Evening star., 1938-08-28

M grim but necessary inStitu-
WI tions. the administration OF
4 which can best be left to the
sterner sex.
Not SO Miss Nina Kinsella, who as
executive assistant to James v. Ben
nett, chief Of the United States Bu-
reau Of Prisons. occupies the highest
position in prison administration Of
any woman in the United States.
In her leisure time Miss Kinsella
devotes her attention to the Business
and Professional Women's Club, of
which she is president. She has just
returned from Charleston, S. c., where
she represented the club at a region
al conference and led a round-table
discussion on program coordination.
In her opinion there Is nothing
strange or unusual about q woman
occupying her working hours with
the problems of Alcatraz, Leavenworth,
Anderson and the thousands Of other
penal institutions over the country.
While she is interested in women
offenders, she Is equally concerned
with the fate of men prisoners. She
believes that all jails in which wom-
en- are confined, should have matrons
and spoke with enthusiasm Of the
new Federal prison for women to be
built at Dallas, Tex.
1T will be model institution, like
the one at Anderson, w. Va" she
said. The prisoners will be placed
under different degrees Of restraint
and will be treated in accordance with
the latest findings in penalology.'
Asked whether she did not consider
prison administration an unusual ca
reer for woman. Miss Kinsella
seemed a little bewildered But It
makes no difference whether you are
man or a woman in this work."
she replied. The important thing
is the spirit you bring to it. There
are sentimentalists of both sexes"
she continued, but they have no
place in penal work. Sound judg-
ment and training are the necessary
qualifications"
BY no means a sentimentalist her
self, and certainly not hard boiled"
Miss Kinsella is essentially a profess
sional woman. Slender. of medium
height. with gray eyes and black hair.
trim and smartly dressed, she radiates
efficiency
The fact that she is a New Eng
lander is apparent as soon as she
speaks. Although she left there some
c~l ~
to her.
Il went into prison work because
liked it," she said. "and 1 have
been working in it so long now that
it is just . part of my life. 1t
seemed like logical career for me.
as I had always been interested in
social service When l finished ST.
Mary's Academy. took a civil service
examination and was certified for sew
eral position. The one that appealed
to me the most was with the Massa-
chusetts Department Of Corrections.
I went to work there and stayed
until I came to Washington
A variety of work assignments.
over a period of years. taught Miss
Kinsella much about different aspects
OF prison problems. She was given
an increasing amount of responsibility
from time to time and eventually be-
came executive assistant to the direc-
tor of the department.
That director was Sanford Bates.
Eight years ago. when he came to
Washington as chief of the United
States Bureau Of Prisons. Miss Kinsella
came with him. Ever since then her
work with prisons has been on q ma
tional scale.
Her large air cooled Office in the De-
partment Of Justice Building seems
quiet, enlciently organized and remote
from anything so sordid as crime and
criminals. But its NEST noticeable
furnishing is a large map Of the
United States stuck full of different
colored pins
Each of these pins shows the loca-
ton Of county jail" she explained.
The color of the pins show the rating
that has been given the Jail by Federal
inspectors. This Office inspects county
jails because they must be used for the
detention of Federal offenders-kid-
napers. counterfeiters. drug peddlers,
automobile thieves. who may be ar
rested in any part Of the country.
There are 5000 county jails in the
United States. OF these 2,ll6 have
been condemned by this Office as unfit
for use Only 1874 have been approved
and 247 may be used in emergencies,
for "a or 48 hours. Conditions in some
of these places are unbelievable. Many
Of them are insecure and insanitary.
They have no provision for segregating
the sick from the well, or minor Of
tenders from hardened criminals. In
many of them the management has
been taken over by the prisoners be-
cause Of the laxness of county officials.
There is no thought of 'coddling'
wrongdoers, but We do believe in CIV
ing them sensible treatment. They
should have to work. for example, in
stead Of being allowed to sit about in
idleness. There should be provision for
segregation. Quarters should be secure
and sanitary. These measures reduce
the number Of repeaters. while the in
discriminate mixing Of inmates breeds
crime and disease.
County jails are community respon-
sibilities. People forget that every one
in a county Jail must come out even-
tually. The value to society. or the
potential menace of the inmate is
often determined by his jail expert
ences."