Weightlifting in Prison
1998 Year in Review

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If you find any additional media clips on the issue not posted here, please send a copy of them to Strength Tech, Inc. P.O. Box 1381 Stillwater OK 74076 and we will post them. We can also be reached at gpolson@strengthtech.com

Note: we have a section dealing with earlier media coverage of the issues of lifting in prison and we also have a section on media clips on weight lifting in prison that do not deal specifically with the issues.

Year in Review

At first we thought 1998 seemed like a relatively uneventful year for the issue, then we began to look back upon year's events.

In October of 1997, the University of Northern Iowa's Center for Social and Behavioral Research published a study, "Management Strategies for Long Term Inmates." The one year study, #96-463A, by Robert Hunter and Keith Crew recommends a "carrot and stick" approach to managing Iowa's long term prison population. The report said prisoners should be allowed to watch television and lift weights but "no inmate privilege should be seen as an entitlement."

At the conclusion of 1997, Florida retained the weights, but ammended their bill to read they will only be used as reward for good behavior.

Feb. 2nd 1998, the California Department of Corrections enacted emergency regulations to ban all weightlifting programs and equipment. This was an unusual situation, in that in most other states, banning was done by the legislature, not the DOC.

Also in February, New Jersey Assembly woman Marion Crecco introduced legislation to ban prison lifting in their state.

In March the Atlanta Journal Constitution ran a "Special Report" on Georgia Prison Sports. This is a great article (actually a series of related articles) and provides excellent historical coverage of prison sports in Georgia and the current prison anti-sports movement. I put this report on the same pedestal as the great Sports Illustrated article in the late 80's. It is a "must read" for anyone interested in understanding prison recreation.

In the spring, Ohio became confused over their bill. Did its passage also ban lifting in county jails and local detention centers, or only in its state prisons?

In May, one state prison even rejected sit-up and pull-up boards asked for by basketball players.

May 11th, we heard from Matthew Wagner who recently finished his doctoral dissertation at Texas A&M. His topic was, "The effects of isotonic resistance exercise on aggression variables in adult male inmates incarcerated in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice." He reported favorable results on the benefit of weight training and physical activity.

By June, The Rhode Island Senate was considering passing a bill banning lifting for bulk, already passed by the House.

June 25th, Melanie dropped us a note to announce she had now opened the NCRA web site. This is a major contribution to correctional recreation and we commend her for it.

In September, Iowa Corrections Director W.L. "Kip" Kautzky spoke out in agreement on a recent study UNI's Center for Social and Behavioral Research saying "prisoners should be allowed to watch television and lift weights but "no inmate privilege should be seen as an entitlement."

November 3rd, Tennessee voted to remove the word "comfortable" from their constitutional description of state prisons. The new stance is no new weightlifting equipment.

Highlights: We were especially happy to see the University of Northern Iowa's study, "Management Strategies or Long Term Inmates," Matthew Wagner's Phd Thesis, "The effects of isotonic resistance exercise on aggression variables in adult male inmates incarcerated in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice," and the Special Report on Georgia Prison Sports by Matt Winkeljohn. They added significantly to body of existing literature for future studies to build upon. Also we were thrilled to see the creation of the NCRA website which can help disseminate information such as this to those in the trenches (Correctional Recreators).

Major Articles Published in 1998