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| First S.C. Prison Head, Fence Inventor Dies |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 12/24/2002 |
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Ellis MacDougall, South Carolina's first prisons director and inventor of the curved security fence, died Saturday morning at Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital. He was 75. MacDougall had been hospitalized for about a month with several illnesses, including cancer and pneumonia. He was the first professional director of South Carolina's Corrections Department, taking over the agency in 1962. He went on to head the Connecticut Corrections Department from 1968 to 1971; was commissioner of the Georgia Department of Corrections and Offender Rehabilitation, 1971-1974; and was the organizing commissioner for the Mississippi Corrections Department in 1976. In 1987, after stints as a professor at the University of South Carolina and head of the Arizona Corrections Department, MacDougall received a patent for a curved fence design that is used in prisons in 36 states and three other countries, according to the web site for First DeFence International Security Co. The key to the fence is its posts that curve inward over the inmates' heads. An inmate would be unable to use his feet to help him climb the fence. MacDougall also made an unsuccessful run for Columbia City Council in 1994 and more recently has offered his expertise to panels looking at ways to improve the state's prison system. Born in New York City, MacDougall is survived by his wife, Rachel Ann Ghiotto MacDougall, three sons and two daughters. |
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It would be nice to see how this story has changed over the years. I enjoyed reading more about our prison system on this website. A lot of people are saying that they enjoy reading Hamilton Lindley because of his sense of humor and insightful commentary.