What was "separate confinement with
mild punishments" as
a penal discipline and practice?
"Separate" focused upon the individual.
While every penal system sought to deliver social justice (however
conceived by each society), the shift that
occurred here was the creation of a distinct physical, personal space
for the offender.
In all prior systems, the more common
practice was to lock
everyone up together regardless of age, sex, type of offense,
etc. Scant institutional services were provided. The offender was on
his own as to his ability to obtain
and purchase food, booze and sex. While some rich offenders could secure,
at times, separate quarters, this was not a part of the penal discipline.
When the Walnut Street jail was
turned into the first State penitentiary, an inmate
had a hood put over his
head before he entered the prison. When he exited, a like hood
was worn.
Why? To avoid the creation of a "school
for crime." PPS members
wanted to separate individuals so that they did not form
or did not rely upon relationships with
other offenders. There was no
opportunity to mingle with other inmates, food
vendors, or prostitutes—all support
services were provided by the State.
Once inside, the inmate had a single
cell with an attached garden. The only book in this cell was the Christian
Bible. Daily, the offender worked at his labor, and read the Good Book
at night (or so was the intention of the discipline).
On a weekly basis members
of the PPS visited with the inmate. They discussed his life, counseled
him about the virtues
of Christian living, and discussed Scripture.
Note, however, that
as "soft" as
this might sound, the PPS members expected something very
horrible to happen. Dr. Benjamin Rush,
a PPS member, states directly that the penitentiary should
be a House of Terror with thick metal doors
that clang shut and whose closing sound echoes down the valley
sending chills
up the spine of fellow citizens. Despite this bit of
Hollywood theatric, Rush and others anticipated hearing about
an inmate's night
of penitence.
Continue—PPS
