Evening star., 1953-01-16
j. ). Prison Director
Urges Government
To Abandon AIcatraz
BY the Assccioted Press

Federal Prison Director James
Y. Bennett today renewed an
often-voiced plea that Alcatraz-
The Rock in San Francisco
Bay--be abandoned as a Federal
penitentiary.
At the same time, Mr.. Ben
nett strongly urged that the
American prison system gener-
ally make a greater use of the
"open-type" institution, without
the forbidding walls and other
harsh surroundings of another
day. in order to promote bet
ter behavior and rehabilitation
among inmates.
Mr.. Bennett has often criti-
cized Alcatraz, the Federal prison
most feared by felons, and re-
served for the worst Federal Of
tenders. Entirely surrounded by
dangerous tidal waters, it is
known as the Governments
"maximum-secur institution.
MOdernizatiOn Would Help.
In an annual report for 1852
a year marked by serious out
breaks in many State peniten-
tiaries-Mr. Bennett asserted:
Definite gains would flow
from the replacement and mod |
-erniZation of certain Federal
prison facilities.
I'VE have requested specifical-
lv that consideration be given
the replacement of Alcatraz with
an institution more centrally To-
Gated and less difficult to operate
administratively."
The Bennett report said the
country has coome long way
from the lock-step, the minimum
diet and the lash of early prison
days, but "the ancient prison
itself largely remains"
"Out of the 152 State penal
and correctional institutions,
he said, only II are less than
so years old and most of these
relatively contemporary struc-
lures conform closely to bygone
standards of prison design and
construction
"Open-type" Prison Cited.
In contrast. he called atten-
tion to the "open-type' facility .
maintained by California at
Chinho and to the Federal Cor
rectional Institution at Seago-
vile, Tex. Both lack the famil-
lar and forbidding walls. fences
and towers usually associated
with prisons.
Such institutions, said Mr.
Bennett, stimulate the main
tenance and development of self
respect, provide testing ground
for individual growth and con-
troll and create an environment
in which a normal kind of asso-
citation and communication be-
tween staff officials and prison.
erS. and also among prisoners
themselves. can be foStered and
encouraged
He estimated that less than
one-third of the prison popula-
ton needs maximum security
facilities. that Is to 80 per cent
could be confined in minimum
security establishments and the
remainder taken care of in
medium security facilities.
This. he said. would require
proper selection, classification
and an adequate training pro-
gram" +
Few Escapes Soted.
The report noted that, of Sea-
govilles AIT prisoners. only
three attempted escape last year.
They were promptly recaptured.
Mr.. Bennett reported these
statistics for the past year:
Escapes by less than one-third
of / per cent of the 32.051 prison.
ers handled in Federal institu-
tions, with nearly all recaptured.
The biggest handling of i'm
migration law violators in 20
years, totaling 4.548. of whom
90 per cent were convicted along
the Mexican border.
Auto thieves in second place
behind immigration offenders.
with 2,605 interstate convictions
handled
A slight increase in narcotics
offenders. from 1856 in 1851 to
07O 10E0