Miracle at Sing Sing

"From the riotous days of Prohibition and the Jazz Age to the brutal awakening of Pearl Harbor, one man ruled the fate of America's most dangerous criminals. He was Lewis E. Lawes, warden of Sing Sing prison, the Big House up the river, who believed that no man was beyond redemption. Warden Lawes couldn't banish the electric chair (though he tried) but he knew that humanitarian care and good morale provided better security than the stoutest walls." "Lawes befriended the Hollywood greats, Charlie Chaplin, Humphrey Bogart, Spencer Tracy, and Harry Warner, opening Sing Sing to the movies and exposing prisoners to the glamour of the silver screen. He brought Babe Ruth to Sing Sing, fielded a winning football team called The Black Sheep that brought gridiron glory to the circuit known as the Big Pen, and ran training shops, school classes and culture programs." "Truly, Warden Lawes made Sing Sing sing." "But Lawes was no pushover. He brought law to Sing Sing, a tale that comes alive in the hands of New York Times reporter Ralph Blumenthal." "Lawes killed on orders from the state, consigning 303 condemned men and women to the electric chair. But he crusaded fiercely against the death pen