GOVERNOR NELSON A. ROCKEFELLER AND THE ATTICA REBELLION: AN ANALYSIS

For five days in September 1971, some 1200 inmates laid siege to the New York Correctional Facility at Attica, holding 39 correctional officers and civilians as hostages. In the wake of this rebellion 43 inmates and hostages were dead, 39 of whom were killed as an assault was launched on the institution to restore order. These dead and scores of injured left "Attica" with the highest casualty rate of any disturbance in U.S. prison history; it has also been pointed out by the Commission investigating the incident that the takeover was the "bloodiest one day encounter between Americans since the Civil War."

Nelson A. Rockefeller was Governor of New York at the time of the Attica rebellion, and any thoughful examination of his public career would necessarily include a review of his actions and reactions regarding this

ALL

Life afleide of Altica brought intense public reaction including a general indictment of conditions in U.S. prisons that foster such uprisings. More specifically, however, many were critical of Rockefeller's role in handling the disturbance, particularly for his refusal to go to the scene and review the situation before the final decision was reached for the police to move in. Criticism of State actions intensified when it was discovered that the dead hostages were not killed by inmates but by police bullets, and that police, National Guardsmen and corrections officers evidently lacked restraint and used undue brutality in the

restoration of order.

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The following analysis will focus on Governor Rockefeller's handling of the Attica rebellion in his capacity as chief executive officer of New York State. Not only will it examine his participation and the reasoning behind his actions, but it will also focus on the comments and criticisms of his position. This review will be placed in the broader perspective of the conditions in New York institutions and Rockefeller's record in the area of prison reform both before and after the incident.

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Because of the tragic and controversial nature of Attica it has been carefully investigated, and much has been said about the event by those who were present and others who are interested and involved in corrections. tainly the most comprehensive report on the subject is that of the New York State Special Commission on Attica, an investigatory group of nine private citizens that was headed by Dean Robert B. McKay of the New York University School of Law. The Commission was appointed by the justices of the New York Court of Appeals on the request of Governor Rockefeller.

This group conducted

an extensive investigation, which included hearings with witnesses from both sides of the rebellion, to ascertain the facts of the incident and to arrive at some conclusions and recommendations in light of this information.

Other investigatory groups such as the New York State Legislature's Select Committee on Correctional Institutions and Program (the Jones/ Bartlett Committee) and the Select Committee on Crime conducted investigations into the problems and deficiencies characteristic of New York and U.S. correctional institutions in reaction to the events at Attica.

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The following analysis should not be considered an exhaustive report

on the causes, events and controversy over Attica; it will relate to these

elements only as they pertain to the role of Governor Rockefeller and to

the criticism of this role.

Background to an Uprising

Prison violence has generally been indicative of certain problems

that are inherent in our correctional system. Although rehabilitation has become the dominant theme in the treatment of the offender in modern

times, most of our correctional facilities have retained the custodial practices and structures of the 19th Century. This situation and particular characteristics of the prison population today have been said to have formed the backdrop to the siege at Attica.

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The Special Commission on Attica looked into the conditions at the institution in September 1971 and found Attica to be, not perceptively better or worse than the other maximum security prisons..." in New York State that were responsible for approximately 90 percent of the inmates incarcerated.1/ These institutions were described as "walled fortresses"

where security was the primary consideration

locked cells 14 to 16 hours a day; jobs that were provided for inmates paid an average of 30¢ a day and had little vocational value; opportunity for recreation was limited and equipment was scarce; all of the inmates' activities were carefully monitored and there was extensive censorship of all outside communications; meals did not meet nutritional standards and were unappetizing; clothing was old and inadequate; there was inadequate allowance for personal hygiene and medical care; and, in general inmates were subject to "... daily humiliation and degradation. "2/ The Commission felt that the only worthwhile programs at Attica were two experimental programs available

to less than 4 percent of the inmates.3/ It concluded that the "...promise