Military prison
1505096
222145610
2008-06-27T19:48:52Z
206.40.112.227
/* See also */
{{sources|date=January 2008}}
A '''military prison''' is a [[prison]] operated by the [[military]]. Military prisons are used variously to house [[prisoners of war]], [[enemy combatants]], those whose freedom is deemed a [[national security]] risk by military or civilian authorities, and members of the military found guilty of a serious crime. Thus military prisons are of two types: penal, for punishing and attempting to reform criminals within the military, and confinement-oriented, where captured enemies are confined for military reasons until hostilities cease.
==Military jail==
[[Image:Brig.JPG||thumb|right|The brig aboard the U.S. Navy [[aircraft carrier]] [[USS Yorktown (CV-10)|USS ''Yorktown'' (CV-10)]]]]
Most militaries have some sort of [[military police]] unit operating at the divisional level or below to perform many of the same functions as civilian police, from traffic-control to the arrest of violent offenders and the supervision of detainees and [[prisoner of war|prisoners-of-war]].
The [[US military]] equivalent to the civilian jail, in the sense of "holding area" or "place of brief incarceration for petty crimes" is known colloquially as the '''guardhouse''' or '''stockade''' by the army and air forces, and the '''brig''' by naval forces. US military forces currently maintain several regional prisoner holding facilities in the US; see [[list of U.S. military prisons]] for names and locations.
For [[Israel Defense Forces]] jails, see [[Israeli military prison]].
The [[United Kingdom|British]] have only one very large military prison (known as the Glasshouse, in the town of [[Colchester]]) where all servicemen (and [[women]]) who are convicted by military courts and sentenced to more than 28 days will be [[incarcerated]]. Women, although in the same prison, are kept separate from men, this prison is maintained and controlled by the British Army's Military Provost Staff (Adjutant General's Corps).
In Italy only one military jail now exists in [[Santa Maria Capua Vetere]]. Under Italian law, only those in government service (Army, Navy, Air Force, [[Guardia di Finanza]] and [[Carabinieri]]) who are under investigation in front of a military court or are sentenced to the penalty of [[Reclusione Militare]] by a military or civil court are held there. Those serving in the police corps ([[Polizia di Stato]], [[Polizia Penitenziaria]], [[Corpo Forestale dello Stato]]) are also held in military jail.
==Military convicts==
{{globalize/USA}}
Many nations have a separate legal system for members of the armed forces; in the United States, this differential treatment seems to be suggested, but by no means mandated, by the Founding Fathers in the Fifth Amendment to its constitution. Members of the US armed forces are subject to the [[Uniform Code of Military Justice]]. Military convicts convicted by courts martial and sentenced to seven or more years' confinement end up at the [[United States Disciplinary Barracks]] at [[Fort Leavenworth]], [[Kansas]]. Military convicts who received sentences of less than seven years are confined at various regional confinement facilities operated by the U.S. Military both in the continental United States and abroad. In former times, criminals in the naval services, including those convicted of [[sodomy]], were sent to the once-infamous [[Portsmouth Naval Prison]] [http://www.geocities.com/nhfortress/Fort_Sullivan/history.html], which was closed in [[1974]].
==Incarceration of prisoners of war==
The [[Geneva Conventions]] provides an international protocol defining minimum requirements and safeguards for prisoners of war. In reality, many of these protocols are often ignored, especially more recent ones mandating the payment of a daily wage.
Prisoners are often kept in ad-hoc camps near the battlefield, guarded by MP's (military police) until they can be transferred to more permanent barracks for the duration of the conflict.
Treatment of prisoners-of-war has varied from age to age and nation to nation, the quality of conditions for prisoners often linked with the intensity of the conflict and the resources of the warring parties.
==Military prisons in popular culture==
Military prisons and the treatment of military prisoners have often figured prominently in modern literature, cinema and even politics. In the 19th century, written accounts of the barbaric treatment accorded prisoners on both sides during the Napoleonic and Crimean wars helped lead to the founding of the [[Red Cross]] and the promulgation of the [[Geneva Conventions]].
===Hollywood===
There are numerous examples of 20th and 21st-century cinema dealing with military prisons, including ''[[Hart's War]]'' (2002), starring [[Bruce Willis]] and [[Colin Farrell]] as American POW's in a German prison camp, continuing in a cinematic vein begun by ''[[Stalag 17]]'' (1953). ''Stalag 17'' portrays the struggles of a group of American airmen in a German [[Luftwaffe]] prison to deal with the poverty and drudgery of captivity and to help select members escape to freedom while dealing with a hostile commandant who has planted a spy in their midst. Based on the play by Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski, this movie is widely considered the break-out role for American actor [[William Holden]].
''[[The Dirty Dozen]]'' (1967) with an all star cast features [[General]] [[Ernest Borgnine]] ordering [[Major]] [[Lee Marvin]] to recruit, train, and arm 12 convicted [[felon]]s sentenced to the [[death penalty]] or lengthy sentences to parachute into Occupied France prior to [[D-Day]] to assassinate German generals and their staff at a [[chalet]] used as a rest centre. The film takes satiric looks at the [[Regular Army]], military prisons, and the nature of war itself.
''[[The Caine Mutiny (film)|The Caine Mutiny]]'' (1954) starring [[Humphrey Bogart]], [[Fred MacMurray]] and [[Van Johnson]] dealt with the military legal system during World War II.
''[[The Hill (film)|The Hill]]'' (1965) starring [[Sean Connery]] was set in [[United Kingdom|British]] military penal camp in [[North Africa]] during [[World War II]].
''[[The Great Escape (film)|The Great Escape]]'' (1963), starred [[Steve McQueen]], [[James Garner]], [[James Coburn]], [[Richard Attenborough]]. Cameos included character actors [[Karl-Otto Alberty]] and [[Donald Pleasence]]. The film details the true-life adventures of a mixed group of Allied prisoners attempting to escape from a German Luftwaffe ''stalag'', while changing some of the details, including names and nationalities and compressing events into a single camp.
''[[Somebody Up There Likes Me]]'' (1956) features [[Paul Newman]] as an Army deserter and petty criminal who, with the encouragement of the athletic director at the above-mentioned Leavenworth Disciplinary Barracks uses boxing as means to deal with his restless energy and, eventually, to escape his life of crime and poverty and marry the girl of his dreams.
''[[Andersonville (film)|Andersonville]]'' (1996) and ''[[The Andersonville Trial]]'' (1970), both TV movies, dealt with the conditions at Andersonville Prison and its aftermath. [[George C. Scott]] directed and starred in the latter, along with [[William Shatner]]; the movie was based on an earlier play by [[Saul Levitt]], who worked on ''[[The Untouchables (1959 TV series)|The Untouchables]]'' TV series.
''[[The Last Castle]]'' (2001) shows [[Robert Redford]] as an important US Army General who is sent to a military prison after contradicting a direct order given by the [[Commander-in-Chief]]. Once in prison, he begins to gather the support of inmates, much to the despair of the director of the facility, a Colonel played by [[James Gandolfini]] who dislikes losing his authority to a convicted felon. [[Mark Ruffalo]] and [[Delroy Lindo]] also appear in the movie.
''[[The X-Files|X-Files]]'' character [[Fox Mulder|Special Agent Fox Mulder]] was arrested for the murder of a military man (later revealed to be a [[Colonist_(The_X-Files)#Super_Soldiers|supersoldier]]) in the 2002 episode, ''[[The Truth (The X-Files episode)|The Truth]]''. He was placed in a military prison awaiting trial.
===American literature===
Some of the late-20th-century military novels of American writer [[W.E.B. Griffin]] make mention of the former [[Portsmouth Naval Prison|Portsmouth Naval Prison]] facility. In ''Semper Fi'', Book I in ''The Corps'' series, the main character, Cpl. Ken McCoy finds himself assigned to a prisoner detail, which is riding on the same civilian train that McCoy is taking to his new post. The novel describes the pity that the young [[US Marine Corps|Marine]] feels for the unfortunate Portsmouth-bound sailors he has to guard, which include a small group of homosexuals, called "deviates" by the [[sergeant]]-of-the guard. Later in the same series, the [[corporal|corporal's]] own brother has a run-in with the military justice system for fighting and disorderly conduct.
== See also ==
*[[List of U.S. military prisons]]
*[[Glasshouse (British Army)]]
[[Category:Penal imprisonment]]
[[Category:Military justice]]
[[no:Vaktarrest]]