Mediable period:-
In mediable era, prisons were completely shut off from the outer world and were held on more or less small and self-sufficient Islands. Prisoners were kept at places of low visibility, under inhumane living conditions where the outside world reminded largely ignorant of what occurred behind the walls. Surveillance was a mere formality resulting into extensive abuse and torture on the prisoner’s. The prison system has undergone several changes over a period of time but the turning point of prison life was witnessed for the first time in 1682, when Penn ‘s charter was formulated. The life in prison was extremely cruel, inhumane and torturous till then. The offenders were treated like animals without any sympathy. The Penn’s charter introduced several new concepts such as;
a) The practice of releasing an offender on bail :
b) The prisoner’s given a choice of their food and lodging ;
c) The infliction of punishment in public was to be banished;
d) The people who were wrongfully imprisoned were to be compensated.
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The prisoner’s are kept under strict supervision making a prison within the prison. Thirty six states have the maximum security and still aim to create super- maximum security. This has resulted in numerous human rights abuses and frequent violations of Standard Minimum Rules for the treatment of prisoners. Though as estimated in 1996 by the bureau of justice statistics, it costs New Yorkers $ 28,426 per year to house and hold a prisoner. Against this, less than $ 2,000 a year per prisoner was spent on work, educational or recreational programmes for prisoners. The expenses incurred on the American prison system were stated by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2002. By the end of 2001, a record of 6.6 million people was in United States correctional system. One in every adult was either in prison or