They Called Me "Doc of the New Alcatraz": Memories from the United States Penitentiary at Marion, Illinois

By Kenneth Kohutek Ph.D.

This book described the experiences of a psychology intern and subsequent psychologist in a maximum-security federal penitentiary. It discussed experiences with those who were incarcerated, staff, as well as a physical description of the edifice where these events occurred. Experiences included a hostage situation, assaults, riots, attempted prison escapes, and a contract placed on the author. It described life in a prison which served as the maximum-security facility between the years of Alcatraz and the Supermax Penitentiary in Florence, Colorado.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Apr 23, 2024
• ISBN: 9798765251478

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Copyright © 2024 Kenneth Kohutek, Ph.D.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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ISBN: 979-8-7652-5144-7 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-7652-5148-5 (hc)

ISBN: 979-8-7652-5147-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2024908071

Balboa Press rev. date:  04/19/2024

CONTENTS

Dedication

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1     Welcome To Marion

Chapter 2     The Therapeutic Community

Chapter 3     The Death of a Program

Chapter 4     Life in the Cell Blocks

Chapter 5     Segregation Units

Chapter 6     Tales from the Control Unit

Chapter 7     The Clinic/Hospital

Chapter 8     The Camp

Chapter 9     Meanwhile, back in the Psychology Department

Chapter 10   Those Choosing to Work in a Penitentiary

Chapter 11   The Beginning of the End

Epilogue

About The Author

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to:

MY PARENTS

STAFF AND INMATES AT MARION DURING

THE YEARS I WAS PART OF THE MILIEU

CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS AND

THOSE WHO ENFORCE THE LAW

PREFACE

It was 1963 and many were celebrating the Kennedy years of ‘Camelot’. While U.S. troops were already in Vietnam, most Americans could not locate the continent, much less pinpoint the country, on a map. We survived the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The country was deeply involved in the cold war against the Soviet Union and the spread of communism. During those years, few paid attention to the closing of the landmark on an island in San Francisco Bay. The infamous Alcatraz closed its doors as a federal penitentiary for the last time.

A train loaded with inmates and inventory items, including a dental chair, traveled halfway across the country to a small town in southern Illinois. It was there, outside the community of Marion, a new prison was open. The facility, United States Penitentiary--Marion, Illinois (USP-Marion), became the maximum-security facility for the Bureau of Prisons. For several years it served as the ‘new’ Alcatraz until it was replaced by the United States Penitentiary Maximum Facility (ADX) in Florence, Colorado in 1994.

I was employed at USP-Marion for six years (1977-1982) when it was the maximum-security penitentiary. The experiences I describe are not meant to be the overall scope, or big picture, of events occurring during the time covered in these writings. Instead, they are from forty-five-year-old memories of a young professional responding to events occurring in his life. In hindsight, there are things I would have done differently.

I left the safety of a minimum-security facility near Dallas, Texas, and drove to a state I had not imagined visiting, much less making my residence. Always ready for a challenge, my wife and I packed the small U-Haul trailer of belongings and headed north. We were not only going to THE maximum-security federal prison, but the blizzard of 1978 was more than helpful in teaching me how to shovel snow.

The opportunity to share this part of our society was one I was glad to have experienced, but not one I want to revisit. While writing these memories, I would wonder why I did not complete my twenty years of service and be on a nice retirement plan. At various times, memories resurrected the cumulation of stress. The ‘gloominess’ led to a less-than-healthy environment for me was enough to recall the reasons for leaving what started as a promising career.

After transferring to the Federal Reformatory in Petersburg, Virginia, the mental health professionals provided a provisional diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for me. When an individual in the business office and I exchanged words concerning a question about my per diem, I gathered my belongings and began to walk out of the prison. My plan was to return to Illinois and Marion when the chief of psychology caught me to resolve the situation. After a lengthy discussion, I agreed to stay and perform my duties. After sharing the experience with my fellow psychologists, it was suggested I not leave the psychology area without an escort. They expressed concern about me picking a fight with a correctional officer. I am sure they were smiling and joking, but I heeded their request. In case you miss the humor in their concern, correctional officers traditionally were considered big, bad, and mean, while psychologists were viewed as cupcakes. I recall doing things which would be considered inappropriate, disrespectful, or demonstrating poor judgment.

A contributing factor to my positive adjustment at the Petersburg prison was my office being in the segregation unit. I was comfortable in my assignment because I had spent four years working mostly in segregation units on my last assignment. My comfort in such an environment was the reason I was instructed to spend at least a month in the psychology department before reporting to my duty station. While not happy with the request, I became comfortable with my peers, familiar with the campus, as well as being around staff in the dining area and other places to gather. Neither of which would have happened had I been working in the Special Management Unit (SMU). SMU was housed in the Richmond building which I coined the Richmond Facility, thus making me a member of the SMURF team.

INTRODUCTION

Prepare yourself for a written tour of the penitentiary where the author worked for six years. During the tour, we will visit the therapeutic community, which was closed during my internship year, segregation units, Control Unit, camp, hospital, and the corridor on which five of the eight cell blocks opened. I will introduce several inmates, administrators, and correctional staff. All names were changed to protect them and their family’s privacy.

These chapters will provide a glimpse of what was a life-changing experience. There were those who successfully spent more time working in this or similar situations. However, I was unprepared for what was behind the grills leading to the corridors from which these stories originated. I was too young or naive to stay longer. I am blessed to have had the opportunity to experience firsthand what most people only view on television, the internet, or read about in books.

Get your favorite beverage, kick back in a comfortable chair, and enjoy the tour.

CHAPTER 1

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WELCOME TO MARION

Kung Fu

If you come back tomorrow, you’ll be my punk, were the first words I heard from an inmate at the United States Penitentiary near Marion, Illinois. He was six foot, two inches tall and obviously spent time in