After Half A Century, Inmates Resurrect The Norfolk Prison Debating Society

 
Credit: Yale Joel / Getty Images

Credit: Yale Joel / Getty Images

Half a century ago, a team of inmates in a Massachusetts prison held an outstanding record on the academic debate circuit. By 1966 the Norfolk Prison Debating Society boasted 144 wins and only eight losses. They won and lost against Harvard, MIT, Princeton and the like. But when a more punitive approach to prisons swept across the U.S., the debate team was dissolved. Until now.