Jails in the Early American Republic: Transcarceration, Decarceration, and Rabble Management

Recent state-level penal policy reforms have the potential to shift the burden of incarceration to local jails. We argue that such transcarceration is not a new phenomenon, but rather, is a persistent aspect of incarceration in the United States. In this article, we provide an historical analysis of...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Tillotson, Stephen E. (Author)
Contributors: Colanese, Jennifer A.
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2017
In: The prison journal
Year: 2017, Volume: 97, Issue: 1, Pages: 118-139
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Keywords:
Jails
U.S. correctional history
Transcarceration
Description
Summary:Recent state-level penal policy reforms have the potential to shift the burden of incarceration to local jails. We argue that such transcarceration is not a new phenomenon, but rather, is a persistent aspect of incarceration in the United States. In this article, we provide an historical analysis of jails in the Early American Republic (1790-1850), including their role expansion to include felon and misdemeanant incarceration, their role contraction alongside the development of institutions for various special populations, and their enduring function as a site of “rabble” management.
ISSN:1552-7522
DOI:10.1177/0032885516679401