Redeeming Imprisonment: Religion and the Development of Mass Incarceration in Florida by Cyrus J. O’Brien A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Anthropology and History) in the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 2018 Doctoral Committee: Professor Matthew Lassiter, Chair Associate Professor Stephen Berrey Professor Paul C. Johnson Professor Stuart Kirsch Professor Heather Ann Thompson Cyrus J. O’Brien [email protected] [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0003-0620-0938 © Cyrus J. O’Brien 2018 Acknowledgements Acknowledgements are the first thing I read when I pick up a book or browse through a dissertation, and they always put me in a good mood. I love the ways they speak to networks of camaraderie, convey thanks to amazing mentors, pay homage to intellectual genealogies, acknowledge long-lasting relationships to people and places, situate the author institutionally, and celebrate friendships and other joys of life. Like many dissertation writers, I have many relationships to celebrate and much to be grateful for. What follows is a woefully inadequate message of thanks. First and foremost, I thank the people who helped with this research whom I am unable to name. Scores of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people helped me figure out what was happening in Florida prisons, and I am indebted to each of them. I also want to thank the many volunteers and prison staff who generously talked with me, answered my questions, and helped me understand their work and lives. I particularly want to thank the handful of men at Wakulla who transcended the roles of “research participants” to become my friends and collaborators. I truly enjoyed my time with you, and your insights and “suggestions for further reading” are woven through the whole of this manuscript. More broadly, your generosity, perseverance, and determination to live your lives with dignity whatever the circumstances inspire me and represent ii the best of human potential. I have learned so much from you, and your presences in my life are great blessings. Wow. I could not have imagined—and could never have expected—to work with such a fantastic committee. Each member has brought invaluable advice, expertise, perspective, and friendship. Since my first semester at Michigan, Stephen Berrey helped me cultivate writerly voices and dispositions and I especially thank him for his help in the past six months thinking through the implications of the project. Paul Johnson deserves much of the credit for getting me to think creatively and expansively about religion. Stuart Kirsch is a model for the engaged scholar I aspire to be, and his encouragement to be persistent during the early months of fieldwork before I had access to archives or fieldsites was pivotal. Heather Thompson’s encouragement gave me the courage to write about religion in the criminal justice system and brought clarity to a murky project. Matthew Lassiter has had a profound impact on my thinking, teaching, and intellectual being. I’m still trying to figure out how he does it, but he always seems to know when to push, support, question, challenge, and champion his students and their work. Matt, thank you. I also thank Alaina Lemon, Jason De Leon, Deidre de la Cruz, Gillian Feeley-Harnik, Matthew Countryman, Webb Keane, Bruce Manheim, Hakem Al-Rustom, John Carson, Geoff Eley, Kali Israel, Judy Irvine, Andrew Shryock, Damani Partridge, and Liz Roberts for advancing this project through their teaching and generous conversations. I am fortunate to be intellectually in the wake of Lorna Rhodes, Charles Bright, and Ethan Blue; I am even more indebted to them for their feedback and considered commentary. All three read portions of this dissertation or a related article, and the manuscript and arguments are stronger for their interventions. Thank you. iii I have benefited from a wealth of institutional support. This research would not have been possible without generous funding from the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Charlotte Newcombe Foundation, and the Rackham Graduate School at the University of Michigan. A summer grant from the Anti-Discrimination Center in 2012 significantly influenced my research trajectory and I owe the ADC a special thanks. I am also indebted to the Graduate Employees’ Organization at the University of Michigan for ensuring my access to health care and a living wage. Thanks also to the leadership and members of the Teamsters and the Greater Detroit Building and Construction Trades Council and many members of the Lecturers’ Employee Organization; American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; and the University of Michigan Skilled Trades Union who supported GEO during contract negotiations: We owe you one. Rosanne Crompton and Marcy Boughton literally kept me running through the whole process. Kathleen King and Diana Denny provided instrumental help and guidance as I learned to navigate the University; the external funding in my first year would never have materialized if not for a chance encounter with Diana in the kitchen and her knowledge of the existence of a letter in a file. I am indebted to Steve Volk, who, at Oberlin College, taught me the historian’s craft with incredible generosity and with a love for teaching and learning. Much of this dissertation is based on research in archives and in physical settings where access can be a significant challenge. I am extraordinarily grateful to the people who opened doors to me at the Florida Department of Corrections, the Florida Commission on Offender Review (formerly the Parole Commission), the Salvation Army, Christian Prison Ministries, Inc., and other institutions. I thank in particular David Ensley, Jan MacMahon, John McMahon, Ilse Yost, Newland Smith, Lori Constantino-Brown, Charles Brown, Jim Williams, Michael Manguso, Allison DeFoor, Louie Wainwright, Jack Murphy, and Tina Pate. I also thank Mary iv Donnelly and Mary Ramirez at the University of Michigan’s Institutional Review Board for their incredible help in navigating a sometimes tricky approval process. The state of Florida is a better place because of the work of wonderful archivists and librarians at the State Archives and the State Library. Thanks especially to Miriam Spalding, Anya Grosenbaugh, James “Hendry” Miller, and Blake Robinson; their expertise strengthened this project immeasurably. I owe an enormous debt to Sarah Rumph who, as General Counsel of the Parole Commission, jumped through hoops to make me an intern of her office to provide me unprecedented access to the state’s records. Sarah is as big a champion of open government as she is a kind and generous person. I am blessed to count her and her husband Jerry as friends. I have enjoyed so many wonderful and intellectually stimulating times in Ann Arbor. I especially thank Brady G’sell, Aaron Seaman, Aaron Michka, Georgia Ennis, Gurveen Khurana, Anna McCourt, Jessica Hill, Obed Garcia, Prash Naidu, Haydar Darici, Scott De Orio, Davide “Little Bears” Orsini, Farida Begum, Bruno Renero-Hannan, Ronit Stahl, Austin McCoy, Nora Krinitsky, Andrew Rutledge, Joost van Eynde, Sofie van Gestle, Lori Roddy, Nishita Trisal, Jessica Lowen, Walker Elliot, and many more. Randeep Hothi was a generous collaborator who read drafts of several chapters. Josh Mound saved my graduate career before it began, then he and Shannon McLeod became dear friends. Robyn d’Avignon, Ismail Alatas, and Kimberly Powers were enormously helpful as a navigated the landscapes of grants and jobs, and Dan Birchok has been my rock of molten lava. (I don’t know what that means exactly, but he thinks it sounds cool. And Dan truly is awesome.) Katie Taylor and David Organes brought joy and camaraderie to my time in Tallahassee, and Leisa Peach warmly welcomed me into her home. In Yogyakarta, I shared great music, wonderful food, and an inordinate number of laughs with Rustiyadi, Nike Parandyani, Szu-Han “Queeny” Liang, and Yan, Maverick, and Calista v Setiawan. I enjoyed great times in many places with Jake Grossman, Nils Fischer, and Brian Youngblood. I am indebted to many colleagues and mentors in the world of criminal justice reform. Deborrah Brodsky has been an amazing mentor. Our collaborations now span eight years and they are some of the work I am proudest of. I owe Deb much of the credit for the parts of this dissertation that are politically relevant and I am incredibly grateful to be in her orbit. Danielle Lipow’s decision to hire me ten years ago was one of the luckiest things to happen in my career. In the time since, Danielle and Zoe Savitsky have become sisters to me. I aspire to their moral groundedness and their abilities to make critical and nuanced distinctions amid the chaos of American criminal and juvenile justice systems. I learned many of the ins and outs of prisons from David Utter while we investigated juvenile prisons in Florida. I also am indebted to Bart Lubow, Nate Balis, Richard Doran, Rachel Gassert, Allison DeFoor, and Simone Marstiller for their support and friendship. I feel immense gratitude towards Emma Nolan-Thomas. Throughout the research and writing, she has lovingly challenged me to hold fast to my convictions and to question my preconceptions. She has listened to more talk about halfway houses than anyone ever should, and she has turned muddled thoughts to insight and brought clarity to confusing formulations. Thanks, Yem. This dissertation is Round One in a lifelong series of collaborations with people who have grown dear to my heart, and with others whom I will meet in other ports of call. All the mistakes are my own. I am profoundly grateful for the relationships this work has brought into my life and I am looking forward to exciting futures.