Author | Ted Conover |
---|---|
Publisher | Random House |
Publication date | 2000 |
Pages | 336 |
ISBN | 9780375501777 |
Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing is a nonfiction book [1] by journalist and professor Ted Conover [2] published in 2000 by Vintage Books. [3] [4] In the book, Conover recounts his experience of learning firsthand about the New York State prison system by becoming a correctional officer for nearly a year. [5] Conover sought the job of correctional officer after the New York State Department of Correctional Services denied his request to shadow the department's employees in a journalist role. [4]
The main title of the book, Newjack, refers to the nickname given to newly hired and inexperienced correctional officers. [4] Throughout the book Conover divulges the inner workings of the New York State correctional system by recounting his experiences of working in nearly every type of custody post in the prison, from solitary confinement and mental health units to visiting rooms and prisoner transport vehicles. [4] The book begins with his seven-week experience in the department's paramilitary training academy, where the department communicates its values and priorities to new recruits. [4] Conover and other recruits learn that in addition to passing the academic portion of the academy, they must also experience real and direct exposure to chemical agents (tear gas) and complete a timed physical performance test to ensure they are prepared for potential prison workplace conditions and demands. [4] The academy instructors define the job of correctional officers as the “care, custody, and control” of inmates, and Conover explores the ethical aspects of correctional philosophy and training that are not addressed in the academy curriculum through his account of the experience. [4] After his academy graduation, Conover's story continues as he is assigned to various rotating entry-level custody roles throughout the Sing Sing prison. [4]
Conover presents the complex feelings and experiences of a well-educated correctional officer with universal human emotions and flaws working in the challenging prison setting. [4] The chapters present both sympathetic and unpleasant aspects of the behavior, thought processes, and practices of all the stakeholders—prisoners, employees, and contractors—that Conover encounters during his work duties. [4] His writing highlights the boredom, fear, violence, trauma, and psychological dynamics that shape the prison experience for all of these stakeholders on a daily basis. [4]
Newjack was the winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for non-fiction. [6]
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 an historic event in the prisoners' rights movement.
Attica Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison campus 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.
Sing Sing 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, United States. 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 2007.
Rikers Island is a 413-acre (167.14-hectare) prison island in the East River in the Bronx that contains New York City's largest jail.
The Minnesota Correction Facility – Stillwater (MCF-STW) is a close custody state prison for men in Bayport, Minnesota, United States. Built 1910–1914, it houses 1,600 inmates in seven different living areas. Additionally, approximately 100 inmates are housed in a nearby minimum security area. It replaced the original Minnesota Territorial Prison located just to the north in the city of Stillwater, Minnesota. Until recent expansion of the medium custody Minnesota Correctional Facility – Faribault, MCF-STW was the state's largest facility by inmate population. A historic district consisting of 22 contributing properties was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 as the State Prison Historic District for having state-level significance in architecture. It was nominated for being one of the nation's earliest and most influential appearances of the "telephone pole" layout, with a large main hallway connecting each of the units, that was widely adopted by high-security prisons. MCF-STW is noted for its award-winning publication The Prison Mirror, the oldest continuously-operated prison newspaper in the United States.
The Louisiana State Penitentiary is a maximum-security prison farm in Louisiana operated by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections. It is named "Angola" after the former slave plantation that occupied this territory. The plantation was named after the country of Angola, from which many enslaved people originated before arriving in Louisiana.
Mississippi State Penitentiary (MSP), also known as Parchman Farm, is a maximum-security prison farm located in the unincorporated community of Parchman in Sunflower County, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta region. Occupying about 28 square miles (73 km2) of land, Parchman is the only maximum security prison for men in the state of Mississippi, and is the state's oldest prison.
Clinton Correctional Facility is a New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision maximum security state prison for men located in the Village of Dannemora, New York. The prison is sometimes colloquially referred to as Dannemora, although its name is derived from its location in Clinton County, New York. The southern perimeter wall of the prison borders New York State Route 374. Church of St. Dismas, the Good Thief, a church built by inmates, is located within the walls. The prison is sometimes referred to as New York's Little Siberia, due to the cold winters in Dannemora and the isolation of the upstate area. It is the largest maximum-security prison and the third-oldest prison in New York. The staff includes about 1,000 officers and supervisors.
The Southport Correctional Facility was an ultra-maximum-security, or "supermax", prison, run by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. It was located in the town of Southport, in the Southern Tier of New York State, United States.
Ted Conover is an American author and journalist who has been called a "master of immersion" and "master of experience-based narrative nonfiction." A graduate of Amherst College and a former Marshall Scholar, he is also a professor and past director of the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University. He teaches graduate courses in the New York University Literary Reportage concentration, as well as undergraduate courses on the "journalism of empathy" and undercover reporting.
A prison officer (PO) or corrections officer (CO), also known as a correctional law enforcement officer or less formally as a prison guard, is a uniformed law enforcement official responsible for the custody, supervision, safety, and regulation of prisoners. They are responsible for the security of the facility and its property as well as other law enforcement functions. Most prison officers or corrections officers are employed by the government of the jurisdiction in which they operate, although some are employed by private companies that provide prison services to the government.
Green Haven Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison in New York, United States. The prison is located in the Town of Beekman in Dutchess County. The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision lists the address as Route 216, Stormville, New York 12582. This prison housed New York's execution chamber during the time the state briefly had the death penalty in the post-Furman era. It was originally a federal prison and now houses maximum security inmates. Green Haven Correctional Facility also operated a Hot Kosher Foods Program; but no longer does as of 2020. However, because of this, the prison had a large Jewish population. Yale Law School operates the Green Haven Prison Project, a series of seminars among Yale law students and Green Haven inmates on law and policy issues concerning prisons and criminal law.
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.
William C. Holman Correctional Facility is an Alabama Department of Corrections prison located in Atmore, Alabama. The facility is along Alabama State Highway 21.
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.
The Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center was an 800-bed jail barge used to hold inmates for the New York City Department of Corrections. The barge was anchored off the Bronx's southern shore, across from Rikers Island, near Hunts Point. It was built for $161 million at Avondale Shipyard in Louisiana, along the Mississippi River near New Orleans, and brought to New York in 1992 to reduce overcrowding in the island's land-bound buildings for a lower price. Nicknamed "The Boat" by prison staff and inmates, it was designed to handle inmates from medium- to maximum-security in 16 dormitories and 100 cells.
The Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) is the government agency responsible for operating state prisons in the U.S. state of Florida. It has its headquarters in the state capital of Tallahassee.
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.
The Baldwin State Prison, previously the Baldwin Correctional Institution and the Georgia Women's Correctional Institution (GWCI), is a prison located in Milledgeville, Georgia, United States, with a Hardwick postal address. The prison has a capacity of 900. After complaints in the early 1990s by more than 200 women of sexual abuse by guards, an investigation was conducted. More than a dozen guards were prosecuted. The state decided to move the women to other prison facilities for a total change in culture. This facility now houses only adult male felons, with a capacity of 992.
The John M. Wynne Unit (WY) is a men's prison of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, located in northern Huntsville, Texas, at the intersection of Farm to Market Road 2821 West and Texas State Highway 75 North. The Windham School District has its headquarters in the unit. Wynne, the second oldest prison in Texas, was named after John Magruder Wynne, who served as a prison employee and later as a board member of the prison system from 1878 to 1881. The unit, on a 1,412 acres (571 ha) plot of land, is co-located with the Holliday Unit.