Brubaker: Clean Up Wakefield Prison Of Injustice

BRUBAKER PAPER

In the movie Brubaker, a new warden assigned to clean up Wakefield Prison of Injustice and mistreatment goes undercover to see the atrocities firsthand. The setting of the film is in the state of Arkansas where there was a major racial division. We do not know a lot about Henry Brubaker but do know that he was the incoming reform warden for Wakefield Prison. Brubaker was bussed into Wakefield Prison with other incoming inmates, and the movie spares us no time to automatically witness the horrors of the prison and how it is being operated. While on the bus, Brubaker witnesses two inmates captured after a failed escape, and one is shot. The lack of concern by the trustees and the incoming prisoners is a shock that

He shows us the beatings, the rapes, Telephone Treatment, and how the trustees worked with the administration and other prisoners to help manufacture the injustice that the inmates experienced. We learn a lot of things through this movie that have helped shape criminal justice reform. First, we learn that most prisoners want to do their time and be left alone. Secondly, we learn that a lot of the horror stories about rape, rotten food, and unsanitary conditions are true in this revelation. Thirdly, is the monetary bartering system whether it be cash, cigarettes, sexual favors or other options to furnish a supply demand system in prison. Next, we understand that often the prison administration is just as corrupt as the prisoners that are housed there. This is shown in how the warden was really hands off with the prisoners and allowed the trustees to control the inmates, how his bookkeeper was hoarding and reselling food for a higher profit, and how Huey had a pleasure shack where he and his girlfriend spent most of their time together. Lastly, we find that government is always going to have a hand in prisons, how they are run, and usually have a “scratch my back, I’ll

This is the irony of all sides having the same dilemma and view, and reinforcing the mistrust between all parties. Henry Brubaker’s position is not one that I would envy. We have already discussed that he was set up for failure to provide effective reform. If I were in the same situation, I would follow several decisions that he made including getting rid of the crooked bookkeeper, the pleasure houses, the leather strap, telephone treatment, and canceling the slave contracts for the local businesses. One thing that I would have changed is having the Inmates come up with a council on their own without his involvement. There were a couple of instances where the council was meeting, but Brubaker was not part of the discussion. There has to be a working relationship between leadership and the council, and Brubaker had so many irons in the fire that he was absent when he was present. Also, in the issue with the murders of the inmates, I would have sought out not only the local government, but I would have tried to involve the federal level as well. This would help give truth to the people of Arkansas visibility in what was going on but also to