Lawbreakers have no place in the society today. Prisons have been established for people who commit criminal and civil offences. There are two types of prison systems, which include the federal and the state prison systems. However, research done indicates that there are more criminals in the state prisons than there are in the federal prisons.
The reason behind is the jurisdiction of the federal system which deals with laws governing the constitution of the United States, U.S treaties, federal statues, regulations, and common law. This paper seeks to discuss and compare the prisons that Michael Milken and Manuel Noriega were incarcerated and the problems experienced in those prisons. It shall also compare and contrast the characteristics of the aforementioned two individuals.
Michael Milken is one of the renowned American financiers and philanthropists. Born in 1946, Michael played a significant role in the development of a market for junk bonds in the 1970s and 1980s. However, Michael was found guilty of violating the securities laws of the United States (Kornbluth, 1992).
In this, Michael had practiced insider trading thus creating fraud in the securities market. He pleaded guilty of the offence and was fined $600 million and sentenced to ten years in the Federal Correctional Institution in Calif (Kornbluth, 1992). It was joked that Michael made his fortune in insider trading and now he would be inside a prison for ten years.
The Federal Correctional Institution was a prison different from others because it lacked a fence and the guards were unarmed. In most cases, prisons have brick wall fences that have electric wires installed and a 24-hour guard under surveillance. In addition to this, the prisoners had no uniform thus could wear anything they wanted. The prison had a jogging trail and just like any other prison, food offered in Federal Correctional Institution was not appealing.
Manuel Noriega on the other hand born in 1934 in Panama City was an engineer by profession. However, five years after graduating as an engineer, Manuel underwent intelligence and counterintelligence training at Fort Gulick.
Thereafter, Manuel took a psychological operations course in North Carolina before his commissioning in 1967. In 1968, Manuel was promoted to the post of a lieutenant (Ernst, n.d, p.1). While working with the central intelligence authority (CIA) in 1989, he was indicted with federal drug charges thus sent to the U.S Penitentiary, Marion III prison.
Marion prison is one of the worst prisons in America. In fact, Amnesty International criticized it for its hardship. Prisoners in Marion are normally put in a cramped cell spending about 23 hours a day in solitary. Prisoners sleep on a mattress placed on a concrete slab. Unlike other prisoners, prisoners in Marion have a radio and a 12-inch black and white television set, which they spend most of the time listening and watching respectively.
Unfortunately, most of the radio and television sets are out or order. This implies that the unlucky prisoners lack entertainment thus being bored. Additionally, Marion prison does not have a dining hall forcing prisoners to eat in their cells. Just like the Federal Correctional Institution prison where Michael Milken served his term, food in Marion Prison is pathetic.
From the above discussion, it can be clearly depicted that the two individuals were of different character and behavior. While Michael Milken pleaded guilty of his offence, Manuel gave the American government a hard time to capture him. In fact, Manuel’s arrest went on record to become one of the deadliest arrest missions in the American history (Ernst, n.d, p.1).
Reference List
Ernst, C. (n.d). The Manuel Noriega Trial (1991): Selected Links & Bibliography. Web.
Kornbluth, J. (1992). Highly Confident: The Crime and Punishment of Michael Milken. New York City: William Morrow and Company.