In 1971; Attica’s prison yard massacre shocked the public; prisoners; and political leaders across the United States. Massachusetts residents pledged to prevent such slaughter from ever happening there; and the governor agreed. Thus began a move for reform that eventually led to the prisoners at Walpole’s Massachusetts Correctional Institute winning control of its day-to-day operations.When the Prisoners Ran Walpole brings this vital history to life; revealing what can happen when there is public will for change and trust that the incarcerated can achieve it. In the months before they took over running the maximum-security facility in 1973; prisoners and outside advocates created programs that sent more prisoners home for good; slowing the turn of the famous revolving door by 23 percent and decreasing Walpole’s population by 15 percent.When guards protested the changes they saw as choking their livelihoods; finally refusing to run the prison; the prisoners stepped ably into the void—and all-out peace ensued. They shrank the murder rate from the highest in the country to zero. Even more significantly; they worked hard to bury racial antagonism and longstanding feuds so even “lifers†with no hope of going home could find ways to live together; learn; and grow—to regain; finally; the humanity that the system intended to squash.Critical to the work of prison abolitionists and transitional reformists alike; this groundbreaking history offers a real-life example of a prison solution many see only as theoretical. It not only reminds us why people seek to make prisons obsolete; but also recalls a time when we were much closer to these abolitionist goals.Jamie Bissonette; co-director of an AFSC (American Friends Service Committee) Criminal Justice Program; wrote her inspiring account with the aid of the complete archives and interviews bestowed to her by the prisoners; outside advocates; and policymakers who created this remarkable history.
#3649557 in Books Aperture 2000-05-15Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 .84 x 9.34 x 12.33l; 1.10 #File Name: 0893817945184 pages
Review
9 of 14 people found the following review helpful. Words and PicturesBy A CustomerThe book has an excellent selection of quite shocking photographs. The graphic design and production values are exceptional. The text articles are largely very informative. Elliot Sperling presents a thoughtful analysis of the dynamic nature of Tibetan culture and identity; dispelling the rather silly historical myths of feudal hell vs. high altitude nirvana. Mickey Spiegel's reporting of the stories of individual recent Tibetan exiles brings home the concrete; human reality of how awful things are for those Tibetans unwilling to kowtow to China's colonialist and racist policies. Orville Schell's final article is a bizarre piece of writing in this context. I can only conclude that it was included for some form of "balance". His direct comments on Tibetans are that their cuisine is "inedible" to Westerners; they engage in only "the most modest kinds of personal hygiene"; and they have shown themselves "capable of considerable savagery against one another". Schell's big thing is the romanticization of Tibet by others. He admits he once was so eneamoured; and his shame and anger about this seem to dominate his analyis. Its a real pity that this self-loathing makes him blind to the issues of justice and legitimacy that the Tibetan problem presents. These issues are the fundamental attraction for many if not a majority of Tibet's foreign supporters.
