Some say he was vindictive and intentionally reduced rations for the prisoners, while others show that he cared for his captives but unable to do anything about their conditions due to government bureaucracy. The journey was extremely uncomfortable for the POWs in the overcrowded and filthy holds of the ships, even to the point that some men slept standing up. Hoffman approved of three pavilion wards to be planned at Alexander's suggestion. Inmates were only released after a warden's determination that they'd "paid their debt to society." It seems like the two inmates now on the run, Richard Matt and David Sweat, did a better job planning both the escape and the getaway, Moss said. But the department provided no data to contradict The Timess findings of a systemwide imbalance in discipline. 1879 Davis St, Elmira, NY 14901-0500 County Chemung Phone 607-734-3901 Elmira Correctional Facility is for State Prison offenders sentenced up to twelve months. The best way to locate or get information of any inmate currently incarcerated in Elmira Correctional Facility Taylor Pendergrass, the lead New York Civil Liberties Union lawyer in the settlement, said the department was off to an encouraging start.. But Moore has ammunition to fight back. As a result, the program was cut. Later, when a series of hospitals was to be built for the camp, the prisoners involved in Traweek's plot decided to transfer their tunnel to go under the hospital and started work on a new tunnel. He's bounced around between at least 12 prisons across the state since then. Corner of Property at Elmira Correctional Facility Facility Type State Prison Authority New York City Department of Corrections Address 1879 Davis Street PO Box 500, Elmira, NY, 14901-0500 Phone 607-734-3901 Date Established 1876 Offender Gender Male Offenders City Elmira Postal Code 14901-0500 State New York County Chemung County Official Website Website * Required. Though the understaffed and undersupplied medical personnel worked tirelessly to treat the wounded, some men still lay unattended days later. He had trouble walking, the report said. [7]:2326, Five days after the camp opened, Surgeon Charles T. Alexander was ordered to inspect the Camp at Colonel Hoffman's request. Twice the temperature dropped to -18F Around the same time, he wrote: Dear Pops, I wish I was home and we were going to the movies or a restaurant. [5]:26. The state also built two fences topped with razor wire around most of the sprawling facility. Traweek and his companions eventually escaped.[17]. CNY Inmate Indicted for Punch That Killed Fellow Inmate, Inmate Bites Guard During Search for Contraband at Marcy Correctional: NYSCOPBA, Latest From Rome: Guard Injured, Plus A 3-on-1 Inmate Fight, Five Correction Officers Injured In Attacks At Mid State Correctional Facility, State Prison Van Winds Up on Roof in Route 365 Crash, Calls for Lockdowns, Investigations As Record Violence, Drug Incidents Occur At NY Prisons, Correctional Officer Union VP Blasts NYS For Putting COs in Danger, UPDATE: Marcy Correctional Fire Worst in RMHUs History. A day after the camp opened, two prisoners escaped by scaling the 12-foot stockade wall. Black officers make up the majority of the uniformed staff there, setting it apart from every other mens prison in the state. However, under instituted indeterminate sentencing, tension was often high among the general population as prisoners were rarely informed how long the terms of their imprisonment lasted. One of the more humiliating abuses inmates describe is known as the credit card swipe. Officers order the prisoners to stand against a wall for a pat frisk and then swipe their hands aggressively between their buttocks. These facilities house thousands of inmates between them. The supermax prison, Southport Correctional Facility, is located two miles away from Elmira. [3] After the Second World War it was initially a military prison. To the Herald, all rations at Elmira were sufficient and though it admitted the unusually high incidence of illness in the camp, the newspaper said that the sickness was "beyond the control of the authorities there is no lack of medical attendance or supplies." Alexander found two major problems with the camp that he detailed in his report. The prison played music so loud the surrounding valley could hear it, he said. His former wife has had no contact with him. It replaces cells from the old building from 1888. He hid Moss' body in a gravel pit near her home. In July, Chavelo Borden, who is serving a six-year sentence for robbery, met with reporters in the visiting room at Clinton, where guards had hung a sign saying All Lives Matter. Mr. Borden said he and other black prisoners at Clinton were treated like were another species.. He peed in a cup because he was in a place without a bathroom and couldn't hold it, he said. These facilities house thousands of inmates between them. The first incident occurred Inmates claim that officers regularly provoke altercations that are classified as assaults, including taunting them with racial slurs or touching them inappropriately during a pat frisk. According to documents from an investigation by the corrections departments affirmative-action office, the white officers wrote Token on his locker, and someone attached a picture of a disheveled black man to his timecard and wrote, This is your black ass nigger brother.. [6], The responsibilities of the penal institutions in Hesse are regulated in the state's enforcement plan . As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. [1] A different source says that Camp Rathbun had a capacity of 6,000 recruits, but that it was turned into a prison for 10,000 and the Union Commissary General was given just 10 days to make it happen. James Moore, who's been in state prison since 1963, longer than any other prisoner in the state. The judge who sentenced him, John Lomenzo, wrote a letter to the parole board in 2001 saying Moore should be released. Black inmates make up 57 percent of the population there and get 58 percent of the tickets. However, the first tunnel had not been discovered, so Traweek and his men returned to work on that tunnel. In addition, Eastman reported that the kitchens could feed only 5,000 a day and the mess room could seat only 1,500 men at once. ". width: 15%; "I'm just tired is all, doing the same thing all these years," he said in a recent interview with Syracuse.com at Coxsackie Correctional Facility, where he's housed in the prison's medical unit. The Scourge of Racial Bias in New York States Prisons, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/03/nyregion/new-york-state-prisons-inmates-racial-bias.html. They dont see us with pristine eyes, he said. In contrast Elmira sought to reform and rehabilitate. In a statement, the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association, the union that represents guards, said the settlement with the civil liberties union had made the prisons more dangerous. Those quotas remain in place. He is scheduled to leave isolation on Christmas. There has been resistance from the rank and file. The insecticide, dieldrin, was later banned because it was found to be toxic to humans. Even in late November and early December, there were reports of over 2,000 Confederates sleeping in tents, and a Christmas inspection said 900 still had no proper housing. A cellblock at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in Ossining, N.Y., less than an hour by train from Midtown Manhattan.CreditBryan Thomas for The New York Times. Those who were skilled in carpentry were hired by Union personnel to help build various facilities throughout the camp for a small wage and extra rations. A Times analysis of first-time hearings before the State Board of Parole over a three-year period ending in May found that one in four white inmates were released but fewer than one in six black inmates were. Box 500, Elmira, NY 14901. The correctional facility Frankfurt am Main III (JVA III) is a penal institution of the State of Hesse for adult and young female prisoners. Moore was calm and soft-spoken in his interview with Syracuse.com. The following record series are represented in the name index: Finding aids provide detailed information about individual record series held by the State Archives. It has worked at Elmira for housing and jobs and has been somewhat successful in holding officers accountable for the worst excesses of brutality and discrimination. float: left; What happened next is a prime example of why many inmates consider the prison disciplinary system to be a farce. Attica Correctional Facility, where only 1 percent of officers are black. The more seriously wounded were then loaded aboard the wagons and followed suit. By then, he said, he had spent 26 days in solitary confinement. Though the conditions were brutal, they were common in prisons of both the North and the South. [7]:11, The transfer of prisoners continued without incident until July 15, when a train carrying 833 Confederate POWs and 128 Union guards bound for Elmira collided with a coal train coming from the opposite direction. Address and Phone Number for Elmira Correctional Facility, a Jail & Prison, at Davis Street, Elmira NY. Chemung Valley Living History Center Inc. Though there were many attempts to tunnel out of the camp, Washington B. Traweek led the only major successful escape from the prison along with a few other soldiers, all of them members of the Jefferson Davis Artillery Company. The officer ordered Mr. Horton to leave it, he refused and they got into a shouting match and bumped shoulders, according to the report. There is evidence that the inequitable treatment of blacks in state prisons has been going on for decades. With the drugs came frequent fights among inmates, he said. "I think all residents around the county were apprehensive about where they had gone, and were they still in the area?" "People talk about it.". [7]:1213, Preparations of the camp were completed by the end of June, and Hoffman ordered 2,000 POWs to be transferred from the prison camp in Point Lookout, Maryland. What can I expect when visiting. They identify with us, he said. Moore married behind bars. The man who was put in charge of overseeing the burials was John W. Jones, the local sexton and an ex-slave. You can also try to contact the facility by reaching out to them on social media platforms. Elmira, N.Y. - Several officers of Elmira Correctional Facility sustained injuries during three different incidents at the maximum security prison last week. When challenged, the inmate produced a stack of waffles, the report said.