Marion Prison History

In 1963, when San Francisco’s notorious Alcatraz Prison shut its doors for the last time, the United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois opened theirs. It was built to replace the isolated prison after expenses were exceeded and the institution became a financial burden. Although not as popular, the Marion prison continued to hold some of Alcatraz’s most famous prisoners and even contains reused materials from it. Marion Penitentiary has transformed throughout the years, evolving from its unique history and varies levels of security. From learned mistakes to successful programs, the Marion prison continues to be a functioning prison today that I fortuitously had the chance to visit. Marion was originally constructed to hold 500 adult male felons who were difficult to control from Alcatraz ("From Alcatraz to Marion to Florence - Control Unit Prisons in the United States."). However, Alcatraz's prisoners were not transferred directly to Marion. It was decided that they wanted to test out the new facility before sending the most politicized prisoners there because the move might trigger a weighty protest. It was not until the late
1960's that some of Alcatraz's former prisoners were transferred to Marion. Prison commissioners aimed to maintain a safe and organized environment and rehabilitate the inmates while avoiding the high-profile abuses which occurred at Alcatraz. They implemented a behavior modification program named Control and Rehabilitation Effort (CARE) in 1968 (Dean, Wallace, Rasor and Gulledge). Inmates in the program spent most of their time in solitary confinement or in "group therapy" which involved psychological sessions. The facility worked its way to become the highest security prison in the United States by 1978. The term supermax (a combination of super and maximum) calls for the keeping of inmates in solitary confinement between twenty-two and twenty-three hours each day, and does not allow congregate dining, exercising, or religious services (Stohr and Walsh 139). These practices were used as organizational methods to keep prisoners under control. In two separate incidents on October 22, 1983, two guards, Merle E. Clutts and Robert L. Hoffman, were killed by prisoners who belonged to the Aryan Brotherhood. Although no rebellion resulted and the prisoners responsible were identified, prison officials grasped the opportunity to aggressively contain all prisoners and apply the "lockdown," or cell-confinement of all prisoners, which was imposed on October 27, 1983 ("From Alcatraz to Marion to Florence - Control Unit Prisons in the United States.”). When the warden declared a state of emergency, sixty guards, including specially trained Special Operations Response Team members, were transported to Marion from other institutions to assist in the lockdown. In 2006, Marion Penitentiary lowered their sanctuary to be a medium security prison, prisons with high external security, but less restrictive internal security and more opportunities for programs, for male inmates (Stohr and Walsh 141). When USP Marion's designation was changed, major renovations were made. The renovations increased Marion's inmate population from 383 to 900. The facility also has an adjacent satellite prison camp that houses minimum security male offenders. Although the facility no longer operates as a supermax facility, USP Marion is now home to one of two "Communication Management Units" in the federal prison system. The Federal Bureau of Prisons created the Communication Management Unit in response to criticism that it had not been adequately monitoring the communications of prisoners (McGowan). On March 25, 2015, I received the privilege of touring Marion Penitentiary with the Paralegal Department from SIU. I was beyond excited to be given the opportunity to step inside a completely different world than what society knows, and still be able to leave the same day. I had no idea what to expect entering the prison and was beyond fascinated with my new outlook on criminals and the correctional profession that I attained from the tour. The only stigma I had with prisons were from horrid illustrated movies and I wasn’t sure how accurate it would be. Before the trip, we were told to wear plain clothing that wasn’t revealing or displayed any logos that might appear offensive or resemble gang signs. After extensive pat downs and continuous walks through metal detectors, we were surprisingly tossed right into their atmosphere standing and walking next to them during their daily activities. I still contemplate whether our group was more flabbergasted by their presence than the all-male inmates who were laying eyes on a group of females for the first time in a while. This experience changed the way I saw inmates and the stereotypical saying that “all felons are bad people.” The prison consisted of inmates that committed crimes as serious as terrorism and sex offenses to as trivial as identity fraud. I was also disappointed to hear that the prison housed four Air Force Colonels. A startling memory I have from the tour is how well behaved the inmates were when we were around them. I half expected unwanted comments, sneers, and other perverted gestures towards our group of all female college students, but nothing was really said. When I brought this up to a correctional officer, his reply was “They know not to do anything stupid.” Instead they passed with emotionless stares or glances, keeping to themselves. We explored multiple quarters including their library/lab where they were able to continue education or learn legal information with materials that were sadly outdated, their housing and lounging area with rows and levels of cells, and the factory where they worked. The housing area was equipped with telephones which many inmates were using at the time, and multiple courtyard tables that they sat at when they weren’t in their cells. It was the only true prison scenery like I’ve seen in movies. The factory was the most interesting to me because there were many machines and tools that they trusted the inmates with, one being a fork lift. There were many stations in the factory to make different things. I remember seeing a myriad amount of license plates. The correctional officer leading our group mentioned that although they are not paid much, the money adds up over time. He told us about an inmate who had saved $3,000 by the time he was released. Near the end of our tour, I remember a siren going off indicating that an inmate had done something and a correctional officer yelling “get down” in the distance. Our group was in a hallway at the time and had to stay put until the situation had resolved. I left the tour with an adrenaline rush and wildly excited about all the new information I had learned. It then dawned on me that this was the system I wanted to get into and be a part of the help to prepare offenders for their reentry back into society. In all, I was surprised with the laid back atmosphere my tour portrayed compared to the history I’ve learned.
Entering the prison, one would never know of the tales that lie within its walls without extensive research beforehand. From supermax to medium security, and lockdowns to prison camps, Marion Penitentiary has experienced it all. Each year that it’s offered, I will continue to go back and learn as much as I can before graduating and eventually applying the knowledge to my career. What is seen as an old building holding bad people to others, is a museum comprising of individuals that are building character to be given a second chance in the future, to me. Marion Penitentiary is a historical facility that has expanded structural and programming wise to accommodate its prisoners and continues to reshape America’s
wrongdoers.