Prison-'Brats'

[Waxd0g]

‘Brats’ recall life in prison’s shadow


Courtesy- The Telegraph
Taken in the 1930s from inside the prison, the photograph shows homes sprawling outside the walls.

NEWS SOURCE:?Brats? recall life in prison?s shadow - Roseville Press-Tribune

Put Craig Burnett and Tom Doherty in a room together, and the self-proclaimed former “prison brats” will speak evocatively about growing up on the grounds of Folsom State Prison.

The prison has offered on-grounds housing since 1930, when the first residential unit was built, said prison spokesman Lt. Anthony Gentile.

Past the main gate in a building now used as a personnel office is where Burnett used to live. His father arrived at the prison as a tower guard in 1939, spent four years stationed in Turlock during World War II, then came back to Folsom in 1947, when Burnett was about 3. Burnett’s father didn’t stick around long, though, climbing the career ladder by working prisons in Soledad and Chino before returning to Folsom in 1959, where he became the associate warden in charge of custody.

By then, Burnett was a 15-year-old sophomore at Folsom High and raising a youthful ruckus with his pal Doherty, who grew up on the grounds of Folsom Prison from kindergarten all the way through high school graduation in 1963.

“It was very secure, very safe,” Doherty said. “We had inmates as gardeners. Some of those guys taught me how to pitch.”

In return, Doherty and Burnett now laugh at how inmates used to plumb the high school athletes for information about upcoming games, not knowing at the time that the prisoners were betting on the outcomes.

“They wanted to know how the teams were doing because they would bet on the teams,” Doherty chuckled.

Doherty’s father started at the prison as a correctional officer in 1935, ending his career decades later as secretary to the warden. Staff that lived on the prison grounds were the first line of defense if anything went wrong, Doherty said. They weren’t called into duty often, but when they were it was generally serious.

Both men remember a hostage crisis at the prison chapel that occurred some time in the early 1960s. An inmate was knifed and Burnett’s father was part of the negotiating team that ended the crisis.

“It’s pretty scary,” Burnett recalled. “All you know is the siren goes off and boom,” the prison is suddenly locked down and men like their fathers are rushing toward unknown danger. Story Con't on NEWS SOURCE

[AZ3786]

How much have times changed?!? Would you want your family to live like that with todays I/M's?

[OkieCaseMgr]

Today's I/M's are a whole different breed.

[DeadManWalking]

Leavenworth still has reservation housing.

[2ndGenBOP]

Would loved to have resided at Alcatraz in th staff housing. I personally think they should put money into that part of the island to make it resemble those days.