The infamous Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, became the site of one of the most famous prison breaks in modern American history in 2015. But the conditions that made possible the notorious escape had festered for many years. This new book reveals the inner workings of this massive prison. It is the first look inside at what it was like to work at the Clinton Correctional Facility, and its effects on those who spent time there on both sides of the bars.The author, Michael H. Blaine spent a career at the Clinton Correctional Facility. Having been an Officer, Sergeant, and Lieutenant, his story reveals the changes he observed and what he experienced at each rank.
The infamous Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, in 2015 became the site of one of the most famous prison breaks in modern American history. However, the conditions that made possible the notorious escape and the massive manhunt that ensued had been developing for many years prior. Having earned the nickname of "Little Siberia", the brutal winters contributed to the already depressing façade of the facility. During the long, dark hours, the wind howled outside and sounded like ghosts haunting the halls of the prison. Dannemora had a proud past. Every employee chose to work there and there was always a transfer list of staff hoping to work there. It was a hard prison for hard criminals. Having housed the likes of mobster Charlie "Lucky" Luciano, "Son of Sam" David Berkowitz, Rappers Tupac Shakur, and Ol' Dirty Bastard, and countless other infamous criminals, the staff at the Clinton Correctional Facility knew how to handle even the toughest of men. Like most prisons, Clinton was a place of routine. Each day was very much like day before. It was a big, clunking machine that simply ran each day unless someone in the administration used poor judgement and tried to implement an unsafe change in policy or targeted the wrong staff member. The author, Michael H. Blaine spent a career at the Clinton Correctional Facility. Having been an Officer, Sergeant, and Lieutenant, his story reveals the changes he observed and what he experienced at each rank he earned. Refusing to compromise his principles and sickened by the downward spiral that Clinton was experiencing, he retired less than 10 1/2 months before the first successful escape at Dannemora on June 6, 2015. This new book reveals the inner workings of this massive prison. It is the first look inside at what it was like to work at the Clinton Correctional Facility, its effects on those who spent time there on both sides of the bars, revealing why nobody escapes the Invisible Walls of Dannemora.
What do Libertarians believe that sets them apart from other political parties? How do Libertarian values, approaches and principles result in more successful “pursuits of happiness” than the approaches of other political parties? And how does Judge Jim Gray dare to say that the Libertarians are the only political party in the mainstream of American political thought today? All Rise! The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray will answer all of these questions and more – to your complete satisfaction! Judge Gray reveals how liberty is intertwined in our country’s genes, taking us all the way back to when the Pilgrims first landed on Plymouth Rock. All Rise! unfolds alongside Judge Gray’s life and upbringing and explores the experiences that spurred his path toward independent thought. The voices of those closest to him are materialized in exclusive interviews, revealing a rare and nuanced look at Judge Gray throughout various points in his life. How did Judge Gray, a former Congressional candidate and member of the Finance Committee of the Republican Party of Orange County, California lean into Libertarianism in only 13 seconds? See how he has been an involved and passionate member of the Libertarian Party ever since that whip-quick decision, and travel with him through his subsequent campaigns as a Libertarian for US Senate in 2004, Vice President in 2012 and President in 2020. Join Judge Gray on his mission to mainstream the word Libertarian – not simply the word, but the party’s values, approaches and principles. Direct and frontal attacks on our freedoms and liberties are unacceptable, and Judge Gray’s platform offers an antidote to the continual trespassing of an overzealous government on its citizens. All Rise! also demonstrates how government has failed to run economies throughout history, and how it is failing to perform under today’s duress, which will leave a legacy of debt to our children and grandchildren! Judge Gray, a recipient of the 2019 Judge Franklin G. West Lifetime Achievement Award from the Orange County Bar Association, argues that there is a solution: employ Responsibility, and employ Liberty! All Rise! The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray provides us all with an inside look at Judge Gray’s ideological transformation, giving a clear overview of Libertarianism, the values it holds for America, and how it stands to unite us, which is precisely what we need in these divisive and frustrating times. The book includes a foreword by Tom Campbell, former Member of Congress from California (1989-1993; 1995-2001). He was also the Dean of the Haas School of Business at the University of California Berkeley and the Dean of the Chapman University School of Law.
Since Nadia Comaneci captured the hearts of the world with her amazing performance at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, one that would change the sport of gymnastics forever, Romania has been known throughout the world for its remarkable success in the sport of gymnastics.This limited edition, full-color album presents the history of Romanian gymnastics from the founding of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation in 1906 to the Romanian women's team that won five consecutive world championship titles under coach Octavian Belu between 1994 and 2001. This book was originally published on the occasion of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation. On the 25th anniversary of its original publication, Romanian Gymnastics is being reissued to celebrate the Tokyo Olympic Games. The book profiles each member of the 1996 Romanian Women's Gymnastics team. This collector's item is a must for every gymnastics fan.
In the summer of 2014, Firas Jumaah was working diligently to complete his doctorate in chemistry at Lund University in Sweden when he suddenly received news that an ISIS advance in northern Iraq threatened the lives of his wife and children who had returned to their native land for a family wedding. The Islamic State had unexpectedly launched an assault on a nearby village inhabited by members of the Yazidi religious minority, to which Firas belongs, slaughtering or enslaving the entire population. Fearing for his family, Firas immediately returned to Iraq and soon found himself reunited with them behind enemy lines. As the situation worsened by the minute, Firas managed to send a message to his professor, Charlotta Turner, to let her know that he did not expect to return to Sweden to complete his dissertation. Unbeknownst to Firas, Charlotta sprang into action. “What was happening was completely unacceptable,” she later explained. “I got so angry that ISIS was pushing itself into our world, exposing my doctoral student and his family to danger, and disrupting his research.” Charlotta consulted university officials about what could be done to help. Unwilling to accept this tragic situation or to abandon her student and his family to the whims of fate, she quickly organized a commando mission that resulted in the dramatic rescue of Firas, his wife, and his two young children, ages four and six, from war-torn Iraq, bringing them safely back to Sweden. Thanks to the heroic efforts of Charlotta and those who supported her efforts, Firas Jumaah finished his Ph.D. in 2016. He now works as a chemist in the Swedish pharmaceutical industry. In Rescued from ISIS Terror, Firas and Charlotta tell their fascinating story. In this riveting tale of family, friendship, and loyalty in the face of extreme adversity, they brilliantly interweave the story of the dramatic rescue operation with that of the tragic situation faced by the Yazidi people in Iraq.
A significant chapter in the history of American social reform is traced in this skillful account of the rise of the New York penitentiary system at a time when the United States was garnering international acclaim for its penal methods. Beginning with Newgate, an ill-fated institution built in New York City and named after the famous British prison, W. David Lewis describes the development of such well-known institutions as Auburn Prison and Sing Sing, and ends with the establishment of Clinton Prison at Dannemora. In the process, he analyzes the activities and motives of such penal reformers as Thomas Eddy, the Quaker merchant who was chiefly responsible for the founding of the penitentiary system in New York; Elam Lynds, whose unsparing use of the lash made him one of the most famous wardens in American history; and Eliza W. Farnham, who attempted to base the treatment of convicts upon the pseudoscience of phrenology.The history of the Auburn penal system—copied throughout the world in the nineteenth century—is the central topic of Lewis's study. Harsh and repressive discipline was the rule at Auburn; by night, the inmates were kept in solitary confinement and by day they were compelled to maintain absolute silence while working together in penitentiary shops. Moreover, the proceeds of their labor were expected to cover the full cost of institutional maintenance, turning the prison into a factory. (Indeed, Auburn Prison became a leading center of silk manufacture for a time.)Lewis shows how the rise and decline of the Auburn system reflected broad social and intellectual trends during the period. Conceived in the 1820s, a time of considerable public anxiety, the methods used at Auburn were seriously challenged twenty years later, when a feeling of social optimism was in the air. The Auburn system survived the challenge, however, and its methods, only slightly modified, continued to be used in dealing with most of the state's adult criminals to the end of the century.First published in 1965, From Newgate to Dannemora was the first in-depth treatment of American prison reform that took into account the broader context of political, economic, and cultural trends in the early national and Jacksonian period. With its clear prose and appealing narrative approach, this paperback edition will appeal to a new generation of readers interested in penology, the history of New York State, and the broader history of American social reform.
A crime reporter’s thrilling account of the infamous 2015 prison break, manhunt, and capture based on interviews with one of the inmates who pulled it off. On June 6, 2015, inmates Richard Matt and David Sweat escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility, New York State’s largest maximum-security prison. The media was instantly obsessed with the story: Aided by a prison seamstress, who smuggled hacksaw blades, chisels, and drill bits inside the facility via a vat of raw hamburger meat, the two convicted murderers sliced their way through steel cell walls, navigated a maze of tunnels, climbed out of a manhole, and walked off into the night. After nearly three weeks on the run, US Customs and Border Patrol agent Chris Voss shot and killed Matt on June 26, 2015. Two days later, New York State Police Sgt. Jay Cook shot Sweat twice in the back. He survived. While some details of this elaborate modern-day prison break have come to light, only one reporter has spoken directly to Sweat. In Wild Escape, he answers the most important question in the case: Of all the inmates who dream of escape, why was he the one who could make it happen? “The details Marcius has amassed are comprehensive and stunning and serve to heighten the impact of her story. This is first-rate journalism, written about a crime and a criminal from the inside out.” —Stephen Singular, New York Times–bestselling author of Talked to Death “Marcius writes with genuine narrative power. Her depth of research provides insights into this historical escape that we can’t get anywhere else.” —Anthony Flacco, New York Times and international bestselling author of The Road Out of Hell
IT IS THE DAWN OF A NEW AGE… At the beginning of the 20th century, the world was forever changed by the discovery of electroid, a strange liquid that allowed for lighter-than-air travel. Militaries around the world rushed to develop new vessels based on this amazing invention, resulting in a class of flying ships unlike anything ever seen before…the leviathan. Now, the skies are filled with massive armored warships that soar through the air, armed with devastating cannons that can lay waste to an enemy vessel in moments. The nations of the world have entered into a dangerous new arms race, and all it will take is the right spark to set off a war that will ensnare the nations on and around the European continent…and may engulf the world… Featuring stories by: William H. Keith, Jr. Michael J. Ciaravella Steven Mohan, Jr. Bryn Bills Blaine Lee Pardoe S.M. Stirling Harry Turtledove Tyler Whitney
From Columbus' voyages to the New World through today's prison expansion movements, incarceration has played an important, yet disconcerting, role in American history. In this sweeping examination of imprisonment in the United States over five centuries, Scott Christianson exposes the hidden record of the nation's prison heritage, illuminating the forces underlying the paradox of a country that sanctifies individual liberty while it continues to build and maintain a growing complex of totalitarian institutions. Based on exhaustive research and the author's insider's knowledge of the criminal justice system, With Liberty for Some provides an absorbing, well-written chronicle of imprisonment in its many forms. Interweaving his narrative with the moving, often shocking, personal stories of the prisoners themselves and their keepers, Christianson considers convict transports to the colonies; the international trade in captive indentured servants, slaves, and military conscripts; life under slavery; the transition from colonial jails to model state prisons; the experience of domestic prisoners of war and political prisoners; the creation of the penitentiary; and the evolution of contemporary corrections. His penetrating study of this broad spectrum of confinement reveals that slavery and prisons have been inextricably linked throughout American history. He also examines imprisonment within the context of the larger society. With Liberty for Some is a thought-provoking work that will shed new light on the ways in which imprisonment has shaped the American experience. As the author writes, "Prison is the black flower of civilization -- a durable weed that refuses to die."
