Against The Wall CJquestions PDF

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Movie "Against The Wall" questions with answers. Played in most CJ classes...

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Against The Wall A Film on Prison Riot/Attica Samuel L Jackson & Kyle MacLachlan

1. What incident(s) with an inmate led to the riot? The main incident was the officer catching an inmate with a home-made cooking device. The officer escalated the situation by stating that the inmate was going to the hole, so the inmate got angry and threw the boiling hot soup in the face of the corrections officer. This situation along with the overall poor training with moral and ethical problems launched this brutal riot. 2. Where and when was this riot? This movie is based on a true story of the uprising and deadly riot at Attica Prison in 1971. 3. How many died in the riot? The Attica riot was the worst prison riot in U.S. history. A total of 43 people were killed–prison guard William Quinn, the 39 killed in the raid, and three inmates killed by other prisoners early in the riot. 4. Why couldn’t the prison guards consider the demands of the inmates? It was department policy to not negotiate with inmates. All of the prison guards were trained to be harsh on the inmates because that’s how you knew you were in control. The guards didn’t want the inmates to feel like they had power so they all talked down on them and treated them very poorly.

5. Why wouldn’t the Governor get involved? The Governor didn’t want to be responsible for what happened and urged that if the warden did not resolve this prison break that a lot more people would potentially die. 6. What would you do if you were the Warden at Attica or the head of New York’s Department of Corrections regarding these true events? If I was the Warden at Attica I would’ve gotten the Governor and the military involved to get this horrific situation back under control. It seems like in this movie the writers portrayed the government or authority as not really caring or having a sense of urgency about this situation. 7. Who was the Governor of the State of New York? Nelson Rockefeller was the Governor of New York during the Attica attack. 8. What was society like in the United States during this period of time (1960’s – 70’s)? During this time African-American people were fighting for their rights as human beings and as Americans. During this time black people were being severely discriminated against, and were being treated very poorly. This time was a time of chaos and great change in America but with that came a lot of violence and sacrifice.

9. Why did guard Michael Smith (Kyle MacLachlan) find employment with the Attica Prison? His father was a guard for Attica Prison and worked there for 25 years before he retired. Michael Smith was just trying to make his father proud and follow in his footsteps and that’s why he found employment at the prison. 10. How has the correctional system changed since this event in 1971? Better or worse, explain! There is a never-ending list of civil and criminal cases that have set new precedent for the correctional system. Rules and policies changed juristically after this horrific prison break that resulted in dozens of lost lives. The living conditions of prisons has gotten better since 1971 due to a law that got passed because prisons were overcrowded....