The conditions at Attica that sparked a riot were created by or allowed to exist by the leaders of the prison. These conditions violated the rights of prisoners as well as constitutional rights such as protection against cruel and unusual punishments. For example the prisoners were being given only one roll of toilet paper or one bar of soap, and were harshly discriminated against based on race. A prison can rightfully deny prisoners certain rights if they are found to go against institutional needs. In Attica this was not the case, the rights they were being denied had no influence on prison safety and would have even assisted in rehabilitation. The prison and its leaders were deliberately indifferent to the suffering of prisoners to a point that the rebellion was almost unavoidable. Most of the things the prisoners requested upon seizing control of the prison were fair and should have been given in the first place. I do agree that the request for amnesty for the violence that occurred was not possible due to the fact a guard had been killed and punishment would need to occur for his death. The retaliation by prison officials was unnecessary and the issue could have been solved in a variety of other ways. But its necessary to point out the slaughter that occurred was not the fault of the guards who participated. They were given anonymity which reduces their fear of backlash in anyway and were lied to, they were told the prisoners were emasculating their hostages by cutting off their penises, and that the prisoners were armed and dangerous. This lead the guards to want to seek revenge on the prisoners and thats exactly what happened. The prison officials could have negotiated with the prisoners and even lied to them about what rights they would give them. But instead they opted for the violent approach that left several of their own dead for no reason. Giving the prisoners their basic rights and constitutional rights would have prevented this riot and saved time, money, and lives. Prisoners need to be treated fairly even if they are viewed as lesser for whatever reason as this will allow operations in prisons to run smoothly and give prisoners the opportunity to reform.-Anonemoose123
I agree with your point Anonemoose123 about how the prison riot was created by the leaders of the prison allowing those kind of conditions to occur. I believe if the conditions were normal and the prisoners were give their basic constitutional rights that this would have occurred in Attica. I also agree with your point about how prisoners still need to be treaty fairly while serving their sentence. ICC123
The Attica prison riot in 1971 was caused due to the prisons lack of prisoner rights. It was wrong for the prison to only supply their inmates with minimal supplies to live off of. When the lack of prisoner rights is present, it would only seem like a matter of time before something like this would occur in Attica. There also seemed to be no rehabilitation involved for the prisoners and it seemed like they were just being warehoused and almost in a way tortured. The inmates that lived through the riot seem to be still mentally affected by what happened on that day in 1971. ICC123
I agree with you ICC. They were lacking a lot of things for a person to live with. It was just a matter of time before this event occurred. I feel like they did it for their own rights. I also agree that they did seemed to be somewhat tortured. CountryGirl123
Watching this video, I was astonished by they're ways of controlling the prison. They would divide the groups up mentally by the race. Also I was shocked about their living standards. The prison should have been better about the racism and used different methods to keep the prison under control. This prison was, in a way, torturing their prisoners mentally and physically to a point where even after they are released they still have bad dreams and thoughts about those particular days in the prison. CountryGirl123
The conditions at Attica that sparked a riot were created by or allowed to exist by the leaders of the prison. These conditions violated the rights of prisoners as well as constitutional rights such as protection against cruel and unusual punishments. For example the prisoners were being given only one roll of toilet paper or one bar of soap, and were harshly discriminated against based on race. A prison can rightfully deny prisoners certain rights if they are found to go against institutional needs. In Attica this was not the case, the rights they were being denied had no influence on prison safety and would have even assisted in rehabilitation. The prison and its leaders were deliberately indifferent to the suffering of prisoners to a point that the rebellion was almost unavoidable. Most of the things the prisoners requested upon seizing control of the prison were fair and should have been given in the first place. I do agree that the request for amnesty for the violence that occurred was not possible due to the fact a guard had been killed and punishment would need to occur for his death. The retaliation by prison officials was unnecessary and the issue could have been solved in a variety of other ways. But its necessary to point out the slaughter that occurred was not the fault of the guards who participated. They were given anonymity which reduces their fear of backlash in anyway and were lied to, they were told the prisoners were emasculating their hostages by cutting off their penises, and that the prisoners were armed and dangerous. This lead the guards to want to seek revenge on the prisoners and thats exactly what happened. The prison officials could have negotiated with the prisoners and even lied to them about what rights they would give them. But instead they opted for the violent approach that left several of their own dead for no reason. Giving the prisoners their basic rights and constitutional rights would have prevented this riot and saved time, money, and lives. Prisoners need to be treated fairly even if they are viewed as lesser for whatever reason as this will allow operations in prisons to run smoothly and give prisoners the opportunity to reform.-Anonemoose123
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point Anonemoose123 about how the prison riot was created by the leaders of the prison allowing those kind of conditions to occur. I believe if the conditions were normal and the prisoners were give their basic constitutional rights that this would have occurred in Attica. I also agree with your point about how prisoners still need to be treaty fairly while serving their sentence. ICC123
DeleteThe Attica prison riot in 1971 was caused due to the prisons lack of prisoner rights. It was wrong for the prison to only supply their inmates with minimal supplies to live off of. When the lack of prisoner rights is present, it would only seem like a matter of time before something like this would occur in Attica. There also seemed to be no rehabilitation involved for the prisoners and it seemed like they were just being warehoused and almost in a way tortured. The inmates that lived through the riot seem to be still mentally affected by what happened on that day in 1971. ICC123
ReplyDeleteI agree with you ICC. They were lacking a lot of things for a person to live with. It was just a matter of time before this event occurred. I feel like they did it for their own rights. I also agree that they did seemed to be somewhat tortured. CountryGirl123
DeleteWatching this video, I was astonished by they're ways of controlling the prison. They would divide the groups up mentally by the race. Also I was shocked about their living standards. The prison should have been better about the racism and used different methods to keep the prison under control. This prison was, in a way, torturing their prisoners mentally and physically to a point where even after they are released they still have bad dreams and thoughts about those particular days in the prison. CountryGirl123
ReplyDelete