The idea of reopening Alcatraz for what Trump termed as punishment for the country’s “most ruthless and violent” criminals should not be viewed in isolation. It calls for a broader reckoning with why such carceral relics were created in the first place and why their logic persists.
Alcatraz was designed to be the ultimate deterrent, embodying the harshest aspects of the U.S. penal system as a symbol of punitive excess. Yet it was historically ineffective: The prison’s closure in 1963 was due to high operational costs and its failure to rehabilitate inmates, suggesting that its model was unsustainable and ineffective.