Alcatraz: Prison Reform In The US

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The thought of Alcatraz started in the 1920’s when gangsters were fighting and killing just about everyone they saw that posed a threat. This was happening because they had made a new law. This law was called the National Prohibition Act. Even though it was illegal so many people wanted to buy alcohol. So the criminals ruled. Some criminals started to sneak alcohol in from other countries. Soon after that Illegal bars opened. This caused a lot of trouble. People couldn’t contain these “super gangsters.” They kept selling the alcohol and making a greater, and greater profit. Most of them lived like kings, they paid the police and local politicians to leave them alone. Even from regular prisons they controlled everything, criminals ruled they paid the guards and kept in touch with their people on the outside. This was when Homer C. Cummings made Alcatraz. This place was for the toughest of the tough. In this essay I will explain Alcatraz. …show more content…

This “super prison” needed extra security to be able to maintain the prisoners. Some security they used included three guards for every one prisoner. Regular prisons had one guard for every 10 prisoners. Next is the hole, they put any prisoner in the hole if they did anything wrong. The hole was completely pitch black room that the prisoners were chained to for up to years at a time. The guards families lived on the island so that no guard would have there family threatened. Machine guns were aimed at the prisoners so if any of them tried to act or kill someone they would be prepared. Tear gas could drop from the ceiling at any moment in case of a riot. Microphones were put everywhere in the prison to overhear conversations to be sure no one was trying to escape. They had put in all of this extra security to make sure the prison was extra

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