The Early State Penitentiary: Community, Resistance, and Context

• In Event: Crime and Justice in the Land of Enchantment (New Mexico)

Abstract

This chapter will address the socio-political & practical roots of the Penitentiary of New Mexico (PNM). It will cover the advent and construction of the penitentiary per its blueprints, geographic area, community involvement, and its labor force. Comparisons are made between these elements of early prisons and that of more contemporary iterations. It is framed by Michel Foucault’s work on the roots of the penitentiary in society (1975), speaking to the physical design of the prison itself having many relevant implications for understanding human nature. The authors plan to entertain the question of the role of design in the infamous and catastrophic 1980 riot at the PNM, for example. Other classical contemporary theoretical frameworks to complement this perspective include Garland's Punishment and Modern Society and Rusche & Kirchheimer's Punishment and Social Structure, as applied to the case of NM prisons.

Authors

• Angelique Nevarez-Maes, University of Texas at El Paso / El Paso Community College

• Margie Montanez, University of New Mexico