazine, provided proper credit is given to author and source° A marked copy of the quoting pubu lication is appreciatedo @QD'FILE‘ MEWQ CHAPMIw‘gégGERs NAMED PRESIDENT OF KCA .a.“ , Chaplain Paul Jaggers of this institu- tion was named president of the Kentucky Chaplains Association during the Asso~ ciation's meeting last month in Dan- Ville, Kentucky. in penal work for almost 11 years, the Chaplain has been a minister for more than be years. Born in 1899 near Louisville, Kentucky, he was educa- ted at the University of Louisville, the Bryant and Stratton Business College, and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was pastor of two churches in Louisville for many years. He has also worked in the Seminary library and Actice taught classes in English and psychologyo Currently Chaplain Jaggers is instruct- ing a discussion~type class in psycholo- gy at the prisono NEW BUILDING FOUNDATION NEARS COMPLETION Some 16,500 man-hours of work on the part of inmate laborers have already gone into the foundation of the new educational~reoreational building sched- uled to be completed next summer, according to Millard Cummins of Prince- ton, Superintendent of Construction for the project. Average depth of the foundation holes so far has been about 25 feet, and 36 holes had been poured at the time of this writing. The foundan tion should be finished by February. Two-byufour and four-by-four lumber for the project, which will employ much used material, is being milled from stateu owned trees on the prison reservation. Inmate farmers are doing the work at considerable savings to the state. The building is being built under the supervision or Architect Lawrence Casner of Madisonville, Kentucky. An erroneous report in an earlier issue of the CASTLE listed.Mr. Casner's address as Paducah. .Sparkman after he INMATES PLEDGE BLOOD FOR CHILDREN When Dale Flatt set out to collect blood pledges for the benefit of indigent children, he set his goal at 60 pledges. At this writing, some 150 inmates have already pledged their blood. Flatt conceived the idea as a Christmas gift from the inmates of this penitenti~ ary to the children of the area. warden Luther Thomas, obviously touched by the plan, not only gave his consent, but called the men the signed the pledge into the chapel on Christmas day to thank them personally. News of the unusual Christmas gift was picked up by area journalists and trans~ mitted in the newspapers and over radio and television facilities. INMATE-OFFERED FOOTBALL SCHOLARSHIP If all goes well, Robert "Reno" Wilson of this institution will soon be attend- ing classes at Murray State College on a football scholarship, announced inmate teacher Norman Sanders during the Christmas show. The scholarship, a h- year grantainuaida was recently offered to Wilson by Dean J. Matt Sparkman of the college. Reno Wilson, 26 and a native of Louis- ville, played varsity football for three years at Male High School, serving in both center and guard positions. The 6- foot, 225-pound athlete’s playing abil- ity was brought to the attention of Dean served as guard and tackle on Bud Lyons“ team here in the prison. A. A. GROUP HEARS FROM SCOTLAND The KSP A. A. Group last month received a letter from an A. A. group in Perth, Scotland. The letter informed the mem» bars that they had been registered as a separate Perth prison group. Page 1 CASTLE ON THE‘CUMBERLAND FIRST KY PENAL HIGH CLASS GRADUATES CwJ STAFFER SPEAKS .AT CEREMONIES Fourteen inmates successfully completed a high school brush-up course and were awarded diplomas last month after taking equivalency tests given by Murray State College. It was the first time in Home tucky penal history that inmates had been given a chance to win secondary school diplomas. The fourteen men had devoted an hour a day to concentrated courses in mathema= tics, grammar, social studies and science during the school semester that ended last month. Teaching the men were inmate instructors from the penitentiary school, which currently offers typing in addition to instruction in the first eight grades. The program was superm vised by Education Supervisor Henry E. Cowan and his associate, Mr. William Egbert, and was originated with the assistance of Murray College officials and.Mr. W. Z. Carter, Director of Educam tion for Kentucky penal institutions. KSP warden luther Thomas was also inn strumental in getting the program 8 tarts do During the ceremonies, at which nine eighthwgrade students were also graduaw ted, warden Thomas Spoke briefly to the students, stressing the institution‘s desire to help men who wanted help. He also announced plans tional school in the future. Before introducing the principal speaker warden Thomas read two notes he had received from inmates of the prison. One, signed by all to members of the new Dale Carnegie course, expressed thanks to the war en for permission to attend the famoug public-speaking classes, taught here by volunteer instructors from the area. The second was from an inmate who told the warden what a talk with him in the past month had done for him. He said that as a result of the talk he had begun .attending church regularly, and a "big load had been to begin a vocawv taken from his shoulders." The featured speaker was Mr. Harry S. Bolser, representative in the western Kentucky area for the Louisville COURIER JOURNAL. Bolser said that he had been to the penitentiary many times, but always in his professional capacity, and always under unpleasant circumstances. He welcomed the opportunity to visit under more pleasant circumstances, he said, and expressed his belief that the stepped-up educational program here is the greatest thing in the history of Kentucky penology. Speaking of the new educational building new under construction in the prison, Bolser hoped the warden would take ad- vantage of the new Space by inviting outside lecturers in to speak to the inw mate body. He volunteered to take his own time to Speak on newspaper work when the building is completed. "Education is like health," said Bolser at another point in his address; "once you have it, no one can take it from you 0 "Education develops the mind,“ he cone tinued. "It equips men to better meet the challenges of life." He then went on to Speak of the need for determinan tion, telling the students of a boy of fourteen who left home to join a racing stable. working long hours for little pay, the boy became an exercise boy and dreamed of becoming a jockey. One night, Bolser said, the boy was sitting on his cot in the stable, discouraged and homesick and thinking of the kind of life he saw around him -- the fast money and women, the boys who were becoming narcotics addicts, -and the other consew quences of life among the racing set. It was then he remembered meeting a journalist from Ohio who had told him to look him up if he ever needed help. After the winter meeting in New'Orleans, ‘73ETHHETHTTHBFTHEEEEIAND Page 2 the boy hoboed to Cincinnati and managed to talk the journalist into putting him on as an office boy. working long hours on the paper, he nevertheless managed to attend school and save enough money to go to colleges working his way through on another newspaper. "That boy," Bolser concluded, “is stand” ing before you todayo" "P0012 BOYS, Hem" SAYS DIRECTOR OF sou“ CATION am mm STUDENTS ammo seams W} Zn Carter, Director of Education for the Department of Corrections and a man who has been largely responsible for the accelerated educational opportunities at KSPS also Spoke during last month's graduationo Introduced by the prison9s Supervisor of Education; Henry Cowan, Mr. Carter told the assembled students that he could make them a speech every week and occa- sionally dido “I won't take advantage of a captive audience," he said, "but I would like to say that this (the presentation of high school diplomas) is quite an occasion in Kentucky.“ He called for applause for the graduatesg then called for the teachers to stand to receive their share of the applauseo Carter then told of the cooperation of Murray College officials in the program, which included putting up the registra= tion fee for the inmate graduateSo "They said they wanted to help those poor boys down there in the penitentim aryo well, I sayb poor boys, Halli It's time for all of you to start helping yourselves now 9.9 and if you believe that, give me_a hand%" The ovation was deafening. XMAS SHOW UNCOVERS CONSIDERABLE TALENT For a complete list of graduates and the teachers this semester, see page 70 The Christnas variety show, an all- inmate production staged on the day be- fore the day before Christmas, provided two solid hours of diversion for the in— mate body of KSP and proved that talent is not lacking in this cloSed world. The show opened with presentations by the Dale Carnegie students, including an uninhibited court-call skits a "Dale Carnegie" song written and sung in Twist rhythm by Otis Montgomery, and an hi— larious "visiting evangelist" sketch by Clarence Underwood. Impromptu talks, an amazing memory demonstration by Jack Cavenderg a comical uimprovement" skit by Black Eye Patterson, and other skits rounded out this portion of the show. wayne Stephenson served as Master of Ceremonies. The second section was emceed by Tippy Lewis” a talented and relaxed comedian, with music by the institution‘s Rhythm Kings under the leadership of Chuck Souleso High spots of the show included solos by Clark Jones and.0tis Montgomery twist contestg comedy skits, and. music by the bands. CARNEGIE INSTRUCTOR HERE FOR XMAS SHOW of the area businessmen who are devoting their time to the prim son"s Dale Carnegie class, was in the prison for last monthfls inmate variety Jim Rudd, one ShOWo ‘Rudd, a friendly and personable young insurance agent from Madisonville a- he's with H. W} Rudd & Company ~~ gave the CASTLE an outline of the famous Dale Carnegie organizationo Dale Carnegie and Associates (the formal name of the company) was formed by Carnegievs wife following his death, ac- cording to Rudd, but Carnegie had laid the groundwork by first teaching the course himself and later training as~ Page 3 CASTLE ON THE CUMBERLAND sistants from the graduate ranks. The organization now headquarters in New York, but it is international in scope. Currently some 1007 Dale Carnegie inn structors are teaching in Africa, Eng~ land, Austrailia and other world areas. Six of the instructors, including Rudd, work in the Illinoismlndiana4western- Kentucky area under the sponsorship of the Lockyear Business College in Evans- ville, Indiana. It is these instructors who volunteer their time to give the in- mates of this prison a course that nora mally costs $150. Under the prison program, the New York office contributes supplies and teaching aids, thus making the entire course of instruction free to both the inmates and the prison. MORE EYE BANK PLEDGES MADE Keith Ayers and Jack Cavender last month pledged their eyes to the Lions Eye Bank in Louisville, becoming the Ehth and 55th KS? inmates to will their eyes. There are still a number of blank forms available for anyone wishing to will his eyes at death so that some blind person may see again. Apply at the news office. WITCHDOCTOR ARRESTED IN CALIFORNIA A Mexican "witchdoctor" was arrested re~ oently in Mecca, California and given a suspended sentence and probation for practicing medicine without a license. According to California authorities, Alvino vega Lopez charged his patients from $5 to $7 for treatments consisting of such practices as rubbing the body with a black chicken to cure arthritis and the prescription of fried stink bugs pickled in olive oil for mental ailm ments. Lopez also claimed to be able to revive persons who had been dead not longer than 15 minutes by inserting a glass tube into their biceps. A believer in reincarnation, he said that he had ale ready been born three times. CLOTHING ROOM DRESSES OUT 50-h0 MONTHLY An average of 50 to ho men a month are "dressed out" _- outfitted for the trip back to the free world an by the cloth" ing room, according to Mr. Robert Parker, Officer in Charge. Men leaving either on parole or expirau tion are given 35 and a suit of clothing upon their release. In summer, the suit consists of a set of khakis, shoes, a hat or cap, and other necessary gar» ments. In winter, the releasee may choose either the khakis or a gray wool uniform with coat. Both sets of clothe ing are made in the prisonVS garment factory and fitted by the clothing room. The usual dress-out procedure involves a trip by the releasee to the clothing room a few days before his release date. The clothes are fitted at this time and later, on the day he leaves, the cloth” ing, pressed and altered, is ready to be donned at the checkuout point in One Cellhouse. Sometimes, however, parole papers come in unexpectedly and there is only an hour or two to get everything ready. According to Mr. Parker, no one has yet missed a bus because of the clothing room, however. The clothing room is also responsible for providing sheets, pillowcases, and other "housekeeping" items except brooms, m0ps, and cleaning materials, to the cellhouses, and keeping the llOOwodd inmates in clothing. Toward the latter purpose, the clothing room issues some 175 dozen blue jeans and 200 dozen striped or blue chambray shirts ‘during a typical 6~month period. White suits and khakis are also issued to men whose jobs require Special uniforms. All clothing is numbered at the time of is» sue, and everything but caps, gloves, shoes and overshoes are prisonenade. Mr. Parker commented on the efficiency NESTEE ON THE CUMBERLAND Fage h of his crew, which includes Gordon Mercer, the clerk, and Reese Jones, tailor. NO CRIME}, DELINQUENCY, AMONG THE MIIISR Except when their beliefs conflict with U. S. educational and Social Security laws, the peaceful, hardworking members of the Amish religious sect never see a court of law, for crime and delinquency are unknown among their numbers. There is, furthermore, no divorce, no poverty, and no oldmage problem among the Amish. Most Amishmen a- the Amish religion is a branch of the old Swiss Mennonite Church ~- live on neat, productive farms in Pennsylvania and are militantly Opposed to what most of the rest of the world calls progress. They use no electri- city, no tractors, no motor-driven machines to till the soil or operate their homes. Their style of dress goes back to the 19th century, and married men wear full beards. They see no movies, drive nothing but horses and buggies when they go to town, and they purchase neither radio nor television sets. Most members of the sect go no further in school than the eighth grade, and their religion forbids the purchase of insurance em a doctrine that has caused them considerable trouble with the Social Security Administration. Yet the Amish live a full and productive life. Their food is famous the world over, and their families are closewknit, harmonious units. Should an Amishman become ill, or too old to work, the family or the church takes care of all his needs. No Amishman goes hungry or homeless as long as he has Amish neighe bors nearby. Ironically, the Amish, who are seemingly the most desirable of U. S. citizens, may have to move en masse to Canada un» less bills now pending in Congress can provide them with relief from laws that threaten their troublemfree, crimeafree existence. Laws requiring them to hire college-trained teachers or close their schools -- and hiring outsiders to teach their young would probably result in the dissolution of their way of life -— and to participate in the Social Security program -- which the hardworking, inde- pendent Amish neither need nor want —~ are among those from which they seek relief. REFORMATORY STUDENTS STUDY MARKET Boys confined in the reformatory at Red Wing, Minnesota, have been “buying" and "selling" stocks recently, according to their newsheet, The RIVERSIDE. The GXW periment was performed as part of their social studies class. Each boy based his purchases on an imaginary $5000 capital. SIXTH ANNUAL PRISONER AWARDS ANNOUNCED The Sixth Annual Lindner Foundation Prisoner Awards Competition has been an= nounced, and this year's rules may be seen in the library. There have been some changes since last year, when several KSP inmates entered the competition. There are, for exam= ple, only three divisions this year: Art, Music, and Literature. The first prize in each division remains $50, but a second prize of $25 has been added. There will also be 5 honorable mentions in each division, worth $5 each. Entries in art may be in oils, waters colors, charcoal, pencil, or crayon. Works must be titled and the entrant should specify whether his work is an original or a copy. In the literature division, poetry, short stories, novels, plays, and any other fiction or non- fiction will be considered. There is no limit on the length of the piece. Each literature entry must be typewritten and double spaced on standard white typing paper. It goes without saying that your name and address must be included with your entry; For address, see the rule sheets. Page 5 CASTLE ON THE CUMBERLAND ' LATE EDUCATIONFRECREATION NEWS INMATES ORGANIZE BOXING PROGRAM Several inmates with boxing experience are now organizing a training program for young inmates who want to learn prizefighting. wayne Stephenson, Dale Flatt, Otis Montgomery and Joe Anderson are acting as instructors and trainers for the program. An 8-b0ut card is sche- duled to be held toward the end of this month if enough men are ready to go the required three rounds. Training sessions are now underway in the gymnasium from 1 to 2 P. M._ 'Ac- cording to Norman Sanders, secretary for the group, the first two weeks of the program will be devoted to body condi~ tioning. Calesthetics, shadow-boxing, rope-skipping, and workouts on the Speed bags will be included in this work. Both speed bags should have been in~ stalled by the time the magazine is out. "If we're ever going to have a good Sports program," said Sanders, "now is the time to start thinking about it. But we're all going to have to go all out to support it, regardless of our personal feelings. If we can show'that we‘re interested, that we'll take care of any equipment given to us, and that we want a program, then we'll have it." Some lb or 15 inmates have already signed up for the boxing program, but the instructors are welcoming any other men who want to participate. To get in— to the program, talk to any of the trainers on the yard, or drOp into the gym during the workouts. A. A. TO HOLD ANNIVERSARY DINNER The prison's Alcoholics Anonymous group will celebrate its sixth anniversary this month with a special dinner program. scheduled for the Chaplain daggers, Several Speakers dinner, are including several inmate speakers, and interested persons from the area. Some of the out~ side speakers, however, will come from as far away as New York City to address the group. The dinner will be held in the chapel. NEW TYPING CLASS, NEW GED CLASS BEGUN Students in the seventh and eighth grades at the prison school will now have the chance to learn to type, ac- cording to inmate teachers. Formerly the typing class was restricted to those men who had passed the eighth grade edu- cational level. The new typing class, taught by Kenny Clinton, is being held immediately after regular school hours. A new GED training program has talso started in the school. The program is for the purpose of preparing applicants for the equivalency high-school diploma for the tests given here by officials from Murray College. The first class, which ended last month (see Page 2), en- abled all fourteen of the students to pass the examinations and get their highmschool diplomas. If the present class does as well, the GED program will, in all probability, be a permanent feature of the school. SWING BAND PUTS ON JUMPIN' SHDW IN GYM The institution's swing band, the Rhythm Kings, put on a second show in the gym- nasium Christmas Day. Emceeing the second Christmas program was Tippy Lewis and leading the band was Chuck Soules. During the show, Leo Marshall, Clark Jones, Cornell Littleton, Dave Hardin, Chuck Soules, William watson, Paul White and Jack Johnson did vocal bits, and Clark Jones and Otis Montgomery blew some fine sax solos. Comedy skits filled out the program. CASTITE ON THE CUMBERLAND Page 6 TEACHERS AND GRADUATES THIS SEMESTER (See story, Page 2? TEACHERS Norman Sanders, mathematics Eugene Treviso, science William.Wise, geography William Grenat, 2nd grade Eugene Ferguson, hth grade Dickie Brandenburg, 3rd grade William Baldwin, 2nd grade math Kenny Clinton, typing Edgar Johnson, English Edward Isaacs, English HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES William Grenat Dickie Brandenburg William Baldwin James Cavender RobertvDaley Jack Henry Alonzo Housman Edward Isaacs Virgil McCown Jack Meredith Anthony Shaw David Steele Gary Utterbaok Robert vaughn EIGHTH GRADE GRADUATES James Crews Raymond Forsting Jerry'Holder Johnny Rouse rErnest Summitt Joseph Venway vernon ward James Bolton Bobbie Miller CHAPEL NEWS L INMATES ENJOY RELIGIOUS REVIVAL By Jonathan Parks, Librarian The writer has made its acquaintance of hundreds of men here, learned something of how they think, and has some to un— derstand at least partially the depth of their feelings about their environment. During all this time, he has never wit- nessed such a tremendous inmate-body reSponse to any event as that which oc- cured last week. The event, a religious revival, attracted scores of men to the Chapel and produced an uplifting, over- whelming emotional unity among us. Chaplain Paul Jaggers and the Reverend Paul Kempft, an outside minister, as well as several prominent laymen from nearby communities, participated in the services. we inmates of Eddyville Prison have long gone our own ways, concerning ourselves with petty personal problems and ignor- ing the interests of others. To be truthful, we have always worked against one another. It was a wonderful experi- ence indeed to see the unity, the one- ness, created among us by the sincerity of Joe Rose, the enthusiastic, down-to-— earth conversational style of the ser- mons of the Reverend Mr. Kempft, and the dynamic deliveries of Chaplain Jaggers. I, for one -- and I'm sure that a great many men will agree -- would liks very much to experience again soon the warmth and invigorating atmosphere stirred to life here by this revival. Let's all hope we can have another such revival next year. mm ON THE CUMBMLAND eeeeeeeeee Box 128 eeeeeoeeooeeeeoee Eddyville, Kentucky GENTLEMBN: Please Send a year's subscription to the CASTLE to the following per- sons. I enclose one dollar for each subscription. (Name) ‘ .(Street or Box Nb) (City) (Zone) (State) ___ Please use separate sheet for additional names r,444Ai_____________________________A WW? ifiEfl'iFCD'EWflE 81711913 AN EDITORIAL MESSAGE TO OUR OUTSIDE READERS The following editorial article is not intended to represent the It is simply a statement of opinion on the part of the Editor, and should not be interpreted as a points of this prison's administration. any other prison administration. feelings or viewe critical attack on this or One day not really too long ago, I was seated in a Pullman car behind a pleasant-looking young woman and her son, a boy of about eight. As the train halted briefly at a station, we found that our car had stopped directly'bea neath a large state penitentiary. The boy stared through the window at the grim fortress with its stone walls and concrete guntowers and asked, "Mommys what is that place?" "That‘s a prison, men thereo" Tommy. They put bad “Why do they put them there, persisted. Mommy?" he "To protect us from them while they make good men out of them," she repliedo Ilm smiling at the memory nows but it“s a rather wry smile; for today I am one of the "bad men" who are being I"made good," and I know that what the young mother told her son in all good faith is in fact pure mythology -- prisons dcn°t protect and they don‘t reformfi Bitter words from a convict with an ax to grind? Perhaps. But judging from the exchange articles I read in my prev sent job as editor of a prison magazine, a good many correctional officials and penologists are in wholehearted agree» ment. So are most other people, lay or professional, who have ever taken an inn telligent peek into today's penal eye stems. And it may well be that you, as a citizen and a taxpayer, also have an ax to grind —~ for the failure of priu sons to do their job is not only costing you hard cash, but jeopardizing your property and perhaps your life as well. I said that prisons do not protect. With very few exceptions, no one stays in prison forever. In most states, we prisoners are eligible for parole after serving a half or a third of our time. Should no parole be granted, the law still provides for "good time" deduc~ tions that put most of us back on the streets well before our maximum terms expireo Even the so-called "life" term- er is not necessarily doomed to a life behind bars. He may be paroled after as little as seven years. As a result, something like 96 or 97 percent of all the felons your courts send to prison will sooner or later be back in the com- munity. If what my fellow passenger on the train said is true - if inmates leave the reformatories and penitentiw arise in a reformed and penitent state we then society9s protection has been provided for and all is wello Unfortunately, it doeant work out quite that wayo Most of us um some authori- ties say as many as 80 percent of us ~- will steal and kill and rape again. Why? What‘s wrong with prison and paw role officials that makes them dump so many unrepentent hoods, yeggs and thugs back into your laps? The truth is, of course, that they have little choice. In spite of a wealth of good intentions and new knowledge on the part of crhn- inologists, penal institutions are still not equipped to cope with the individual offendero They cannot be until a large enough segment of the voting and taxpayu ing public decides they must be. (Continued) mafia? 0N THECUMBERLAND Page 8 i l | I Let's have no misunderstanding about it. This is not an attempt to shift the blame for my actions or those of my‘felm low prisoners onto the shoulders of either the prison officials or society at large. In our more realistic moments most of us know that accepting reSponsiw bility for failure is the first and most important step in any real change for the better. But it is not incompatible “nth the acceptance of blame to ask fa“ a hand on the way upo Largely because ‘ of public misinformation and misundera ~standing about penal matters, that hand is too often either not available or it is actually exerting a downward pusho This year, there are more than 200,000 men and women crowded into adult corre0e tional institutions designed to hold considerably fewer peOple. The number is not declining. Each year, your courts send tens of thousands more to join us in our already packed quarterso Forgetting for the moment the enormous cost of capturing and convicting us (and, in most cases, footing the bill for our own legal defense as well), it is costing you between $1200 and $2000 annually to feed, clothe, house and guard each of us mm an amount which is no longer really adequateo Moreover, because none of us is gainfully emu ployed, you must also support our depenw dents, even bear the expense of precess= ing our writs and appeals. Obviously, paroles, releases, and geodetime deduce tions are necessary or your tax burden for our support alone would soon become intolerable. But that still wouldn9t be the end of the story. would be necessary to build more and yet more multi—million dollar prisons to hold us an a continuing capital outlay that would be a serious drain on state and federal treasuries. Faced with the critical problem of penal overcrowdedness, most correctional officials realize that their only course is to try to make constructive citizens out of destructive hoodlums. This is by no means an impossible task. The latest Before long, it- psuedonscientific theories notwithstand~ ing, very few prisoners consciously or unconsciously want to live behind bars. On the contrary, many would like nothing better than to live a normal life in the normal manner: by making an honest living at productive work. If this rings false, remember that it is not the bigmshot racketeer, the organ» ized hoodlum or the truly professional criminal, but ‘the failure at crime who fills the country°s prisons. With rare exceptions, the prison inmate is the fillingmstation bandit, the robber of grocery stores, the burglar of small businesseso He is the boy next door who is caught stealing a car, the slum kid who robs candy stores for pocket money, the petty forger, the kind of criminal for whom crime doesn“t pay and never Willa Like the alcoholic, he is a perm son whose behavior, to be explainable, must stem from serious character defi~ ciencies which he finds difficult or impossible to correct on his own. In short, he is a sick man; for onLy a sick man would persist in behavior that earns him nothing but grief and ruin. Like other sick men, he usually wants to get 1Ne 110 To help him get well, most penal insti« tutions provide _- where public opinion and available funds permit me at least an elementary school program and such vocational training as conditions allOWo But, because wardens are forced to do a deeperate juggling act with their traditionally slim appropriations, they can do little beyond this, even though they know that education alone will not remake a warped personality. Few state prisons can provide even a s