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Witness History: When the prisoners ran the prison

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When the prisoners ran the prison

30/03/2021 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, When the prisoners ran the prison

Prisoners at Walpole maximum security prison were in charge for three months in 1973

For three months in 1973 the prisoners were in charge of daily life at Walpole maximum security prison in the US.

In March 1973 guards went on strike at Walpole maximum security prison in the US state of Massachussetts, and the prisoners took over. For the next three months the inmates, organised in the National Prisoners Reform Association, ran daily life in the prison. They were helped by a group of outside observers, drawn from members of the community. Mike Lanchin has been hearing from the organiser of the observer teams, Rev. Ed Rodman, about his memories of this unique, but ultimately doomed, experiment in prison reform. 

(Photo credit: The Boston Globe)

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