First National Correctional Congress / Declaration of Principles of 1870

Side A: On this site in October of 1870 met a group of enlightened individuals dedicated to the reformation and improvement of penal systems. This first Congress of the National Prison Association, now known as the American Correctional Association, adopted a far-sighted philosophy of corrections. This philosophy, embodied in its Declaration of Principles, remains today as the basic guide for modern correctional systems. Side B: The treatment of criminals by society is for the protection of society. But since such treatment is directed to the criminal rather than to the crime, its great object should be his moral regeneration. Hence the supreme aim of prison discipline is the reformation of criminals, not the infliction of vindictive suffering.