Martha Stewart is one of the most successful icons in America. She is the founder of Martha Stewart Omni media and a magazine publisher. She is also a television personality and business magnate whose TV show has been broadcasted all over the world.
In 2004 she was convicted of lying to investigators about a stoke sale and served five month term in Alderson federal prison camp. This is a federal bureau of prisons for women of the United States in West Virginia. The prison is surrounded by towns which include Alderson, summers county, Hinton, Lewisburg, Ronceverte and white silver springs. It is however, not surrounded by barbed wires. Prisoners have schedules for their work, in addition, some inmates get holidays off except for those working in powerhouse and kitchen.
Most of the prisoners here have been convicted for white collar crimes. In the prison they sleep in bunk beds in two large dormitories each of which hold about 500 inmates. Each inmate prisoner sleeps in a cube that is five by nine feet in the dormitory. It has been given many names and was ones called the college campus since it is said to have been build like a campus. There is also a lot of property with two inmates per cubicle and a lot of green environment (Gross, Hyman 2005).
Ivan Boesky was an adjuvant professor at Columbia and New York universities of business and who amassed a fortune worth US$200 million by betting on the corporate takeovers. He later took control of Beverly Hills hotel Corp following the death of his father in law. Boesky was sentenced to a three year jail term in 1987 at Lompoc federal prison for master mining Wall Street’s biggest insider trading scandal which made him rich.
Lompoc federal correctional facility is a complex having four federal prisons which are located near Lompoc, Santa Barbara, and California. It had no barbed wire surrounding it and the majority of the inmates are those who were involved in white collar crimes. There are also facilities such as gym, tennis court and a few other sports. It is also well build and no congestion of prisoners as state prisons. Prisoners in these facilities also share a cubicle with two inmates in each.
Michael Milken is a successful man who has progressed in the fields of his professional passion including medical research, education and finance. And the fortune magazine called him ’the man who changed medicine’. Milken was however sentenced to a ten years jail term for his involvement in security frauds and racketeering in a case that also involved Ivan Boesky. He however only served two years. Michael Milken was held at a federal correctional facility in Pleasanton (Gross, Hyman 2005).
This has been noted to be a facility whose name is said to be more reminiscent of a spa than it is a prison. It is also federal prison camp for the most prominent white collar crimes lacked a while back the prison lacked the presence of wire around it, guns to control the inmates, and has facilities that these types of inmates are used to. The prison in itself is well situated near Pleasanton where the army camps are nearby. It also contains cubicles that house the inmates which are big enough for comfort. Included is a gym and badminton facilities for the inmates and well managed environment.
Manuel Noriega was a military dictator of panama from the year 1983 to 1989. He was removed from power by the United States after panama invasion and captured where he was then detained as a prisoner of war. He was later tried for his role in drug is trafficking and money laundering in the year 1992. He was jailed in the U.S and later in France for murder where he was found guilty and jailed for seven years in jail but a conditional release was later granted in 2011 for him to be extradited and serve 20 years in panama.
Timothy McVeigh was an army and security guard in the United States. He was involved in detonation of a bomb in front of a building in Oklahoma City in 1995 killing 168 people and injuring more than 800 more. This was said to be a revenge for the federal government handling of the Waco siege. Timothy was then convicted of federal offences and sentenced to death. This was done at the federal correctional complex at Terre Haute, Indiana.
The federal correctional complex , Terre haute is one of the federal prison located two miles of Terre haute, Indiana in the. It is a high security facility that houses male inmates. It also consists of special confinements small units for those serving federal death sentences. The prison houses non violent felons to farm and maintenance s duties. It also has rooms that house inmates ranging from two to eight inmates per room. There are also recreation activities which the inmates can take part in including cards, golf, and crafts. When not working, they can take part in faith based activities. They are allowed seven visits a month and 300 minute telephone time (Cohen, Stanley 1985).
Like timothy McVeigh, terry Nichols was a boob accomplice of timothy where the two had conspired to the bombing in Oklahoma City. He had worked short time jobs as a farmer, real estate sales man and was also at one time a house husband. In 1997, he was convicted of conspiracy to use mass destruction weapons and another eight counts of involuntary manslaughter and several other sentences. Terry was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He is today in ADX Florence a super maximum security prison in Colorado.
The prison houses those that are believed to be the most dangerous prisoners in the United States hence there is maximum security. It is located in Fremont county Colorado with a capacity of about 490. It comprises of 37 acre with a 490 bed complex. They are kept in solitary confinements for about 23 hours a day for the first year depending on the level of their crime. Cell furniture is made of poured concrete and a toilet that shut off when plugged. The shower run on timers and sinks miss dangerous traps. There may also be polished steel mirrors, electric light, and TV sets that are taken away as punishment. The windows are small enough to prevent them from knowing their exact location. Communication to outsiders is not allowed and food is hand delivered by the officers. There are also many motion detectors and cameras and in addition to this, there are attack dogs and razor wire on prison walls (Gross, Hyman 2005).
Al Capone was an American gangster and he led a prohibition era crime syndicate. They were involved in smuggling, prostitution and bootlegging liquor in Chicago. He was also said to be involved in the Saint Valentine’s Day massacre. He was convicted of federal charges of evading tax and sentenced to federal prison.
Al Capone was held at Alcatraz federal prison which is on an island. It is composed of a cell house, factory work, and also a mess hall. A prisoner here had four rights which included food, clothing, shelter and medical care. Everything above these was considered a privilege. The prison had painting and music for recreational activities, allowed visiting from family members and a library but all this were privileges to the prisoners. It housed about 260 prisoners and living conditions allowed one man per cell. The cells were small and only contained the bed and a small toilet on the side (Campbell Bruce. 2005).
John Gotti was another American mobster who was the boss of the Gambino crime family. John and his brothers turned into crime early in life and rose to riches as a result. He accomplices were connected to selling of narcotics and he took over the leadership of the crime family. He was also involved in several murder cases and in 1992; He was convicted of five murders, racketeering, obstruction of justice, tax evasion among others. He was then charged and transferred to United States penitentiary.
Marion set for varying types of criminals was among the super maximum prisons in federal bureau of prisons. The prison was divided into security levels allowing for varying levels of privileges. These are units B to F for the general population and G to K for advanced security and segregation purpose located on opposite ends of this prison. Prisoners could advance from one unit to another on the basis of good conduct and those in the first units i.e. B and C would get better privileges such as cigarettes, two tubs of ice, candy bars, once in awhile. Units were six by eight, letters (censored and tempered with), meals through the bars in the cells, and limited visitations. The other units being I, H and K had even more restriction keeping the prisoners in isolations and ‘holes’ (Cohen, Stanley 1985).
In conclusion, we get to learn that those with similar crimes or social lifestyle are the society is sent to prisons with almost the same status. Martha Stewart is a respected member of society and has become rich in her life time. Her crime is considered white collar which is the same for others like Michael Milken and Ivan Boesky. They have crimes that compare being white collar and they are not involved in hurting others physically. They contrast with others like timothy McVeigh and terry Nichols who are involved with murder and therefore considered dangerous to the society. Those who are considered dangerous and cannot be trusted to coexist with others such as Al Capone and the likes of terry are locked up for a longer time and in worse conditions as compared to the others.
Reference
Gross, Hyman (2005). A Theory of Criminal Justice. Oxford University Press. ISBN
0195023498.
Cohen, Stanley (1985). Visions of Social Control: Crime, Punishment, and Classification.
Polity.
J. Campbell Bruce,(2005), "Escape from Alcatraz", Random House Digital, Inc. p 32.
