Guthrie vs. Evans : Georgia State Prison Research Files, 1972-1983

Summary

Creator:
Chilton, Dr. Bradley S.
Date:
1972-1983
Extent:
47 box(es) (22.75 linear feet)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Guthrie vs. Evans: Georgia State Prison Research Files, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia, 30602-1641.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains files from the Georgia State Attorney's Office regarding the Guthrie vs. Evans trial. It includes transcripts of court proceedings, court records, minutes, printed material, correspondence, news clippings, blueprints, and photographs regarding conditions in the Georgia State Prison at Reidsville and trial proceedings. Dr. Bradley Chilton used these files to write his award winning dissertation (1988 Best Dissertation in Public Administration by NASPPA). From his dissertation, he also published a book, Prisons under the Gavel: the Federal Court takeover of Georgia Prisons, in 1991, by Ohio State University Press.

Biographical / historical:

On September 29, 1972 , Arthur S. Guthrie, Joseph Coggins II, and fifty other African American inmates of the Georgia State Prison in Reidsville, Georgia, signed a four page in forma pauperis complaint to federal courts that led to the most detailed and comprehensive set of remedial decrees ever imposed on a single prison facility. Judge Anthony A. Alaimo of the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia officially sanctioned the lawsuit, which has been variously titled Guthrie vs. MacDougall, Guthrie v. Caldwell, Guthrie v. Ault, and Guthrie vs. Evans. Judge Alaimo's decision was the catalyst for changes in prison sanitation, food preparation, temperature control, fire control, industries, and ventilation in the prison system. He also mandated inmate classification, racial desegregation, overcrowding restrictions, security segregation, disciplinary procedures, grievance procedures, religious freedoms, security, safety, visitation privileges, law library access, exercise privileges, rehabilitation, educational programs, and medical, dental, and mental health programs (Department of Offender Rehabilitation, 1982). Judge Alaimo concluded nearly thirteen years' involvement in Guthrie with a final injunctive order on June 26, 1985.

Arrangement:

The collection is divided into three series, I. Transcripts, II. Hearings and Interrogatories, and III. Addendum. Each series is arranged chronologically.

Access and use restrictions

Terms of access:

Library acts as "fair use" reproduction agent.

Before material from collections at the Richard B. Russell Library may be quoted in print, or otherwise reproduced, in whole or in part, in any publication, permission must be obtained from (1) the owner of the physical property, and (2) the holder of the copyright. It is the particular responsibility of the researcher to obtain both sets of permission. Persons wishing to quote from materials in the Russell Library collection should consult the Director. Reproduction of any item must contain a complete citation to the original.

Preferred citation:

Guthrie vs. Evans: Georgia State Prison Research Files, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia, 30602-1641.