Prison

A prison,correctional facility, penitentiary, gaol (Ireland, UK, Australia), or jail is a facility in which inmates are forcibly confined and denied a variety of freedoms under the authority of the state as a form of punishment. The most common use of prisons is within a criminal justice system. People charged with crimes may be imprisoned until they are brought to trial; those pleading or being found guilty of crimes at trial may be sentenced to a specified period of imprisonment. Besides their use for punishing civil crimes, authoritarian regimes also frequently use prisons and jails as tools of political repression to punish what are deemed political crimes, often without trial or other legal due process; this use is illegal under most forms of international law governing fair administration of justice. In times of war, prisoners of war or detainees may be detained in military prisons or prisoner of war camps, and large groups of civilians might be imprisoned in internment camps.

Elmira Correctional Facility

Elmira Correctional Facility, also known as "The Hill", is a maximum security state prison located in Chemung County, New York, in the City of Elmira. It is operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. The supermax prison, Southport Correctional Facility, is located two miles away from Elmira.

Early years

The facility was founded as Elmira Reformatory in 1876. It differed from many prisons of the day as it focused on reforming the convict using psychological methods rather than physical. During the 19th century, prisoners were required to abide by the "holy trinity" of silence, obedience and labor and were only released after they "paid their debt to society". Elmira differed in that it concentrated on reforming the prisoners to ensure that they stay out of crime.

Elmira system

Among the programs begun at the reformatory included courses in ethics and religion, vocational training in various trades and extracurricular activities such as a prison band, newspaper and various athletic leagues.