Wardens of Sing Sing

Last updated

The Wardens of Sing Sing are appointed by the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. [1]

* denotes an acting warden who holds the position until a full-time warden can be appointed

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sing Sing</span> Maximum-security prison in Ossining, New York

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.

<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">Lewis E. Lawes</span> American prison warden (1883–1947)

Lewis Edward Lawes was a prison warden and a proponent of prison reform. During his 21-year tenure at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, he supervised the executions of 303 prisoners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Minto</span> Superintendent of the Oregon State Penitentiary from 1914 to 1915

Harry Percy Minto was the superintendent of the Oregon State Penitentiary in the U.S. state of Oregon from 1914 until his death in 1915. Minto died in the line of duty, killed by an escaped inmate.

Auburn Correctional Facility is a state prison on State Street in Auburn, New York, United States. It was built on land that was once a Cayuga village. It is classified as a maximum security facility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert J. Kirby</span>

Robert John Kirby was the Warden of Sing Sing prison from 1941 until 1944. Highly regarded for his integrity, Kirby brought respect back to the administration of Sing Sing, and order to the prison after the often controversial tenure of Lewis Lawes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Lowrie</span> American journalist and author (1875–1925)

Donald Lowrie was an American newspaper writer and author. He became a well-known advocate of prison reform work after the release of his book My Life in Prison, in which he reflects on his ten-year incarceration in San Quentin State Prison north of San Francisco, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prison warden</span> Official in charge of a prison

The warden or governor, also known as a superintendent or director, is the official who is in charge of a prison.

Brian S. Fischer was the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Correctional Services, the fourth largest state prison system in the United States. He was appointed by former Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer in 2007 and retired in 2013. He was previously superintendent of Sing Sing Prison. He has spent his entire career in the Correctional Services department since receiving his B.S. in Psychology from Upsala College in 1966 and an M.S. from the University of Bridgeport in 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York State Division of Parole</span> Law enforcement agency

The New York State Division of Parole was an agency of the government of New York within the New York State Correctional Services from 1930 to 2011. § 259. "1. There shall be in the executive department of state government a state division of parole" responsible for parole, the supervised release of a prisoner before the completion of his/her sentence. In 2011, the agency merged with the Department of Correctional Services to form the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

The Inspector of State Prisons was a statewide elective office created by the New York State Constitution of 1846. At the 1847 New York state election, three Inspectors were elected and then, upon taking office, so classified that henceforth every year one Inspector would be elected to a three-year term. The Prison Inspectors appointed wardens and keepers and supervised the prison administration in general. They were required to visit jointly four times a year each one of the state prisons. Besides, each one of the Inspectors was allotted the special care to one of the then existing three state prisons where he had to attend to business for at least one week per month.

Benjamin S. W. Clark was an American merchant and politician from New York. He was the first New York State Superintendent of Public Works.

Colonel Omar Van Leuven Sage was the Warden of Sing Sing from 1894 to 1899.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George S. Weed</span> American politician

George Standish Weed was an American lawyer and politician from New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Superintendent of State Prisons</span>

The Superintendent of State Prisons was an officer of the New York State government, who was in charge of the administration of the state prisons. The office was created by a constitutional amendment ratified in 1876, to succeed the three statewide elective New York State Prison Inspectors. The Superintendent was appointed to a five-year term by the Governor of New York, and confirmed by the New York Senate.

<i>The Right Way</i> (1921 film) 1921 film

The Right Way is a 1921 American silent drama film distributed by Producers Security. It was directed by Sidney Olcott and starred Joseph Marquis and Edwards Davis. It was sponsored by Thomas Mott Osborne, former warden in Sing Sing prison and a leading advocate in America for prison reform and defender of the Mutual League.

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.

Austin H. MacCormick was an American criminologist and prison reformer. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Folke Nelson</span> Swedish-American author on prison reform

Victor Folke Nelson was a Swedish-American writer, prisoner, and prison reform advocate. He spent many years incarcerated in both the New York and Massachusetts prison systems and came to the attention of neurologist Abraham Myerson and penologist Thomas Mott Osborne for his potential as a writer. In 1932, Nelson published his book Prison Days and Nights with the assistance of Dr. Myerson.

<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. "NYCHS: Guy Cheli's 'Sing Sing Prison' List of Wardens Page". Correctionhistory.org. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
  2. "O.V. Sage Warden of Sing Sing; Superintendent Lathrop Promotes His Clerk, Who Has Had Charge Since Durston's Death". New York Times . November 20, 1894. Retrieved 2011-05-05. Austin Lathrop, Superintendent of State Prisons, to-day appointed Omar V. Sage of Catskill Agent and Warden of Sing Sing Prison. ...
  3. "Dr. Kirchwey Dies. Criminiologist, 86; Dean of Columbia Law School, 1901-10, Was Warden of Sing Sing in 1915-16. Legal Education Pioneer. Advocate of World Peace Was Director of U. S. Employment Service Here After War". New York Times . March 5, 1942. Retrieved 2011-05-05. Dean of Columbia Law School, 1901-10, Was Warden of Sing Sing in 1915 ...
  4. "T. M. Osborne To Be Warden At Sing Sing. Noted Prison Reformer Will Take Office on Dec. 1. Approved by Glynn and Whitman. Big Shake-Up Predicted. Warden-Elect Disapproves of Capital Punishment, but Would Make Executions 'Public Exhibitions". New York Times . November 20, 1914. Retrieved 2011-05-04. Thomas Mott Osborne of Auburn, N.Y., retired manufacturer, world traveler, lecturer, writer, and prison reformer, has accepted the offer of John B. Riley, State Superintendent of Prisons, of the post of the Warden of Sing Sing Prison. He will take office on Dec. 1, and will relieve ex-Judge George S. Weed, who was temporarily assigned to Sing Sing, when Warden Thomas J. McCormick was ousted on Oct. 30 as the result of the Sullivan scandal. ...
  5. "Sing Sing Prison Gets New Warden. Denno, 24 Years in State's System, Succeeds Retiring Snyder". New York Times . December 23, 1950. Retrieved 2014-09-02. Wilfred L. Denno, a veteran of twenty-four years of service in the State prison system, was appointed warden of New York's famed Sing Sing prison today ... Robert E. Murphy, 51, principal keeper at Green Haven Prison, who was appointed warden at Auburn to succeed John Foster ...
  6. "Sing Sing Warden Retiring on Jan. 12". New York Times . December 24, 1966. Retrieved 2014-09-02. The warden of Sing Sing prison, Wilfred Louis Denno, will retire Jan. 12 after 40 years of working in the state's prisons, the last 16 years as chief of the tightest ship on the Hudson.
  7. NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. "The Department is pleased to announce that Acting Superintendent at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, Marlyn Kopp, has been promoted to Superintendent at Sing Sing". Facebook. Archived from the original on 23 October 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.