Franklin Lee Morris

1. Franklin Lee Morris By: Madison Hoffman Period 6

2. Franklin Lee Morris

3. Background • Born on September 1, 1926 • Lived in Washington, D.C. • Became an orphan at age 11 • Moved from foster home to foster home • Was in trouble with the law most of his life • Committed his first crime at the age of thirteen, which was theft • Was sent to the National Training School for Boys, a reform school, where he was taught to make shoes • He never stayed out of prison for long

4. Superior Intelligence • Frank Morris was known for being extremely smart • Had an I.Q. of 133 • That is the top 3% • Prison guards were aware of this fact and knew he was smart enough to escape

5. Crimes Committed • Early Crimes • Narcotics possession • Armed Robbery • Breaking and Entering • Burglary • Became known as a “professional inmate” to guards • Later Crimes • Breaking and Entering • Burglary • Bank Robbery • Armed Robbery • Runaways (2)/ Unlawful Flight

6. Bank Robbery • Sentenced to 14 years in prison • When in prison for his earlier crimes, Morris had escaped numerous times • His pattern of escapes became known as “shotgun freedom” • Federal officials decided that he would be unable to escape at Alcatraz Penitentiary • On January 18, 1960, Frank Lee Morris became prisoner #AZ-1441 at Alcatraz

7. The Great Escape • Along with John and Clarence Anglin and Allen West, Morris planned an escape from Alcatraz • The plan was extremely complex and involved making dummies and rafts and carving a hole in the cement wall, which was to be done over two years • On the night of June 11, 1962, Morris and the Anglin brothers set up their dummies and then climbed through their holes in the wall, making it to the water and escaping from Alcatraz

8. Morris’ Dummy Head for Escape Morris’ Cell

9. What happened to Morris? • Franklin Lee Morris has never been found since his escape from Alcatraz in 1962 • His status is that he is missing and he is presumed dead • However, many people believe he is still alive since there is no evidence of his death • He would be 86 years old today An age enhanced photo of what Morris would look like today -

10. For my project, I studied Franklin Lee Morris. He is a criminal who repeatedly committed crimes and never stayed out of prison for long. After learning about Morris’ early life and his involvement in crime from an early age, I believe that the best Sociological Theory of Deviance to explain Morris’ deviant behavior is the Differential-Association Theory. From age thirteen, Frank Morris was in and out of reform schools and soon enough, prison. Based on the theory, criminal behavior is learned through interaction with others, where the criminal learns techniques, attitudes and motives from other prisoners. This seems as if it best describes Frank Morris’ deviant behavior because when he was young and in reform school, he was the one being taught these acts, and when he was in prison and in Alcatraz, he was the one teaching other criminals. The Differential-Association Theory is the best sociological theory to explain Frank Morris’ deviant behaviors.