| Show r There Must MUt Be Strict 7 Discipline in a Prison Prison Warden John E. E Harris Harri of the Utah state prison on i issued sued a statement Thursday defending his action in handcuffing an inmate Joe Valdez Valder for 16 hours on November 7 7 I assume full responsibility for this action action the warden said explaining that it was taken because Valdez was involved in a prison escape attempt When he thereafter continued de defiance defiance de- de fiance of prison rules rulee he was waa placed in the dungeon and handcuffed handcuffed handcuffed hand hand- cuffed in a standing position to the bars from 4 30 p. p m. m to 9 a. a ni m. m Finally Vald Valdez agreed to obey prison rules and behave and he was vas released We think Warden Varden Harris made a mistake in this case The mistake wasn't in disciplining a rebellious prisoner prisoner prisoner-It it was in adopting a defensive attitude regarding that disciplinary action T There is nothing to defend about an action which compels a rebellious and dangerous convict to obey the rules Running a prison isn't isn t like conducting a pink tea party While the basic plan of any prison should be to treat inmates decently and encourage them to rehabilitate themselves there must never be any doubt in the minds of prisoners about the readiness of prison authorities to supplant decent kindly treatment treatment treatment treat treat- ment with the mailed fist if necessary As a general rule men dont don't get into prison unless in one way or another they have proved themselves pretty antisocial If in prison they are arc treated like erring children and merely admonished admonished admonished ad ad- to be good boys and B slapped lightly on the wrist If they are arc not Tome some of them will take advantage of the situation to become even more vicious They will get completely out of control and not only do themselves no good from the standpoint of rehabilitation but they will win endanger the safety of other I inmates of prison officials and of the public generally There must be strict discipline in a prison Inmates must that l authorities not inmates are boss and that they will enforce prison rules and regulations to the letter And whenever any Inmate peI persistently breaks the rules and becomes incorrigible U then en we expect prison authorities to invoke whatever punishment is required to make the rebellious prisoner behave And lets let's face the fact that the punishment must be pretty severe You tou cant can't punish a vicious criminal who is already in hi close confinement and serving a long prison ol term by normal methods His punishment has hns to be severe or it will be ineffective That's why we have the law on the statute books of Utah providing the death penalty for any life term prisoner who attempts to escape in such auch a manner manne as to threaten the lives of others The punishment punishment punishment punish punish- ment of a convict must be sufficiently severe to deter such desperate desperate desperate des des- men from violation of prison rules Warden Varden Harris doesn't have to defend his disciplinary ac ac- ac- ac tion That is what the people of Utah expect from him whenever any criminal who is sent to prison for punishment fails to play the game of paying his debt to society according to the rules |
