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1 Jail Ass'n J. 9 (1939)
The Commissary Problem

handle is hein.journals/jlasj1 and id is 201 raw text is: iJ~e COMMISSARY Problem By William T. Hammack Assistant-Director U. S. Bureau of Prisons, Department of Justice, Washington. D. C. Figure 8 Interior view of commissary distribution unit. THE AVERAGE CITIZEN in the exercise of his freedom is limited by a few restrictions which the law imposes for the protection of the com- munity. In the prison, however, his liberty of action is sharply limited, and what he enjoyed as a right on the outside becomes a privilege inside the prison. The kind of control exercised over these privileges is what makes the difference between a good or bad prison ad- ministration, and one of the most difficult privileges to control is the use of money owned by persons serving prison sentences. The prisoner-owned money reaches the institution in several different ways. It mafr be (1) in possession of the prisoner when he arrives at the institution; (2) it may reach the institution through the mails; and (3) cash might be left by visitors to be placed to the credit of the inmate. Prisoners employed in the several industries operated by the institution frequently receive payments according to the class and character of work performed. In some instances remittances through the mail represent very small sums of money from home or relatives; sometimes they are Government checks for soldier bonus, etc.; frequently private checks, and as often as not postal money orders. In the Federal service if these remittances are received from approved corre- spondents, the inmate may use the money. If they come from an unauthorized source instead of returning it to the sender, the money is deposited to the credit of Figure 9 Display counter is commissary distribution unit. THE SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER JAIL ASSOCIATION JOURNAL the inmate, but impounded so that he cannot use it dur- ing the period of his sentence. At the time of his release it is paid over to him. No matter from what source these funds are received, they must be placed to the credit of the individual and he should be advised as to the amount of the collection. Keeping Money Out a Failure In the Federal Prison Service we first attempted to prevent prisoners from bringing money into the institu- tions, or having it sent to them while they were serving sentence. These attempts were unsuccessful, and we then undertook a study of the problem of controlling the funds after they came into our possession. We soon discovered that the amount of inmate funds in the pos- session of accountable officers was greatly in excess of current needs, and that some transactions bordering upon irregularities were the source of much annoyance to the Bureau. The funds were' used to make advances to officials traveling upon Government business, and sometimes difficulty was encountered in making the col- lection. The interest on the money deposited in banks was sometimes supplemented by donations from the in- mate body and the proceeds used for the purpose of providing special entertainment on Christmas, Fourth of July, etc. Donations from prisoners are always of ques- tionable nature. In any group public donations are ac- companied by the element of force. Some persons may be disinclined to contribute, but in the face of group sentiment they are under compulsion to do so. It is much worse in prison. We have known cases where the inmate bookkeeper had passed word along as to the amount credited to the account of a prisoner and he would then be invited to contribute to the athletic fund, or else? Of course it is easy to obtain such volun- tary contributions from prisoners because they have no recourse. Donations Discouraged We find it much better practice to discourage all do- nations. On more than one occasion, after the pro- ceeds had been spent, we learned through audit of the accounts that such entertainments involved the expen- diture of funds for purposes which would not have been approved by the Bureau had the matter been referred 9

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