Prisoner Rebellion and Punitive Justice Policy

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Professor Heather Ann Thompson (Temple University) will present "Attica, Attica, Attica! From the Possibilities of Prisoner Rebellion to the Problem of Punitive Justice Policy," as part of the History Workshop. On September 9, 1971 over 1200 prisoners took over a maximum security prison in upstate New York. Over the course of their four day rebellion the world watched as prisoners negotiated with top state officials for better living conditions and basic civil rights. Suddenly, though, on September 13, 1971 Governor Nelson Rockefeller ordered the forcible retaking of this prison by hundreds of heavily armed state troopers. The result was a massacre of prisoners and hostages alike. In this talk, Prof. Thompson will not only shine new light on this civil rights rebellion but also place it in its broader historical context. Attica, Thompson suggests, had everything to do with the U.S.'s subsequent embrace of far more punitive justice policy as the 20th century became the 21st.

Event Sponsor
History, Mānoa Campus

More Information
History Workshop, 956-7407, histwork@hawaii.edu

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