Word: prisons
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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...last straw in the Norfolk controversy was gently laid on by the Boston Traveller yesterday. A vast three inch head across the top of its columns streamed forth the news that Norfolk prison graft had been bared in the Hurley Report; it was not until the story had lapsed into small type that the Traveller admitted two very important things--that the report had not yet been submitted to Governor Ely, and that whatever information the Traveller possessed on its contents came from "persons in the State House close to the Hurley probe." When it had retreated safely into...
...expected to feel the storm without retaliation. Superintendent Gill of Norfolk presented an obvious opportunity. He is a subordinate state official, engaged in a revolutionary penal experiment, without important political or financial backing. He has, as the administrator of sizeable appropriations, made many important political enemies. Prisons are good copy for the sensational journalist; the common-place of any prison life, skillfully stated, can easily assume the character of a public scandal. Mr. Osborne was driven from Sing Sing by just such an attack, and although every charge made against him was publicly disproved, he found it impossible to remain...
...data on the Norfolk controversy are available to anyone. The prison has been open to visitors since Mr. Gill became superintendent; last month W. Cameron Forbes wrote a careful and scholarly report on Norfolk and Mr. Gill's administration. Yet the published report of an eminent public official has been ignored, and press leaks on an unpublished report, made by the State Auditor, have furnished the material for a wild newspaper campaign, although no charge made by the Auditor has been proved and although the Auditor was forbidden by Governor Ely to release any advance publicity on his findings...
...will begin by saying that I regard the Norfolk prison as an admirable prospect. It is the one creditable page in the history of prison administration in Massachusetts, and should not be allowed to fail by reason either or critical comment on the part of interested or uninformed people, or, in order to meet the conveniences of the situation, by making unwise use of its facilities and by unwise use I mean mixing unfit men with the trustworthy men who are found there, in a way that would bring about disorders and apparent failure of the system...
...more modern weapons installed, to be provided with more ammunition than at present, (2) barbed wire fences to keep inmates from a zone 60 feet from the wall and from work being done by outside labor, (3) wages for inmate labor, and (4) ultimate transfer of the entire state prison plant to Norfolk, with five types of prisons for different cases. In commenting upon the report, Superintendent Gill agreed with each of these suggestions, and added that the Commissioner of Correction should be empowered to supervise transfers from one prison unit to the others. The conclusion of Mr. Forbes' report...