1947
INMATE POPULATION DECEMBER 31, 1947: 3,460
The population of Florida State Prisons is now 17.2% larger than one year ago.
UNION COUNTY TIMES
16 MAY 1947
PRISON GUARDS GET PAY BOOST - prison guards will no longer be forced to work 12 hours a day to hold their job and they have G. Fred ANDREWS, Union County legislator to thank. Representative ANDREWS steered the measure through the house and it is scheduled to be presented to the senate sometime this week. Little opposition to the law is expected to develop. A single vote was cast against it in the house. Mr. ANDREWS put his finger on the cause for recent prison breaks when he said men working 12 hours a day could not be alert and on the job mentally. He said, with other governmental workers being employed only eight hours a day it was unfair to expect guards to work 12 hours. Guards will suffer no cut in pay.
1948
INMATE POPULATION DECEMBER 31, 1948: 3,761
Officer W.R. Brannon is shot during an escape attempt at the road prison in Noma, Florida, on August 20, 1948.
Officer W.R. Brannon
THE FLORIDA TIMES UNION
19 FEBRUARY 1948
THURSDAY - GRIFFIS APPEAL TO BE FILED IN NASSAU COURT- A Supreme Court appeal from Flem GRIFFIS, Jacksonville man convicted on one murder and indicted for two others, will be filed in Nassau County, it was announced yesterday. Frank T. CANNON, GRIFFIS' attorney served notice of the appeal on William A. HALLOWES, State Attorney and said he would file the notice in the Nassau County Circuit Court not later than Monday. GRIFFIS allegedly shot and killed two Nassau County brothers, John Calvin and Curtis Floyd GRAHAM last August 12 and also is under a first degree murder indictment for the slaying of Sam C. NULL of this city. Investigating officers charged that GRIFFIS killed NULL to obtain his automobile, which he drove to Fernandina where the GRAHAM brothers were slain and then used the car in fleeing to Jesup, Ga. where he surrendered. The accused man was convicted of murder by a Nassau County jury last November 3, in connection with the death of John GRAHAM. A motion for a new trial was denied by Circuit Judge A. D. McNEILL on November 26, when GRIFFIS was sentence to death.
In fact, Flem Griffis, 30, is executed on ./1949 for the murder in Nassau County.
Main entrance gate to the State Prison at Raiford.
Front view of main building nicknamed "The Rock."
This aerial view of the State Prison at Raiford centers on the "death house" and its enclosure.
Prison chapel under construction at State Prison at Raiford.
The Raiford Hospital, located on prison grounds, provided health services to both inmates and the local community.
Front view of dairy at Raiford.
Front and side view of dairy at Raiford.
Part of the dairy herd.
In addition to dairy cows, Brahman and other beef cattle were maintained.
Within three months of his release on ./48, Clarence Martin is arrested and sentenced to 15 years for breaking and entering. He begins his 6th incarceration at age 47.
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This 1948 notice provides instructions for visiting and writing to inmates. Click for larger view.
As part of a 1948 school project, the following Rules and Regulations were hand-copied by a 13-year-old student:
RULES AND REGULATIONS
No. 1: The officer in charge of a body of convicts is herewith designated Captain or Warden. All minor officers working under a Captain or Warden and who have charge or custody of convicts are herein designated guards.
No. 2: Captains or Wardens must know the rules and regulations governing the care, maintenance and control of convicts and they shall see that all guards are made familiar with each and every rule before assuming their duties as guards.
No. 3: When at any time convicts are used temporarily at any State Institution, as provided for by law, the Superintendent of the Institution or institutions where they may be, is hereby designated Captain or Warden in Charge of said convicts, and shall be responsible to the Board of Commissioners of State Institutions and the Commissioner of Agriculture for the custody of said convicts.
No. 4: Captains or Wardens of all convicts shall require each and every convict to wear at all times the uniform of the Florida State Prison, as prescribed by the Board of Commissioners of State Institutions and the Commissioner of Agriculture, in conformity with law.
No. 5: Captains or Wardens shall keep on hand for each prisoner, at all times, two suits of clothes, one hat or cap and one pair of shoes, and shall cause each convict to bathe all over not less than once a week, and put on clean clothes, and during the winter each convict must be furnished a sufficient amount of underclothing to insure protection from the cold.
No. 6: Good and comfortable quarters shall be furnished for the convicts at every camp and there shall be separate rooms provided for eating and sleeping; rooms must be swept thoroughly every day. The floor of the dining room must be scrubbed once a week, and sleeping rooms as often as necessary. Good comfortable mattresses must be supplied for the convicts to sleep on, with such other bedding as is necessary, and the same must be kept clean...........
Solitary Confinement: .....When restricted diet is reduced to bread and water this may be reduced to one-half a pound of bread per day and such supply of water as the prisoner may require. Such convict shall remain in restricted diet until he shall faithfully promise to abide by the rules of the prison and to do his work in the best manner in which he is capable of performing the same. Thereupon, such convict shall be released from solitary confinement and shall have his food in such quantities as may be deemed by the Captain of the Camp best for his physical condition. Food for his consumption shall be gradually increased until he is placed back on full rations and has recovered his strength. A convict placed in solitary confinement and upon bread and water shall not be required to work until he shall have been released from solitary confinement and shall have been fed properly for a period equal to one-half of the time in which he shall have been on such restricted rations. In no case shall a convict be required to remain in solitary confinement and on restricted rations long enough and to such an extent as to endanger his life or permanently impair his health.
