Rage In The Cage

Nine prison riots to remember.

Corbis/Bettmann

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


1773 New-Gate Prison, Connecticut
The first recorded American prison riot breaks out in a converted copper mine also called “Simsbury dungeon.”

1824 Massachusetts State Prison
Three hundred inmates riot in the mess hall; 30 Marines march in and restore order.

1959 Montana State Prison
In the third major riot in a decade, three inmates lead a 36- hour prison takeover until the state National Guard intervenes.

1971 Attica Correctional Facility, New York
The death of a black inmate and dire living conditions (one shower a week, one roll of toilet paper a month, facility at 140 percent capacity) spark a mass uprising. Inmates occupy the yard for five days before Gov. Nelson Rockefeller orders an attack that leaves 10 hostages and 29 inmates dead.

1973 Oklahoma State Penitentiary
A riot inside “Big Mac” in McAlester leaves three inmates dead.

1980 New Mexico State Penitentiary
Over 36 gruesome hours, prisoners take a dozen guards hostage and then assault each other with pipes, knives, and blowtorches. Thirty-three inmates die.

1981 State Prison of Southern Michigan
Angered by unruly prisoners, budget cuts, and a lenient warden, renegade guards take over the facility, which in turn causes inmates to revolt. Over the next five days, five riots break out across this giant prison complex.

1987 US Federal Penitentiary, Atlanta, and Federal Detention Center, Louisiana
After the government announces the repatriation of detainees who came on the Mariel boatlift, Cuban inmates take 120 hostages at two prisons. The result: a temporary stop to deportations.

1993 Southern Ohio Correctional Facility
A 10-day riot erupts on Easter, prompted by Muslims upset about TB shots. Nine inmates and one guard are killed; $40 million in damage is done.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate