Browse Items (1263 total)

Coles mentions current problems at Walpole and explains how the NPRA needs to use its power against the prison system. He encourages people who plan on attending the March 9 meeting to sign an enclosed card.

Coles encourages members of the external board to be committed and active.

The letter announces that the NPRA Massachusetts Chapter has become an official organization. Additionally, annual elections are coming up.

The meeting minutes describe things the NPRA is currently working on, including an NPRA brochure, a meeting with Governor Dukakis, and NPRA funding.

A card for NPRA board members to RSVP for a meeting on March 9

Coles informs board members of the next meeting date and calls for people to attend consistently.

Coles informs external officers of the next NPRA meeting, at which they will be redeveloping the board.

A list of all the citizen observers in Walpole from March 8 to April 4, 1973.

Kelly provides his in-depth thoughts about the Walpole takeover after his first few weeks as a frequent observer. Among these notes are frustration over inaccurate and bad-faith reporting by the press, conversations with prisoners about occupational…

Observers are invited to a CARCAP meeting. Food is good, and prisoners are happy to see their friends and family.

There is a problem with getting new observers in, and there are very few armbands for observers.

There are problems with medicine distribution. Additionally, some prisoners distrust observers due to rumors of them being spies sent by Burke.

Prisoners are happy about the decrease in tensions now that guards are gone, and feel more responsible for themselves. However, they dislike that certain petty rules are still in existence. In another incident, a cadet was fired for not going to his…

A guard refused to open avocation room to let observers use the phone, despite the observers having a note approved by the deputy. One woman visitor had not been informed that her husband was in court and made a trip for nothing.

A member of the NPRA wants an outside visitor, which a doctor refuses, leading to yelling from both sides.

Prisoners would like for cadet guards to be assigned to minimum security.

There is a complaint about mice in the maximum security section. Moreover, two guards claim to have found steel rods in a cell block. Separately, Seldon sees a book on Prison Busing on a table, which is denigrated by guards.

Prisoners complain of a lack of exercise, low wages, and questionable methods for storing unused pills. Moreover, requests made to the Boone administration that were supposed to be granted had not been.

There is a discrepancy between this day's officer and other guards and prisoners regarding understandings of how prisoners are allowed to change cells.

This oral history interview features, John Osler, a public defense lawyer based in Massachusetts, who participated in the observer program in Walpole in 1973. Osler was dedicated to the program as a core volunteer, and wrote detailed, extensive, and…