Текст книги "Alcatraz: A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years "

Автор книги: Майкл Эсслингер

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The Dungeons

The stairwell entrance to the Alcatraz “Dungeon.”

A rare photograph taken in May of 1933, showing the original configuration of the basement dungeon cells. The fronts were removed in 1939 and the cells were later used only for storage.

The cellhouse was built on top of the military Citadel foundation. Only the first floor of the citadel remains, under the cellblock. The hallway seen here was actually the dry moat during the Civil War years. The Citadel framework is still intact, with the windows and rifle slits visible.

Officers are seen standing in the former dungeon cells, located in the basement of the old Citadel.

The patchwork effect that can be seen on the ceiling frame and sides indicates the removal of brickwork and bars from the former cells.

The infamous so-called “Dungeons of Alcatraz” were the subject of countless news stories in the early years of the prison. The dungeons or “lower solitary” as they were referred to in inmate case files, consisted of eight cells located below A and D Blocks. Officer Robert Baker recalled that whenever inmates were subject to confinement in these harsh cells, the officers would purposely escort the inmate down the A Block steps, and then after a couple of days of confinement, bring the inmate back on the D Block side and into a segregation. This deceptive practice made fellow inmates believe that disciplinary cases that were thrown into the dungeon would be left there for months. It proved to be a considerable deterrent.

The basement “dungeon” cells were primarily used in only the most serious disciplinary cases, until 1938, when the cell fronts were finally dismantled. They would also become the focal point in the famous 1940 trial of Henri Young for the murder of fellow inmate Rufus McCain (this incident is chronicled in a later chapter). Warden Johnston would openly testify that Young and several other inmates had been confined in “lower solitary” for serious violations of various prison regulations. One of Young’s attorneys disputed this, emphasizing his contention that inmates were thrown into the dungeons for “trivial offenses,” though this was never proven.

It was alleged that inmates were placed into the dark dungeon cells without bedding, and without any form of lighting. These claims were later strengthened by former inmate Harmon Waley in later interviews. Waley had spent seven of his 22 years on the Rock in isolation or segregation.

In Young’s case, Johnston testified that the prisoner had been confined in the basement cells on at least three occasions, and was forced to sleep on the cement floors without any type of bedding or pillow. The cells had no running water or toilet, and inmates were forced to blindly use a bucket which would be emptied only once or twice a day. Waley claimed that some inmates would protest throwing the contents into the walkways where the officers would frequent. He indicated that the prison physician demanded the inmates be removed from these deplorable conditions, and later refused to enter the basement due to the stench.

The basement cells were damp and poorly ventilated. Warden Johnston described during trial testimony the “restricted diet” that inmates would be served during their stay in solitary confinement:

If a prisoner is placed in solitary in the morning, after he has had his breakfast, he is furnished bread at the noonday meal, and salads and one-fourth of the evening meal from the regular main-line menu. If he is placed in solitary in the afternoon, that is after he has had his full noonday meal, then he get only bread for the evening meal. 

In all cases the second day menu consists of a breakfast of cereal, milk and coffee; the noonday meal, bread and soup; the evening meal is one fourth of the allowance form the regular main line menu leaving out the soup but feeding the salad and greens and bread and the hot drink, whether it happens to be tea or coffee. 

On the third day a man in solitary receives the full dinner meal at noon, also the one quarter quantity, that is the light breakfast or cereal and milk and coffee and the light supper consisting of the salad and greens and bread and hot beverage, tea or coffee. 

If an individual is continued in solitary past the third day, then the fourth day is the same as that prescribed as the second day, the fifth day the same, and the sixth day he gets a full meal again at dinner and the light breakfast and light supper, just the same as the third day. 

Sometimes the menu is added to on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer, even during the earlier stages of incarceration in solitary or isolation. When a prisoner is removed from solitary and it is thought necessary to keep him in open isolation for a longer period of time, he begins his time in isolation with one full meal and two light meals each day. If he is continued in isolation for more than a week, he is given two full meals and one light meal daily. If it is decided to keep him in isolation for a long period of time, he is given three full meals a day, the same as the main line.

The inmates in solitary would also be provided with a water basin that was always kept full under the Warden’s orders. Many of the inmates who testified during the Young trial, including Harold Brest, George Miller, Samuel Berlin, Burton Phillips, James Grove and Harmon Waley, all stated that they had served stretches ranging from seven to ten days without proper meals, living strictly on small portions of bread and water.

Alcatraz inmate Harold Brest being led to court to testify against conditions at Alcatraz.

George Miller

Harmon Waley

Names etched into the masonry walls by inmates confined in the dungeon cells.

Mug shots of Alcatraz inmate Jack Allen.

Edward Bearden

The use of solitary confinement at Alcatraz was put on trial again in another incident that is described in the official digest from the Young trial testimony transcript. Inmate Samuel Berlin testified that on this occasion, inmate Jack Allen had rattled his cup along his cell bars to gain the attention of a correctional officer. When the officers arrived, he explained that he was sick and needed a doctor. Berlin claimed that Allen was reprimanded for making excessive noise, and that when he again started yelling for a doctor, he was thrown into the Hole. He was heard by other inmates pleading for blankets, and was allegedly found dead fifty-two hours later. A letter explaining his death, submitted by Chief Medical Officer Dr. George Hess to the United States Surgeon General, only seemed to complicate the matter further. Their correspondence was entered as evidence in the trial, and the defense attorneys systematically illustrated how inmate Allen had been abandoned, which was said to have contributed to his death. The letter written by Hess to the Surgeon General on January 23, 1936 proved extremely detrimental to the administration’s case. It read:

I have the honor to present a resume of the case of Jack Allen, No. 211, an inmate of this institution who died on January 17, 1936.

On January 13, 1936, the above inmate named man called for the doctor. Doctor Jacobsen was on duty and responded to the call. After an examination of the patient the doctor decided that there was no acute pathology present but did give the man some medicine. He then instructed the guard on duty not to call him anymore about this case, that the patient would be all right.

At midnight the guard was changed and the retiring guard informed the new guard that the doctor did not care to be bothered anymore for this case.

At about 1:00 A.M. January 14 ^th, the patient created a noise by groaning and was placed in isolation so that he would not disturb the rest of the inmates.

The following morning at 8:00 A.M., I saw the patient in the cellhouse and immediately had him brought to the hospital. Shortly after admitting him to the hospital I made a tentative diagnosis of a probable perforated gastric ulcer. We decided that an operation was in order and at 1:15 P.M., an exploratory operation was started. Upon entering the abdominal cavity there was found about 1 ¹/ ₂quarts of free fluid and a generalized peritonitis accompanying a perforated gastric ulcer on the lesser curvature near the pylorus on the anterior surface of the stomach. A Castrorrhaphy was done and drain tube placed in the operative wound coming out.

The patient was put to bed and was given the proper postoperative treatment such as suction through the nasal tube to the stomach, glucose and saline and other supportive measures.

At 1:00 P.M., January 16 ^th, the patient appeared to be making an uneventful recovery from the operation. By 7:00 P.M. that same day he developed signs and symptoms of pneumonia and by 11:00 P.M. the entire right lobe was consolidated. The next morning there developed an acute edema of the left chest and the patient became unconscious, remaining in this condition until he died at 1:28 P.M., January 17, 1936.

The post mortem examination had to be partial because of the uncertainly of his relatives claiming his body. I examined the abdomen through the operative wound and found that the peritonitis had practically cleared up, there was little free fluid in the abdominal cavity and no abscess formation. The omentum which was placed over the repaired ulcer was adherent and upon examination of the Castrorrhaphy it was found that repair had been successful.

The unfortunate thing is that the doctor did not recognize the condition at the first visit and although this might not have played a major part in the fatal outcome it certainly made a very bad impression on the inmate population and on others. Another unfortunate thing, for the patient, was the more or less general feeling that the man exaggerated minor complaints.

This is the first mortality at this station under the present regime. It is unfortunate that it had to happen at this time when the inmates were in a state of unrest. It seemed to be the spark that was needed by the leader to incite followers into rioting.

Berlin also testified about another inmate named Edward Bearden, who was likewise apparently left in solitary and became mortally ill. Berlin claimed that Bearden’s pleas for help went unheeded and that he too later died. It was this type of testimony that eventually led to a conviction of involuntary manslaughter for Young, as he was judged to have suffered overly severe punishment by prison staff.

Despite the harsh allegations against Alcatraz and its treatment of prisoners, many inmates also provided positive testimony on behalf of the prison. These supporters claimed that if you followed the rules, Alcatraz was the best penitentiary in which to be incarcerated. They maintained that Warden Johnston was an advocate of inmate rights and rehabilitation, and would not tolerate any form of intentional maltreatment. It should also be noted that during this period, the bread and water “restricted diet” rule was common policy under the Bureau for inmates being held in solitary confinement for serious misconduct. Most other federal institutions employed the same policy for unmanageable inmates.

Warden Johnston indicated in his personal memoir that he did not particularly like utilizing the dungeons as a form of punishment. One telling section reads:

When we took over the island in 1934 we did not like the disciplinary cells that were inherited with the building. The Army had solitary cells on one of the top tiers (A-Block) and the dungeon cells in the basement... the brick walls of which were often damp. They dungeons were badly located, poorly constructed and unsafe because they were easy to dig out of and in the few instances where we did use them we had to chain the men to keep them from breaking out... I did not like these cells, in fact I was ashamed of them and were used only under necessity.

Charles Berta, considered by several correctional officers as the toughest inmate ever incarcerated at Alcatraz. He was the last inmate ever to be confined in the basement dungeon.

The last inmate to serve time in the dungeon was Charles Berta. Berta had been convicted of mail robbery and aggravated assault and he was known as a frequent visitor to the dungeon at Alcatraz. Correctional Officer Clifford Fish remembered Berta as the toughest inmate that any of the guards would ever encounter at Alcatraz. He had previously participated in one of the most violent escape attempts ever made at Leavenworth, resulting in the violent deaths of two officers. At Alcatraz, Berta held a reputation for violent outbursts toward correctional staff and fellow inmates and in early 1938 he viciously attacked an officer. Following this incident, several officers “drag” Berta to the A Block basement entry for placement in isolation.

Officer Fish would later describe seeing Associate Warden Miller “kick” Berta down the cement stairs. When the prisoner reached the bottom, he was found to be almost completely unscathed and he continued to resist forcefully by kicking and thrashing. Berta was handcuffed to the bars face forward in a standing position and was left in the darkness of the dungeon for almost eight hours. The Associate Warden then came and personally removed the inmate to a standard isolation cell. Following this event, both Johnston and Miller ordered that the bars be removed from the dungeon cells and the dungeons were banned from any future use. Officer Fish stated that he was one of the guards assigned to remove the bars using welding torches (Fish was a certified welder and also later taught Berta the welding craft and claimed he was one of his best students).

After the cell bars were removed in 1938, the dungeons were never used again. Berta would become a model inmate, and following his direct release from Alcatraz in 1949, he owned and operated a bar on Mission Street in San Francisco.

Solitary Confinement (D Block)

D Block as it looked in 1934, with flat soft iron bars.

The new Treatment Unit under construction in 1941.

D Block in April 1941, following a complete reconstruction. Note the closed-front solitary cells to the right. The remainder of the open-front cells were considerably larger than those in the main cellblock. The new unit, generally referred to as “Segregation,” “Isolation,” or the “Treatment Unit,” consisted of forty-two cells.

Inmate Earl Cox was the first prisoner to serve time in the strip cell, in 1941.

The six solitary confinement cells in D Block.

Serious violators of the prison rules were locked in a pitch-black strip cell with no clothing or blankets during the day, where they could only sit or lie on cold steel flooring. There was a hole in the floor for the inmate to relieve himself, and the contents could only be flushed remotely by a guard. The maximum duration permitted for confinement in full darkness was nineteen days. At night, inmates were provided with a mattress and a set of blankets. These were removed immediately at daybreak.

An inmate’s view from inside “The Hole” with the solid steel door closed.

In October of 1940, work began to completely refurbish the Treatment Unit, otherwise known as D Block. This area was comprised of forty-two cells which were used for varying degrees of punishment. For the most serious infractions of prison rules and regulations, inmates could be confined to the “Strip Cell”. This cell was by all accounts the most severe punishment any human could endure. Among other discomforts, the total absence of light assured complete depravation of all peripheral senses.

The single Strip Cell was a dark steel-encased cell with no toilet or sink. There was only a hole in the floor for the prisoner to relieve himself and even the ability to flush the contents was controlled by a guard. Inmates were placed in the cell without clothing and put on restricted diets. The cell had a standard set of bars with an expanded opening through which food was passed, and a solid steel outer door that remained closed, leaving the inmate in a pitch-black environment. Inmates were usually only subjected to this degree of punishment for one or two days. The cell was cold, and a sleeping mattress was only allowed after lights out at 9:30 p.m. It was considered the most invasive type of punishment for severe violations and misconduct, and was generally feared by the inmates.

The cold steel flooring inside the isolation and segregation cells.

Another view of D Block. Note the door access panel to the left. The cells to the immediate left are two shower stalls. Inmates held in segregation were allowed two showers and one visit to the recreation yard per week.

Period Diagrams showing the state-of-the-art remote-controlled door access features.

The wrap-around Gun Gallery located in D Block. Note the rounded gun ports on each tier. This photograph shows the Gun Gallery in its modern form, with the armored panels that were installed following the 1946 mass escape attempt. Another view from the inside the Gun Gallery shows the door control panel.

D Block

The standard "Hole" cells were similar to the Strip Cell, and it included the five remaining dual-door cells on the bottom tier of D Block. These cells contained a sink and a toilet and were lit by a 25-watt light bulb. Inmates could spend up to nineteen days in this level of isolation, which was also considered to be a severe punishment by the general population of inmates. The mattresses were taken away during the day and the inmate was left in a state of constant boredom and severe deprivation. Guards would sometimes open the small cover on the solid steel outer door, to admit light for inmates who were serving their time in solitary peacefully. Some inmates claimed that the policies by prison staff on confinement were not followed and applied indiscriminately. Former inmate, Robert Luke (1118-AZ) claimed during interviews that he had been placed in a strip cell for 29-days and was given only bread and water, and on every third day, a raw onion, a potato and peas.

The remaining thirty-six segregation cells were similar in design to the cells of the general population. One exception was that all of the cells in D Block had steel floors, ceilings and walls for greater security. The West Gun Gallery officer operated the door mechanisms for the cells along the bottom tier from a remote control panel located in the secure gallery. The Bureau of Prisons described these facilities as follows:

A special treatment unit called D Block, is walled off from the rest of the institution for the housing of those few prisoners who must be kept locked in their cells at all times except for certain periods of exercise in the yard. In this unit some of the cell doors are operated electronically but are controlled by the cell house officer and the officer in the gun gallery working together. When a door is to be opened, the cell house officer pushes the appropriate button in his control box and then signals to the officer in the gallery. The latter then presses an electronic button in his control box, which opens the door.

Inmates held in segregation were allowed only one visit to the recreation yard and two showers per week; the remaining time was spent in their cells. All meals in segregation were served in the cells and the only means of psychological escape was through reading. Many inmates considered the city views from D Block to be an additional form of torment. Former inmate James Quillen later recounted that inmates could frequently hear tourist cruise boat narrators talking about the prison as they passed by. On New Year’s Eve, the laughter from the shoreline Yacht Club could be heard sharply inside the inmate cells when the window vents were left open. Quillen would recall that a strange calm would blanket the cellblock as the inmates lay in their bunks listening to the sounds of distant voices. Pleasure boats would pass the island resonating feminine laughter. In many cases, the prisoners hadn’t seen or heard a woman’s voice during the entire period of their incarceration, except when watching movies in the prison theatre. The sounds and sights of freedom were so near, and yet so far...

Perhaps one of the most notable inmates to serve time in D Block was a fifty-two-year-old convict named Robert Stroud (a.k.a., the Birdman of Alcatraz). Stroud was one of the few inmates to be placed directly into Alcatraz's Segregation Unit, bypassing the standard quarantine process. Stroud spent seventeen years on Alcatraz and was never introduced into the general population. Like Al Capone, Stroud had enjoyed many privileges not extended to fellow inmates during his previous residence at Leavenworth, and he lost them all when he came to live out the rest of his life in solitary confinement at Alcatraz.