Kingston Penitentiary is a former maximum security prison located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, between King Street West and Lake Ontario.
The Attica Prison riot 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 an historic event in the prisoners' rights movement.
The New Mexico State Penitentiary riot, which took place on February 2 and 3, 1980, at the Penitentiary of New Mexico (PNM) south of Santa Fe, was the most violent prison riot in U.S. history. Inmates took complete control of the prison and twelve officers were taken hostage. Several inmates were killed by other prisoners, with some being tortured and mutilated because they had previously acted as informants for prison authorities. Police regained control of PNM 36 hours after the riots had begun. By then, thirty-three inmates had died and more than two hundred were treated for injuries. None of the twelve officers taken hostage were killed, but seven suffered serious injuries caused by beatings and rapes.
Joseph Bolitho Johns, better known as Moondyne Joe, was an English convict and Western Australia's best-known bushranger. Born into poor and relatively difficult circumstances, he became something of a petty criminal robber with a strong sense of self-determination. He is remembered as a person who had escaped multiple times from prison.
Fremantle Prison, sometimes referred to as Fremantle Gaol or Fremantle Jail, is a former Australian prison and World Heritage Site in Fremantle, Western Australia. The site includes the prison cellblocks, gatehouse, perimeter walls, cottages, and tunnels. It was initially used for convicts transported from Britain, but was transferred to the colonial government in 1886 for use for locally-sentenced prisoners. Royal Commissions were held in 1898 and 1911, and instigated some reform to the prison system, but significant changes did not begin until the 1960s. The government department in charge of the prison underwent several reorganisations in the 1970s and 1980s, but the culture of Fremantle Prison was resistant to change. Growing prisoner discontent culminated in a 1988 riot with guards taken hostage, and a fire that caused $1.8 million worth of damage. The prison closed in 1991, replaced by the new maximum-security Casuarina Prison.
Brenden James Abbott is a convicted Australian bank robber. He is reported to have stolen and hidden millions of dollars, and was dubbed "the postcard bandit" by police seeking media coverage.
Pontiac Correctional Center, established in June 1871, is an Illinois Department of Corrections maximum security prison for adult males in Pontiac, Illinois. The prison also has a medium security unit that houses medium to minimum security inmates and is classified as Level 3. Until the 2011 abolition of the death penalty in Illinois, the prison housed male death row inmates, but had no execution chamber. Inmates were executed at the Tamms Correctional Center. Although the capacity of the prison is 2172, it has an average daily population of approximately 2000 inmates.
Menard Correctional Center, known prior to 1970 as Southern Illinois Penitentiary, is an Illinois state prison located in the town of Chester in Randolph County, Illinois. It houses maximum-security and high-medium-security adult males. The average daily population as of 2007 was 3,410.
The Battle of Alcatraz, which lasted from May 2 to 4, 1946, was the result of an escape attempt at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary by armed convicts. Two Federal Bureau of Prisons officers—William A. Miller and Harold Stites—were killed. Three inmates were also killed during the incident. Fourteen other officers and one uninvolved convict were also injured. Two of the perpetrators were executed in 1948 for their roles.
Joseph Paul "Dutch" Cretzer was an American bank robber and prisoner at Alcatraz who participated in and was slain in the bloody "Battle of Alcatraz" which took place following a failed escape attempt between May 2 and May 4, 1946.
The Acre Prison break was an operation undertaken by the Irgun on May 4, 1947, in the British Mandate of Palestine, in which its men broke through the walls of the Central Prison in Acre and freed 27 incarcerated Irgun and Lehi members.
The Montana State Prison is a men's correctional facility of the Montana Department of Corrections in unincorporated Powell County, Montana, about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of Deer Lodge. The current facility was constructed between 1974 and 1979 in response to the continued degeneration of the original facility located in downtown Deer Lodge.
The State Correctional Institution atCamp Hill is a Pennsylvania Department of Corrections prison in Lower Allen Township, Cumberland County, near Camp Hill in Greater Harrisburg. Its current superintendent is Michael Gourley. It has over 2,000 inmates.
The British Columbia Penitentiary was a federal maximum security prison located in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. The BC Penitentiary operated for 102 years, from 1878 until it was decommissioned in 1980. It was the first federal penal institution west of Manitoba. The Gatehouse was sold on September 8, 2021.
The Welikada prison riot was a prison riot that occurred on 9 November 2012 at Welikada Prison in Sri Lanka. The riot broke out during a search for illegal arms. The riot left 27 people dead and 40 injured. The government has appointed a committee to investigate the riot. Welikada Prison, which has around 4,000 prisoners, has witnessed a number of violent riots in its history. This prison riot was the worst in Sri Lanka's history since the 1983 riot, also at Welikada Prison, which left 53 prisoners dead.
The history of Fremantle Prison, a former Australian prison in Fremantle, Western Australia, extends from its construction as a prison for convicts, using convict labour, in the 1850s, through to its modern-day usage as a tourist attraction. The design for Fremantle Prison was based on the Pentonville Prison in Britain, and it would be the longest, tallest prison cell block in the southern hemisphere. Construction began in 1851, and was completed by the end of 1859. The prison was transferred to the colonial government in 1886 for use for locally sentenced prisoners. Following a Royal Commission held in 1898−99, some changes were made to Fremantle Prison, including knocking down the inner wall between two cells, introducing a prisoner classification system, and constructing internal walls in the main block to create four separate divisions. A new cell block, New Division, was completed in 1907 and occupied in 1908.
The architecture of Fremantle Prison includes the six-hectare (15-acre) site of the former prison on The Terrace, Fremantle, in Western Australia. Limestone was quarried on-site during construction, and the south-western corner and eastern portion of the site are at a considerably higher ground level. The Fremantle Prison site includes the prison cell blocks, gatehouse, perimeter walls, cottages, tunnels, and related infrastructure.
Staff and prisoners of Fremantle Prison occupied the former prison on The Terrace, Fremantle, in Western Australia, between 1855 and 1991. Fremantle Prison was administered by a comptroller general, sheriff, or director, responsible for the entire convict or prison system, and a superintendent in charge of the prison itself. Prison officers, known as warders in the 19th century, guarded against escapes, enforced discipline, oversaw prisoner work, and instructed inmates in trades. Officers worked under stringent conditions until they achieved representation through the Western Australian Prison Officers Union. Convicts were initially of good character, as potential future colonists, but eventually less desirable convicts were sent, until the end of transportation in 1868. As a locally run prison, Fremantle's population was generally short-sentenced white prisoners in the 1890s, with very few Aboriginal prisoners; however, by the late 20th century, most prisoners were serving longer sentences, a higher proportion of them were violent, and Aboriginal people were over-represented.
Numerous riots and disturbances occurred at Fremantle Prison over its years of operation. Constructed in the 1850s using convict labor and modeled after Pentonville Gaol, Fremantle Prison served as Western Australia's primary maximum security facility for male offenders. Despite some reforms prompted by Royal Commissions in 1898−99 and 1911, substantial changes to the prison's operation didn't commence until the 1960s. Among the earliest incidents was one in 1854, while major riots took place in 1968 and 1988, causing significant damage to the prison.
