The cell was cold and sleeping mattresses were allowed only at night. The general inmate population feared this extreme form of punishment for its intolerable isolation and severe boredom (Alcatraz.com).

             Literature Review.

             Wikipedia. Parole, 2006. Media Wiki. http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parole_(law).

             This source describes parole as the supervised release of a prisoner before the completion of his or her sentence and differentiates it from amnesty and commutation of sentence. A parolee is still serving a sentence and can be sent back to prison if he fails to adjust to society. The court, which has jurisdiction over the parolee, fixes the nature and time required before a prisoner becomes eligible for parole, such as "15 to 25 years" or "15 years to life." A parole with a specific time for serving a sentence is the indeterminate type, while a life sentence without the possibility of parole is determinate.

             In most states, a parole is granted, not merely on the basis of good conduct while in prison but also on the workability of the temporary freedom, such as a permanent residence and useful and immediate employment or some other visible means of self-support. The grant requires the parolee's agreement to the terms, including periodic meetings with the parole officer or community corrections agent who evaluates the parolee's behavior and if the terms are being met or have become unnecessary to protect society. In 2002, the US Department of Justice said that approximately 45% of parolees had successfully served their sentence, 41% returned to prison and 9% absconded. On account of the relatively unchanged statistics since 1995, the DOJ abolished parole for violent felons as the federal government did for all convicts of federal crime in 1984. Despite the decline in jurisdictions granting parole, the average annual increase in the number of parolees went up by around 1.5% a year from 1995 to 2002.