Austin MacCormick

Last updated

Austin H. MacCormick (April 20, 1893 - 1979) was an American criminologist and prison reformer. [1] In 1916 he received the Masters of Arts degree from Columbia University Teachers College. He served in the U.S. Naval reserve from 1917 to 1921. His senior officer at Portsmouth was Thomas Mott Osborne, a penologist who later employed MacCormick. In 1929 he was appointed Assistant Superintendent of the Federal Prisons in the Department of Justice. In 1930, the Federal Bureau of Prisons was established and MacCormick was named Assistant Director. From 1934 to 1940 he served as Commissioner of the New York Department of Corrections. In 1939 he was President of the American Correctional Association. MacCormick was special assistant to the Undersecretary of War from 1944 to 1947. From 1951 to 1960 MacCormick was professor of criminology at UC Berkeley in California.

When he retired from teaching at Berkeley, MacCormick worked full time as the executive director of the Osborne Association until his death in 1979.

In 1971, MacCormick served as co-chairman of the Goldman Panel, which was charge with conducting an impartial investigation of how Attica Prison inmates were being treated after the retaking of the facility following the uprising at the prison that resulted in a massacre of inmates and hostages by New York state troopers. MacCormick wrote a personal letter to Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, who had ordered the retaking of the prison by armed force, praising Rockefeller for his handling of the crisis. The Goldman Panel publicly reported that inmates were being well-treated, when, in fact, rampant abuse of inmates continuing well after the retaking had been reported to the panel by physicians. [2]

MacCormick was influential in federal and state prison reform and worked with adult and juvenile prisons throughout the nation to help guide penology into the modern era. He served on committees concerned with alcoholism and drug use and wrote many papers expressing progressive ideas on prison reform, libraries, and juvenile delinquency. [1]

MacCormick wrote a book based on the results of his 1928 nationwide survey of prison education, which was published in 1931 as The Education of Adult Prisoners: A Survey and a Program Prepared for the National Society of Penal Information. MacCormick dedicated the book to Thomas Mott Osborne.

In his book, The Education of Adult Prisoners it lists four goals[ clarification needed ] for prison education:

He summarizes his book by stating: "The typical prisoner is a young man or woman who needs education." He devotes a chapter to "Individualization of Education". [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Attica Prison riot</span> 1971 prisoner rebellion in New York

The Attica Prison Riot, also known as the Attica Prison Rebellion, the Attica Uprising, or the Attica Prison Massacre, took place at the state prison in Attica, New York; it started on September 9, 1971, and ended on September 13 with the highest number of fatalities in the history of United States prison uprisings. Of the 43 men who died, all but one guard and three inmates were killed by law enforcement gunfire when the state retook control of the prison on the final day of the uprising. The Attica Uprising has been described as a historic event in the prisoners' rights movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Attica Correctional Facility</span> Maximum-security state prison in New York

Attica Correctional Facility is a maximum security campus New York State prison in the town of Attica, New York, operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. It was constructed in the 1930s in response to earlier riots within the New York state prisons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arkansas Department of Corrections</span> American government agency

The Arkansas Department of Corrections (DOC), formerly the Arkansas Department of Correction, is the state law enforcement agency that oversees inmates and operates state prisons within the U.S. state of Arkansas. DOC consists of two divisions, the Arkansas Division of Corrections (ADC) and the Arkansas Division of Community Corrections (DCC), as well as the Arkansas Correctional School District. ADC is responsible for housing and rehabilitating people convicted of crimes by the courts of Arkansas. ADC maintains 20 prison facilities for inmates in 12 counties. DCC is responsible for adult parole and probation and offender reentry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sing Sing</span> New York State maximum security prison

Sing Sing Correctional Facility, formerly Ossining Correctional Facility, is a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York. It is about 30 miles (48 km) north of Midtown Manhattan on the east bank of the Hudson River. It holds about 1,700 inmates and housed the execution chamber for the State of New York until the abolition of capital punishment in New York in 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Mott Osborne</span> American prison officer and reformer (1859–1926)

Thomas Mott Osborne was an American prison officer, prison reformer, industrialist and New York State political reformer. In an assessment of Osborne's life, a New York Times book reviewer wrote: "His career as a penologist was short, but in the interval of the few years he served he succeeded in revolutionizing American prison reform, if not always in fact, then in awakening responsibility.... He was made of the spectacular stuff of martyrs, to many people perhaps ridiculous, but to those whose lives his theories most closely touched, inspiring and often godlike."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prison reform</span> Reform of the prison system

Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, improve the effectiveness of a penal system, or implement alternatives to incarceration. It also focuses on ensuring the reinstatement of those whose lives are impacted by crimes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation</span> Law enforcement agency in California, USA

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is the penal law enforcement agency of the government of California responsible for the operation of the California state prison and parole systems. Its headquarters are in Sacramento.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penal system of Japan</span> Penal system of the State of Japan

The penal system of Japan is part of the criminal justice system of Japan. It is intended to resocialize, reform, rehabilitate and punish offenders. The penal system is operated by the Correction Bureau of the Ministry of Justice.

Elmira Correctional Facility, also known as "The Hill", is a maximum security state prison located in Chemung County, in the City of Elmira in the US state of New York. It is operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. A supermax prison, Southport Correctional Facility, is located 2 miles (3.2 km) away from Elmira.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision</span> Department of the New York State government

The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (NYSDOCCS) is the department of the New York State government that administers the state prison and parole system, including 44 prisons funded by the state government.

Thomas O. Murton was a penologist best known for his wardenship of the prison farms of Arkansas. In 1969, he published an account of the endemic corruption there which created a national scandal, and which was popularized in a fictional version by the film Brubaker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indiana Women's Prison</span> Prison in Indiana

The Indiana Women's Prison was established in 1873 as the first adult female correctional facility in the country. The original location of the prison was one mile (1.6 km) east of downtown Indianapolis. It has since moved to 2596 Girls School Road, former location of the Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility. As of 2005, it had an average daily population of 420 inmates, most of whom are members of special-needs populations, such as geriatric, mentally ill, pregnant, and juveniles sentenced as adults. By the end of 2015, the population increased to 599 inmates. Security levels range from medium to maximum. The prison holds Indiana's only death row for women; however, it currently has no death row inmates. The one woman under an Indiana death sentence, Debra Denise Brown, had her sentence commuted to 140 years imprisonment in 2018 and is being held in Ohio.

The Correctional Education Association (CEA) was founded in 1930 to provide educational services in correctional settings. This non-profit professional association is the largest affiliate of the American Correctional Association.

Arthur Lawrence Liman was an American lawyer and partner at the New York firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. Liman served as the chief counsel for both the New York state commission for the Attica Prison riot in 1971 and the investigation of the Iran-Contra Affair in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Melville</span> American activist and convict (1934–1971)

Samuel Joseph Melville, was the principal conspirator and bomb setter in the 1969 bombings of eight government and commercial office buildings in New York City. Melville cited his opposition to the Vietnam War and U.S. imperialism as the motivation for the bombings. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy and to bombing the Federal Office Building in lower Manhattan, as well as to assaulting a marshal in a failed escape attempt. A key figure in the 1971 Attica Prison riots, he was shot by the police and killed when the uprising was put down by force.

<i>Against the Wall</i> (1994 film) American television film by John Frankenheimer

Against the Wall is a 1994 American action historical drama television film directed by John Frankenheimer, written by Ron Hutchinson, and starring Samuel L. Jackson and Kyle MacLachlan. It aired on HBO on March 26, 1994. The film was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Jackson and won a Primetime Emmy Award for Frankenheimer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Rosenberg</span> American criminal & convict (1937–2009)

Jerome "Jerry" Rosenberg was a New York State convict, mobster, and jail house lawyer. He was incarcerated for 46 years, longer than any other prisoner in New York State history. Rosenberg was sentenced to death for his involvement in the 1962 double homicide of two New York City police officers during a robbery carried out with two other Mafia-connected gangsters. His sentence was commuted to life in prison in June 1965, after capital punishment was abolished in New York. Rosenberg went on to become the first New York State inmate to earn a law degree and in turn gave legal advice to several inmates, including the leaders of the Attica Prison riot. A book was written about Rosenberg and his time in prison which was adapted into a 1988, made-for-TV movie, Doing Life, starring Tony Danza.

<i>Inmates of Attica Correctional Facility v. Rockefeller</i>

Inmates of Attica Correctional Facility v Rockefeller, 477 F.2d 375 (1973) was a United States 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals case that affirmed the right of state prosecutors to choose whether to investigate and prosecute individuals that have potentially committed a crime.

Osborne Association is a non-governmental, multi-service, criminal justice reform, and direct service organization. Osborne runs programs for people who have been in conflict with the law and their families. It operates from community offices in Brooklyn, The Bronx, Buffalo, Manhattan, and Newburgh, New York, White Plains, New York, Troy, New York and inside more than forty New York State prisons and jails. They work with the families and communities of incarcerated individuals to try and redress harm done by the criminal justice system, whilst also working to reform the system by challenging racist policies and retributive justice.

<i>Society and Prisons: Some Suggestions for a New Penology</i> 1916 book by Thomas Mott Osborne

Society and Prisons: Some Suggestions for a New Penology is a book by Thomas Mott Osborne that was first published in 1916 by Yale University Press. In this book, Osborne describes the state of the prison system in the United States and proposes recommendations for prison reform. Drawing on his personal experience as a voluntary prisoner, he discusses the purpose of incarceration, treatment of inmates, and the potential for rehabilitation. The book influenced the discussion of prison reform and contributed to a change in societal perceptions of incarcerated individuals.

References

  1. 1 2 "Austin H. MacCormick Papers". Thomason Special Collections, Newton Gresham Library, Sam Houston State University. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
  2. ↑ Thompson, Heather Ann (2016). Blood In The Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy. New York: Pantheon Books. pp. 253–255. ISBN   9780375423222.
  3. ↑ Austin MacCormick (1931), Education of Adult Prisoners, p. 58
  4. ↑ Stearns, A. Warren (March 1932). "Review: The Education of Adult Prisoners: A survey and a program prepared for the National Society of Penal Information by Austin H. MacCormick". American Journal of Sociology. 37 (5): 818–820.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.