The Detroit Tribune

"STATE HELPS CONVICTS . . . AND SOCIETY"
"NEW PRISON IDEAS PAY OFF"

by Ralph Nelson, Free Press Staff Writer, 5-14

GOD VIA HIS DETROIT TRIBUNE:
By ANDREW F. FRUEHAUF, C.S.

SEVERAL MONTHS AGO, WHEN ALARMING REPORTS CONCERNING JACKSON PRISON DEMANDED ACTION, WE ORDERED A DOZEN COPIES OF MY INFALLIBLE MASTERPIECE, BIBLE, PASTOR, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE TEXTBOOK! SENT DIRECTLY FROM C.S. HQ., BOSTON, TO THE WARDEN!

NO DIRECT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT HAS BEEN RECEIVED, BUT THIS INDIRECT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT IN THE INTRODUCTION TO THIS ARTICLE BY MR. NELSON ARE THE FRUITS OF CHRIST, TRUTH, THAT WE DESIRE!

"STATE HELPS CONVICTS . . . AND SOCIETY"
"NEW PRISON IDEAS PAY OFF"

LANSING - No matter how hard society pretends they're not there, Michigan's four prisons and 13 convict camps won't disappear.

See PRISON IDEAS, Page 2
Prison Ideas- (Continued from Page 1) No matter how people ignore their existence, the state's 9,699 convicts won't be blotted from the face of the earth. WHATEVER THINKING SOCIETY DOES ABOUT A CRIMINAL USUALLY STOPS WHEN THE HEADLINES STOP; WHEN PRISON DOORS CLOSE BEHIND HIM. BUT THE MAN GOES ON LIVING: ENJOYING OR HATING HIS THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS. "The public's concept of prison is a place you shove a man, lock a door, feed him once in a while but otherwise forget about him until the day arrives that the judge said he can come out," said Gus Harrison, director of Michigan's Department of Corrections. "IF PRISON MEANT ONLY THAT, WHAT KIND OF MAN WOULD BE UNCAGED UPON SOCIETY WHEN HIS RELEASE DAY ARRIVES?" Harrison, a well-knit man with firm features and graying hair, stabbed a sheaf of statistics with a forefinger. "LET'S FACE IT: 90 PER CENT OF THE CONVICTS GO HOME SOME DAY. WE'RE SIMPLY TRYING TO TURN THEM OUT BETTER THAN THEY CAME IN." A decade ago Michigan prisons were pretty much like those throughout the world. Prisoners were caged and the rule of force was the only one known, Harrison said. CUSTODY WAS SUPREME-BACKED BY GUNS AND RESTRICTIONS. Then Harrison and a daring handful of penologists made a startling discovery-most prison inmates are trustworthy. Thus, 10 years ago, began the changing face of corrections in Michigan. "THERE HAVE BEEN GREAT CHANGES." HARRISON SAID."THE WAY WE OPERATE OUR PENAL SYSTEM TODAY WOULD HAVE CHILLED PEOPLE 10 YEARS AGO. BUT EACH INNOVATION HAS BEEN CAUTIOUSLY DEVELOPED AND TENDERLY TRIED."