POLITICAL, LEGAL, PROFESSIONAL ISSUES AIRED AT ACA CONFERENCE - Part II

Oct 13, 2026

Editor’s Report, Part II summarizes key political and legal discussions at the 111th Congress of the American Correctional Association in Miami Beach. Terrell Don Hutto warns that fiscal austerity and public attitudes toward violent crime are reshaping corrections policy, while prison overcrowding drives higher deaths, suicides, and disciplinary and health problems. The report also highlights ongoing litigation efforts by the ACLU, and related federal and state initiatives affecting prison conditions and capacity.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

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POLITICAL, LEGAL, PROFESSIONAL ISSUES AIRED AT ACA CONFERENCE

SINGLE-CELLING, SMALLER PRISONS SUPPORTED BY NEW FEDERAL STUDY

ACLU RECEIVES $1.2 MILLION GRANT TO CONTINUE PRISON INMATE SUITS

FREE: MAINE CORRECTIONS GIVEN SURPLUS AIR FORCE STATION

Vol.12 No.19 September 11,1981 Editor's Report,Part II... ## POLITICAL,LEGAL,PROFESSIONALISSUES AIRED AT ACA CONFERENCE Layered over by years of public neglect,mush-rooming prison populations and courtroom harrass-ment,corrections during America's new era of fiscalausterity is entering its most critical period of pro-fessional and political development. “All across the country today there exists anatmosphere of financial hard times for state andlocal governments that threatens whatever progresswe have made in corrections over the past decade,"warned Terrell Don Hutto at the 111th Congressof the American Correctional Association held latelast month in Miami Beach (see conference report,part one,Vol.12,No.18,p1). When discussing the ability of corrections pro-fessionals to regain the policy initiative now held bypoliticians and the courts,Hutto said"we must dis-cuss the political and legal aspects of corrections.In our business the two are so intermingled onecannot discuss one without the other." (Continued on page two) Study Backs Single-Cells,Small Prisons ......1ACLU Gets $1.2 Million Clark Fndn.Grant.....1Maine Corrections Given Air Force Station.....1JOB LISTINGS..............5CAC Accredits Two More Juvenile Facilities.....8 Illinois Prisons Up Against The Wall .. ...10 Page 1 ## SINGLE-CELLING,SMALLER PRISONSSUPPORTED BY NEW FEDERAL STUDY Prisoners subjected to high degrees of sus-tained overcrowding have a higher death andsuicide rate,more disciplinary problems,and alarger number of illness complaints than inmateswho are not overcrowded. A new,federally-funded study also saidlarge institutions produce much more severe (See SINGLE-CELLING,page six) ## ACLU RECEIVES S1.2 MILLION GRANTTO CONTINUE PRISON INMATE SUITS The American Civil Liberties Union hasjustreceived a$1.2 million grant from the EdnaMcConnell Clark Foundation to permit the civilrights organization to continue its litigation onbehalf of more humane,constitutional conditionsin the nation's prisons. (See ACLU,page seven) ## FREE:MAINE CORRECTIONS GIVENSURPLUS AIR FORCE STATION Today,the 67-acre Charleston Air ForceStation near Bangor,Maine was transferred freeof charge to the state's Department of MentalHealth and Corrections for use as a minimum-security penal unit for 100 male,first offendersconvicted of non-violent crimes. The site cost the Air Force approximately$4 million to construct beginning in the mid-1950sand would have cost the state of Maine approxi-mately $6 million to duplicate. (See FREE,page nine) "With all our high-minded talk about profes-sionalism,we have got to realize we can only accom-plish that which the political system will tolerate.And the political system will only tolerate what itperceives to be in the public interest,"the directorof the Virginia prison system told his audience. Today,as perhaps in no other time,Hutto saidthe attention of the voting public has shifted towardthe controlofviolent crime with renewed demandsfor harsher treatment of convicted criminals. "There is no question the public is angry today,and though perhaps not as angry as the politicianscurrently perceive,it all works out the same.Politi-cal rhetoric is heating up emotions already there,"said the immediate past president of the Associationof State Correctional Administrators. Corrections professionals have been warningthe public about the dangerous results of prisonovercrowding for at least 10 years,and for the lastfive years Hutto said "we have been preoccupiedwith this issue as with no other." The response to these warnings has been therecent proposal by the Attorney General's TaskForce on Violent Crime that the budget-cuttingReagan administration find two billion federaldollars to finance a nationwide prison constructionprogram(see Huge Corrections Construction Pro-gram,Vol.12,No.17,p1). While he said he is not suggesting that newprisons don't need to be built to replace aging andovercrowded on-line instit

FAQs

What political and legal concerns did Terrell Don Hutto emphasize at the ACA conference?

He stressed that corrections’ political and legal aspects are tightly intermingled and must be discussed together.

How does the report connect overcrowding to inmate outcomes?

It states that sustained overcrowding increases death and suicide rates, disciplinary problems, and illness complaints compared with non-overcrowded conditions.

What was the purpose of the ACLU’s $1.2 million grant mentioned in the report?

The grant supports continued litigation seeking more humane, constitutional conditions for prisoners.

Oct 13, 2026

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