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Pros And Cons Of Alcatraz

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Escape From Alcatraz: Did They Survive?

Created to house the most intimidating criminals, the critically acclaimed maximum prison proved to be less efficient than planned. Alcatraz was a desolate, dreary abode for the cruelest of criminals. With strict regulations and isolated conditions, prisoners were pushed to their very extent. “A prisoner at Alcatraz found himself in a harsh, isolated world..” (Source A). Many men have tried to escape and failed. Either recaptured or drowned, all but three escapees are accounted for. Brothers John and Clarence Anglin, with the help of James Morris, led one of the most controversial prison escapes of the 20th century. The mysterious tale of the escape from Alcatraz has led to many conspiracies. Some …show more content…

In his teens he had a record of petty crimes such as robbery and drug possession; however, the robberies grew in scale and Morris was sent to a federal prison. Each time he was convicted, Morris managed to escape. This earned him a spot in the famous Alcatraz. In a cell adjourning Morris were brothers John and Clarence Anglin. They too were sent to Alcatraz for attempted escape. Lucky for them, they were placed next to Morris, whom they had met years earlier in another facility. James Morris was known in the prison world as “possessing super intelligence” (source D). With the help of one other fellow prisoner, the three formulated a plan to break free. There are three basic principles that must be observed to break free, “patience, cunning, and creativity” (source A). The prisoners exhibited each trait during their time at …show more content…

Due to poor planning, Allen West was unable to escape his cell. Because he focused most of his time creating the raft, he was unable to fully break the barrier to the ventilation system. The others continued on without him. After shimmying down the side of the building, the men faced the roaring waters of the San Francisco Bay. After they took to the water, James Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin ceased to exist. Assumed dead, officers stopped further investigations. Most of the information for this massive escape was retrieved from West as he was later found left

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No one heard from him nor had seen him in public ever again. Attempts have been to try and find him or if he was killed to try and find the suspect, but no evidence was found and no traces of his whereabouts were even close to being

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Six inmates died from suicide, five from a work accident, two were murder from another inmate, and eight inmates died trying to escape and fatally shot by the guards trying to stop them from escaping. Fact about those eight people who died, they were counted as one of the one hundred and forty inmates that tried escaping and out of those one hundred and forty inmates, only twenty six were successful and escaped. Anyways, one prisoner was executed in the Yuma courtyard, and the rest were natural deaths, like disease, old age, tuberculosis, and many other reasons. ( Tuberculosis: The Real Killer

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Eva Gail Peterson was raped and murdered on May 4th, 1979 in front of her four year old son. Phillip Bivens and two other men were wrongly accused of the crime and was convicted. The exoneration of Dixon, Bivens, and Ruffin was made possible through the lawyers of the innocence project, the fact that there was no evidence pointing to their involvement, and the advantage of DNA testing. The night of the murder Phillip Bivens had been on leave from a halfway house, where he was sent after stealing some beer from a store.

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When two more bodies continued the killing spree in the spring of 1980 and a 7-year-old girl had been reported missing, the FBI was called in and a profiler was assigned to work on the case as well. After this the killer changed his MO dumping the bodies into the Chattahoochee River and this allowed for the search to become confined to the bridges in the area that went across the

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The prison was fairly unique when compared to the other prisons at the time because of the its high prison standards. During the prisons

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One other suspect died before he could be charged. The men that were charged were named Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr.; Robert Edward Chambliss, and Bobby Frank Cherry. The man that was never charged, but was suspected to have been involved was named Herman Frank Cash. The men that were charged didn’t get charged until the late 1970’s to the early 2000’s.

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Alcatraz, a famous prison built in 1934, was a 22 acre island. Alcatraz held more famous prisoners like Al Capone, Bernard Coy, Sam Shockley, and many more.the first 7 prisoners at the yuma territorial prison stayed in cells that they had built

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Alcatraz was once a great prison that held the most wanted criminals in the world. Unfortunately, this “super prison” as it was called, had to be shut down. Alcatraz is a great place to go to visit to get a feeling of how it would have felt to be a prisoner there.

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In total, there were 112 inmates that died in the prison. Eight of the prisoners were shot trying to escape the premise. There were six deaths due to suicide in their cells. There were five work related deaths that occurred in the prison. Although rare, there were two deaths due to one prisoner killing another inmate.

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The prison was a great prison compared to others and it did help house many homeless people and families. To the people who lived there, it was a torturous place that they spent their days in. Some were foreigners and were as far away from their family as possible living in a grotesque and cruel environment. Now it is a historic site to visit that showed how it was to live and suffer

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Some individuals find solace in being alone; however, imagine being alone in a concrete cell for months or even years? Isolated from the entire world into a small box seems intimidating, but this tactic is used throughout the US prison system. Solitary confinement is as a disciplinary action on the prisoners to ensure their safety and serve as punishment. This issue has raised both ethical and practical questions on its usage through US prisons because of its benefits and drawbacks. Isolated and cramped, for the next months or years, in a small area where the prisoner would sleep and eat is implemented into the prison systems.

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Some of these famous inmates were Arthur “Doc” Barker, Robert Stroud the “Birdman of Alcatraz”, Roy Gardner, Henri Young, James “Whitey” Bulger, Mickey Cohen, Alvin Karpis, Al Capone, Floyd Hamilton, the driver of Bonnie and Clyde, and George “Machine Gun” Kelly. These people were famous for being powerful but their power came from their crimes so they spent some time on Alcatraz. According to biography.com, most of Al Capone’s gang never got put in jail because he had over 600 people that he hired and he started the gang so he was charged not his gang members. I also learned that Bonnie and Clyde were not imprisoned in Alcatraz, but they were shot and killed by police because they were such

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Those who find themselves sentenced to time in a penitentiary, jail, or prison are at risk of either being broken or strengthened by the time they spend behind bars. There is a great debate of whether or not the prison system in the United States is positive or negative. The following will briefly highlight the positives, negatives, and possible alternatives for our nation's prison system. First, there is a long list of negatives that the prison system in America brings. The prison system is filled with crime, hate, and negativity almost as much as the free world is.

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Al Capone was a clever man. He could get out of any situation with the police. Although he was arrested many times throughout his lifetime. After spending four-and-a-half years at Alcatraz, Capone was transferred on January 6, 1939, to a hospital at the Federal Correctional Institution in Los Angeles. A few months after that Capone was transferred to a penitentiary in Lewis burg,

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Stella Adler once said, “The theatre was created to tell people the truth about life and the social situation” (Brainy Quote). Stage productions in the 20th century were filled with fresh new ideas from American authors. Soon, writers began to dip their toes into addressing social conflicts and topics that were previously unheard of in the theatre. These shows stirred up controversy and made headlines all over the United States. Citizens began to talk about these issues and how they impacted them and their families.

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