<P> One official described Auburn's discipline as "tak (ing) measures for convincing the felon that he is no longer his own master; no longer in a condition to practice deceptions in idleness; that he must learn and practice diligently some useful trade, whereby, when he is let out of the prison to obtain an honest living ." Inmates were permitted no intelligence of events on the outside . In the words of an early warden, Auburn inmates were "to be literally buried from the world ." The institution's regime remained largely intact until after the Civil War . </P> <P> Auburn was the second state prison built in New York State . The first, Newgate, located in present - day Greenwich Village in New York City, contained no solitary cells beyond a few set aside for "worst offenders ." Its first keeper, Quaker Thomas Eddy, believed rehabilitation of the criminal was the primary end of punishment (though Eddy also believed that his charges were "wicked and depraved, capable of every atrocity, and ever plotting some means of violence and escape .") Eddy was not inclined to rely on prisoners' fear of his severity; his "chief disciplinary weapon" was solitary confinement on limited rations, he forbade his guards from striking inmates, and permitted "well - behaved" inmates to have a supervised visit with family once every three months . Eddy made largely unsuccessful efforts to establish profitable prison labor programs, which he had hoped would cover incarceration costs and provide seed money for inmates' re-entry into society in the form of the "overstint"--i.e., a small portion of the profits of an inmate's labor while incarcerated, payable at his or her release . Discipline nevertheless remained hard to enforce, and major riots occurred in 1799 and 1800--the latter only subdued via military intervention . Conditions continued to worsen in the wake of the riots, especially during a crime wave that followed the War of 1812 . </P> <P> New York legislators set aside funds for construction of the Auburn prison to address the disappointments of Newgate and alleviate its persistent overcrowding . Almost from the outset, Auburn officials, with the consent of the legislature, eschewed the "humane" style envisioned by Thomas Eddy for Newgate . Floggings of up to thirty - nine lashes in duration as punishment for disciplinary infractions were permitted under an 1819 state law, which also authorized the use of the stocks and the irons . The practice of providing convicts with some of the proceeds of their labor at the time of release, the "overstint," was discontinued . The severity of the new regime likely caused another series of riots in 1820, after which the legislature formed a New York State Prison Guard for putting down future disturbances . </P> <P> Officials also began implementing a classification system at Auburn in the wake of the riots, dividing inmates into three groups: (1) the worst, who were placed on constant solitary lockdown; (2) middling offenders, who were kept in solitary and worked in groups when well - behaved; and (3) the "least guilty and depraved," who were permitted to sleep in solitary and work in groups . Construction on a new solitary cell block for category (1) inmates ended in December 1821, after which these "hardened" offenders moved into their new home . Within a little over a year, however, five of these men had died of consumption, another forty - one were seriously ill, and several had gone insane . After visiting the prison and seeing the residents of the new cell block, Governor Joseph C. Yates was so appalled by their condition that he pardoned several of them outright . </P>

How has the correctional system evolved over time