Corrections_Today_Spring_2025_Vol.87_No.1

BOOKSHELF

case study of professional prison management even for contemporary Corrections. Boxing historians and hard-core fans will find Rahway’s boxing program fascinating. Hatrak befriended notables in the boxing industry, such as “Jersey Joe” Walcott (former heavy-weight Champion and Commissioner of New Jersey Boxing Commission at the time) and Dr. Fredie Pacheco (Boxing Great Muhammad Ali’s Physician) as resources in his prison boxing program. He selected Inmate James Scott, who learned boxing in prison and had been a successful professional boxer while on parole before he returned on a new criminal offense, to head the program. Another graduate of the program was future WBC World Champion and Hall of Fame Boxer Dwight Muhammad Qawi. Boxing promoter Murad Muhammad (another associate of Ali’s) managed to arrange an HBO covered light-heavy weight match between Scott and the number one contender for the WBA title, Eddie Gregory (later know as Eddie Mustafa Muhammad). The fight was conducted in the prison, in October 1978, and 500 outside visitors attended (Scott won the fight). Scott went on to fight seven publicly and nationally televised fights at Rahway Prison. Boxing great Sugar Ray Leonard and famed Commentator Larry Merchant attended the fights. Hatrak wrote: “It felt we were in the heart of Madison Square Garden, not inside a prison” (p. 269). I highly recommend this book to both the Correctional and Boxing communities. Regarding

boxing purportedly an unsuited or unsavory program for inmates, it is worth nothing that Minnesota Department of Corrections recently introduced a tattoo training program, another purportedly unsuited or unsavory program for inmates, in one of its maximum security prisons (Zdechlik, 2023). Like the Hatrak’s boxing program, Minnesota’s tattoo program is also centered as a job training skill trade for inmates when they are released to the community. Perhaps, Warden Hatrak was ahead of his time. Ultimately, “Not on my Watch” is a story about the resilience of the human spirit of one man, overcoming physical injuries, perseverance in the face of adversity, and his recognition of humanity’s willingness to change. In the forward, Tris Dixon suggested that Hatrak’s journey should be a Netflix movie. I wholeheartedly agree! Hatrak states it best: “It would take an awful lot of future happenings under the Dome to top the Escorts, the Lifers’ Group (Scared Straight!), the Boxing Association, and the Boxing Trades Vocational Program” (p. 268). His tenure at New Jersey Department of Corrections deserves the rare distinction of being referred to as the “Hatrak era” – in the most positive way. CT REFERENCES: Martinson, Robert (1974). “What Works? — Questions and Answers about Prison Reform.” Public Interest 35, pp. 22-54. Zdechlik, Mark (2023) “Stillwater State Prison to open Tattoo Parlor, Technician Training Program.” MPR News . https://www.mprnews. org/story/2023/10/09/stillwater-state-prison to-open-tattoo-parlor-job-training-program (October 9, 2023).

Mark Your Calendars! Join us for future ACA Winter Conferences and Congresses of Correction! 155 th Congress of Correction Denver, CO Aug. 21–26, 2025 2026 Winter Conference Long Beach, CA Feb. 5–10, 2026 156 th Congress of Correction Pittsburgh, PA Aug. 20-–23, 2026 2027 Winter Conference Phoenix, AZ Jan. 7–10, 2027

Spring 2025 | Corrections Today

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