In 1970, about one in every thousand American adults was serving out a sentence in a federal, state, or local penitentiary by the start of this decade, the figure had jumped to one in a hundred. It still stands, unbreached.Ī video game that invites its players to oversee the incarceration of miniature cartoon people could, during what is a time of boom and crisis for the real-life penal system, be seen as tasteless.
I reserved a king’s ransom, however, for the perimeter fence. I packed the inmates together like cattle, in spartan cells with no more than a chair and a prayer mat for entertainment. The second prison that I designed was a monument to frugality.
Then the money ran out before I could complete the perimeter fence: the first busload of inmates made a break for freedom before they’d had a chance to express their gratitude. I planned for a princely lounge area, a gourmet canteen, an Alexandrian library, and a Serengeti of a rec yard. The first prison that I designed was humane.