Walnut Street Jail History

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Prisons and Jails 1 Jail and Prisons Throughout the History of the U.S Charles J. Navarra Camden County College Prisons and Jails 3 The Walnut Street jail was originally built in 1776 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a conventional jail just before the American Revolution, but later expanded in 1790 to become the first penitentiary in the United States. During its inception, the Walnut Street Jail was built to house the overflow result from overcrowding of the High Street Jail (Champion, 2008, p. 266). During the renovations of 1790, the Walnut Street Prison implemented innovations that would change the way we prisoned our population. According to Champion (2008), “The Walnut Street Jail was innovative because (1)…show more content…
Corrections is the part of the system is responsible for the management of people who have been accused or convicted of criminal offenses. Many people may think of jails and prisons as equal. However, they differ in many ways. First, jails are county or city administered institutions that house both inmates awaiting trial on the local level and convicted misdemeanants serving a term of one year or less, while prisons are state or federal facilities housing convicted felons serving a term of more than one year. Second, jails are run by sheriffs and/or local governments and are designed to hold individuals awaiting disposition of their case and waiting for transport to the state prison system after they have been convicted. On the other hand, state prisons are operated by the state where the person was convicted of a felony and federal prisons are operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and are designed to hold individuals convicted of federal crimes such as violent crimes, larceny, and racketeering. Third, jails operate work release programs, boot camps, and other specialized services. Jails try to address educational needs, substance abuse needs, and vocational needs while managing inmate behavior because inmate idleness contributes to management problems. Whereas state prisons operate halfway houses, work release centers and community restitution centers which are all considered…show more content…
In 1787 the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisoners was founded by many prominent Philadelphians citizens, philanthropists, and religious reformers that believed that prisoners were treated harshly and inhumane. Led by Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush, the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisoners fought for better standards for prisoners, such as food, clothing, housing, and harsh punishment dished out by prison officials. In 1790, when the fist prison was built in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Walnut Street Jail became formally known as the Pennsylvania System. The Walnut Street Jail became the prototype for jails and prisons all over the U.S. This was the first step towards Next, in 1816, the Auburn State prison opened for business. It was originally built to ease the overcrowding of the New Gate prison in New York. However, it started a revolution of how future prisons would be built. The Auburn System allowed most prisoners to work and eat together during the day and solitary confinement during the night. It also designed the tier system which built cells vertically side by side and five floors high. This design is still used today on most prisons throughout the United States. While we don’t use the Auburn and Pennsylvania Systems anymore, we did take many contributions from both systems and incorporate them into

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