President Trump recently announced his intention to reopen the island of Alcatraz as a revamped, modern prison under the auspices of the Bureau of Prisons.
The left, naturally, immediately decried President Trump’s idea but deeper analysis of the plan shows it may be a brilliant move on the part of the President.
Alcatraz has a very long history of serving as a venue for incarceration, serving as a military prison before reopening in August 1934 under the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Inmates such as Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, Baby Face Nelson, “Birdman” Robert Stroud (who never kept birds on Alcatraz), and Whitey Bulger were among those sent to America’s most notorious prison. Work was a privilege that had to be earned and for the first two years of its operation, inmates were not allowed to speak to each other. No confirmed escapes from Alcatraz ever took place before its closing in March 1963 due to rising costs. Alcatraz was eventually turned over to the National Park Service. (RELATED: LARRY PROVOST: If King Charles Offers Trump Membership In Commonwealth, US Should Strongly Consider Joining)
Alcatraz was expensive for several reasons. Much of the island’s needs had to be barged in. The elements of San Francisco Bay also chipped away at the structures. Also, Alcatraz had the highest guard to inmate ratio in the country, seeing one guard for three prisoners as opposed to 1:10 for many other federal facilities.
However, Alcatraz was worth the money. Federal inmates did not want to go to Alcatraz and very few spoke well about the experience. During the time the island still operated as a prison, it had already gained iconic status in America, appearing in several films and consequently had a deterrent effect on the public at large.
Alcatraz has been replaced by other prisons such as Marion and especially SUPERMAX Florence. SUPERMAX has been described as a living hell. There is no work and nearly 24 hours daily are spent in a cell.
While both SUPERMAX and Alcatraz have no recorded successful escapes, SUPERMAX has not entered the popular lexicon as Alcatraz did or had a similar deterrent effect on crime in the public mindset. For the left, ostensibly those who argue the most about imagery and soft power, and almost never met government spending that they don’t like (minus defunding the police), their opposition is quite misplaced but that is to be expected from a philosophy that holds up an MS-13 gang member as its poster boy.
The left’s real opposition to the Trump Alcatraz plan can be related to many factors.
First, there is Trump Derangement Syndrome-The idea that anything the President says or does must automatically be wrong. This irrational tactic has, time after time, been shown to be quite self-defeating for the left.
Second, Alcatraz is in Pelosi’s district. Having a reopened Alcatraz would not only take away an immense amount of tourist revenue from San Francisco, a city that is becoming more unsafe for tourists and citizens, but would also serve as living symbol to the left’s hypocrisy and utter failure on issues of crime. Simply put, leftism is soft on crime (save any real or conjured up crime revolving in and around American Conservatism/populism).
Third, some friends of the left might end up in Alcatraz.
While Alcatraz was expensive to maintain it is difficult to keep up under the National Park Service and was in much better condition as a federal prison. Today, many of its elements are falling apart despite the tourist revenue. While it is likely that that SUPERMAX Florence while remain the most stringent federal prison facility, reopening Alcatraz will send a literal cold, hard lesson to America’s most notorious criminals and those who aspire to be like them. There is no prison that can have the deterrent effect on those outside of prison, and possibly even those within the Bureau of Prisons, as Alcatraz.
I would love to see Alcatraz someday, being on my bucket list of tourist destinations. But I would rather see it serve a greater purpose in keeping America safe again.
*Views expressed in this article are those of the author and not any government agency.
Larry Provost is a Columnist and Commentator in Washington, D.C. A 25-year Army Veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, he holds a Masters of Divinity from Liberty University, an M.P.S. in Legislative Affairs from The George Washington University and an M.A. in Defense and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College.
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