Alcatraz

By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist

Sometimes I think President Trump talks before he thinks.

The federal prison at Marion, Ill. was opened in 1963 to replace Alcatraz. It was a “supermax” prison, meaning the inmates are in solitary confinement 22-23 hours per day. Sometimes these are called “control unit” prisons. It was downgraded to a medium-security facility in 2006. Famous inmates include John Gotti and Pete Rose (yes, that Pete Rose for income tax evasion).

Today’s supermax prison is ADX Florence in Florence, Colo. It was constructed in 1994. It is designed in such a way that the inmates are isolated and even out its small windows, there is nothing to see. Inmates are in soundproof cells 23 hours per day.

Alcatraz was given up for Marion, Ill. because of cost. Alcatraz was three times more expensive to operate than any other federal prison. Everything that comes on and off the island is delivered by boat. This is expensive.

I have visited Alcatraz twice. Once midday and once toward evening. I liked the place. If one had a cell in one of the upper decks, one could see out the outside windows over to San Francisco. It has a nice library room. I understand one of the major issues with incarceration is the knowledge that you can’t leave, and that messes with your mental condition.

Other than that – being captive – I found Alcatraz quite charming.

Perhaps it could be made into a hotel. It probably has the best views of any site in the prison system.  

Leavenworth does not have particularly good views. Neither does the prison at Terre Haute, Ind., nor the federal prison here in Atlanta. These are the limits of my knowledge.

With a gourmet restaurant on site, a specialty could follow an old Johnny Carson joke: Chicken Gangland Style (bound and gagged and thrown from a speeding limo).

Really, though, rejuvenation Alcatraz as a prison does not seem to be such a good idea. I like the idea of exporting our hardened criminals to El Salvador much better. Costs are low, predictable, and for once we are exporting our problems.

Or we can take the route I learned about when visiting Shanghai a number of years ago. I asked about their drug problem. I was told, there was none. Thinking this was just a government line, my host said, no, it was true. He said if you are caught with the tiniest amount of illegal drugs in China you can count on being arrested, processed through the system and executed within a month.

Much later, while visiting Singapore (not a communist government), I was told the punishment system was similar. Perhaps we are just too soft on our criminals.

Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press.