Tucker telephone
Encyclopedia
The Tucker telephone is a torture
device designed using parts from an old-fashioned crank telephone
. The electric generator of the telephone is wired in sequence to two dry cell batteries so that the instrument can be used to administer electric shocks to another person. The Tucker telephone was invented by Dr. A. E. Rollins; the "resident physician" at the Tucker State Prison Farm, Arkansas
, in the 1960s.
At the Tucker State Prison Farm, an inmate would be taken to the "hospital room" where he was most likely restrained to an examining table and two wires would be applied to the prisoner. The ground wire was wrapped around the big toe and the "hot wire" (the wire that administers the current of electricity) would be applied to the genitals. The crank on the phone would then be turned, and an electrical current would shoot into the prisoner's body. Continuing with the telephone euphemisms, 'long-distance calls' referred to several such charges, just before the point of losing consciousness. Often the victim would suffer from detrimental effects, mainly permanent organ damage and insanity. Its use was substantiated until 1968.
The Tucker telephone is also sometimes referred to as Radio Moscow. There are scattered reports from American Vietnam war
veterans that field phones were occasionally converted into Tucker telephones which were used by platoon commanders to torture Viet Cong prisoners.
A version of the device is used on a prisoner in the Robert Redford
film Brubaker
.
Seth B. Goldsmith, SCD, author of "The Status of Prison Care" for Health Care and the Poor, said "The Tucker telephone not only shocked the penises of the allegedly uncooperative and incorrigible prison-farm inmates of the Arkansas penal system, but it shocked the consciousness of the nation and awakened it to the atrocious conditions inside prisons."
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
device designed using parts from an old-fashioned crank telephone
Telephone magneto
A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce alternating current. Owing to their simplicity and reliability, they were widely used in early telephone systems.- Telegraphy :...
. The electric generator of the telephone is wired in sequence to two dry cell batteries so that the instrument can be used to administer electric shocks to another person. The Tucker telephone was invented by Dr. A. E. Rollins; the "resident physician" at the Tucker State Prison Farm, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, in the 1960s.
At the Tucker State Prison Farm, an inmate would be taken to the "hospital room" where he was most likely restrained to an examining table and two wires would be applied to the prisoner. The ground wire was wrapped around the big toe and the "hot wire" (the wire that administers the current of electricity) would be applied to the genitals. The crank on the phone would then be turned, and an electrical current would shoot into the prisoner's body. Continuing with the telephone euphemisms, 'long-distance calls' referred to several such charges, just before the point of losing consciousness. Often the victim would suffer from detrimental effects, mainly permanent organ damage and insanity. Its use was substantiated until 1968.
The Tucker telephone is also sometimes referred to as Radio Moscow. There are scattered reports from American Vietnam war
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
veterans that field phones were occasionally converted into Tucker telephones which were used by platoon commanders to torture Viet Cong prisoners.
A version of the device is used on a prisoner in the Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
film Brubaker
Brubaker
Brubaker is an American 1980 film about a prison in distress and the Warden Henry Brubaker who attempts to reform the system....
.
Seth B. Goldsmith, SCD, author of "The Status of Prison Care" for Health Care and the Poor, said "The Tucker telephone not only shocked the penises of the allegedly uncooperative and incorrigible prison-farm inmates of the Arkansas penal system, but it shocked the consciousness of the nation and awakened it to the atrocious conditions inside prisons."