Thomas Murton

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Thomas Murton ( October 7, 1928 - October 10, 1990 ) was an American penologist . As a clearer of abuses in prisons, he provided the template for the film Brubaker .

education

At Oklahoma State University , Murton first studied animal husbandry , where he received his first bachelor's degree in 1950 . Another diploma he obtained in 1957/58 in Fairbanks in mathematics; his studies were supported by the G. I. Bill . In 1964, Murton enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley , where he received a Master of Arts degree in criminology in 1966 . After his release from the Arkansas state service in 1968, he earned a doctorate in criminology from Berkeley.

Career

Murton was teaching at Southern Illinois University when the Republican governor of Arkansas , Winthrop Rockefeller , commissioned him in 1968 to reform the state's prison system. As the head of Tucker State Prison Farm and Cummins State Prison Farm , he saw that rape , torture and corruption are part of everyday prison life.

When Murton finally came across a mass grave at Tucker Prison Farm with over 200 prisoners who had been murdered by guards and other inmates over the past few decades, he was removed from office. He was forced to leave the state of Arkansas because otherwise he would face charges of grave robbery, which at the time was then accompanied by 21 years in prison. Two years after Murton's release, there was a riot in prison and a human rights commission advocated the detainees. Governor Rockefeller was not re-elected.

Murton co-authored Accomplices to the Crime: The Arkansas Prison Scandal with Joe Hyams , about his experiences as a prison director; Murton subsequently found no more work in the correctional area. Murton returned to college from 1971 to 1979, teaching at the University of Minnesota . In 1980 he left campus and retired to his mother's farm in Deer Creek . There he died of cancer ten years later.

In 1982, Murton wrote his second book on prison reform , The Dilemma of Prison Reform .

Movie

Murton was best known for the 1980 film Brubaker , in which he assisted director Stuart Rosenberg . Robert Redford played the role of prison director .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Thomas O. Murton Has Been a Busy Man for All His 39 Years, Pine Bluff Commercial. January 2, 1968
  2. ↑ Thomas Murton, 62, a Penologist Who Advocated Reforms, Is Dead - Obituary in New York , October 19, 1990.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Murton, Thomas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American penologist
DATE OF BIRTH October 7, 1928
DATE OF DEATH October 10, 1990