After 10 minutes of bantering, Draper Read, co-convener of the prison society, introduced the guest speakers for the night and the prisoners relaxed a bit. Read and several other members of the prison society visit Centre County Prison every Tuesday to address prisoners' problems and to relieve the inmates' stress with education or entertainment. And the inmates cannot be penitent if they live under inhumane conditions. Established 207 years ago in Philadelphia by the Quakers, the prison society seeks to promote a more humane, just and constructive correctional system, Read said. The organization tries to accomplish that through lobbying.
Local chapters concentrate on conditions of specific prisons.
Since the local Centre County chapter was formed around 1980, the group has sponsored weekly guest speakers, listened to inmates' concerns and helped prepare them for the outside world. Guests have ranged from Bellefonte Mayor Candace Dannaker to folk singers. But prisoner turnout is unpredictable from week to week, Read said. Because the Centre County Prison is transitional, some prisoners cannot consistently attend the Tuesday meetings. The time they do spend there is influenced by the leaders among the prisoners, Read said.