Supermax

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For the band Supermax, see Supermax (band).

For the third book of the CHERUB series, see CHERUB.

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Supermax is the name used to describe "control-unit" prisons, or units within prisons, which represent the most secure levels of custody in some countries' prison systems.

1 History
2 Prisoner life
3 Controversy
4 Prisons with supermax facilities
- 4.1 United States
5 Maximum security prisons in other countries
6 Well-known supermax inmates
7 Books and media portraying maximum security units
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

[edit] History

An early form of supermax-style prison unit appeared in Australia in 1975, when "Katingal" was built inside the Long Bay Correctional Centre in Sydney. Dubbed the "electronic zoo" by inmates, "Katingal" was a super-maximum prison block with 40 prison cells having electronically-operated doors, surveillance cameras, and no windows. It was closed down two years later over human rights concerns, and was finally demolished in late 2006.

The term "supermax", however, originated in the United States as a contraction of "super-maximum," and the concept developed from the 23-year lockdown of the U.S. Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois. The lockdown, which began in 1983 and lasted until September 2006, was initiated when two corrections officers at that prison were murdered by inmates in two separate incidents on the same day. Since then, some maximum security prisons have gone to full lockdown as well, while others have been built and dedicated to the Supermax standard.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons solitary confinement units are known as Special Housing Units (SHU).^[1]

There is a nationwide trend in the United States to downgrade Supermax prisons, as has been done with the infamous Wallens Ridge State Prison, a former-supermax prison in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. Other Supermax prisons that have gained notoriety for their harsh conditions and attendant litigation by inmates and advocates are the former Boscobel (in Wisconsin), now named the Wisconsin Secure Program Facility, Red Onion (in Western Virginia, the twin to Wallens Ridge), Tamms (in Illinois), and the Ohio State Penitentiary. Placement policies at the Ohio facility were recently the subject of a U.S. Supreme Court case (Wilkinson v. Austin) ^[2] where the Court decided that there had to be some, but only very limited, due process involved in Supermax placement.

There is only one supermax prison in the United States federal system, ADX Florence in Florence, Colorado. However, many states now have created supermax prisons; either as stand alone facilities, or as secure units within lower security prisons. State supermax prisons include Pelican Bay in California and Tamms in Illinois. The USP in Marion, Illinois, was recently downgraded to a medium security facility.

In September 2001, Australia opened a facility in the Goulburn Correctional Centre to the supermax standard. While its condition is an improvement over that of "Katingal" of the 1970s, this new facility is nonetheless designed on the same principle of sensory deprivation. It has been set up for 'AA' prisoners who are deemed a risk to national security, who, if allowed to mix with the general population, would be at risk of inciting terrorism.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Prisoner life

In SHU, prisoners are generally allowed out of their cells for only an hour a day; often they are kept in solitary confinement. They receive their meals through ports also known as "wickets" in the doors of their cells. When Supermax inmates are allowed to exercise, this may take place in a small, enclosed area where the prisoner will exercise alone.

Prisoners are under constant surveillance, usually with closed-circuit television cameras. Cell doors are usually opaque, while the cells may be windowless. Conditions are spartan, with poured concrete or metal furniture common. Often cell walls, and sometimes plumbing, are soundproofed to prevent communication between the inmates.

[edit] Controversy

Supermax and Security Housing Unit (SHU) prisons generate controversy, as some claim^[3] that the living conditions in such facilities violate the United States Constitution, specifically, the Eighth Amendment's proscription against "cruel and unusual" punishments. In 1996, a United Nations team assigned to investigate torture described SHU conditions as "inhuman and degrading".^[4]

A Supermax prison intended to fulfill such a role is the Federal ADMAX, or administrative maximum security, prison in Florence, Colorado, west of Pueblo. There, the U.S. government houses a number of convicted terrorists, gang leaders and similar prisoners; al-Qaeda terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui was sentenced to life without parole at Florence upon his conviction on May 4, 2006. Residents also include Theodore Kaczynski, a terrorist otherwise known as the Unabomber who once attacked via mail bombs, Robert Hanssen, American FBI Agent turned Soviet spy, Terry Nichols, an accomplice to the Oklahoma City bombing, and Richard Reid, an Islamic fundamentalist jailed for life for attempting to detonate explosive materials in his shoes while on board an aircraft.

[edit] Prisons with supermax facilities

[edit] United States

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Most of these facilities only contain supermax wings or sections, with other parts of the facility under lesser security measures.

U.S. Penitentiary Florence ADMAX (Administrative Maximum) Facility - Florence, Colorado (entirely Supermax)
United States Penitentiary - Marion, Illinois (Downgraded to a medium-security facility in September 2006)
Alcatraz Island - San Francisco, California (Closed March 21, 1962)
USP Tucson - Tucson, Arizona
Holman Correctional Facility - Atmore, Alabama
ASPC-Eyman, SMU II - Florence, Arizona
Varner Supermax - Grady, Arkansas
Pelican Bay State Prison - Crescent City, California
United States Penitentiary - Atwater, California
United States Penitentiary - Coleman, Florida
United States Penitentiary - Atlanta, Georgia
Tamms Correctional Center - Tamms, Illinois
Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, SHU - Carlisle, Indiana
Westville Correctional Facility, WCU - Westville, Indiana
United States Penitentiary - Terre Haute, Indiana
United States Penitentiary - Leavenworth, Kansas (being downgraded to medium security)
United States Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas (military prison)
Kentucky State Penitentiary, Eddyville, Kentucky
Maine State Prison - Warren, Maine
Maryland Correctional Adjustment Center - Baltimore, Maryland
Ionia Correctional Facility - Ionia, Michigan
Minnesota Correctional Facility - Oak Park Heights - Stillwater, Minnesota
Mississippi State Penitentiary - Parchman, Mississippi
Northern Correctional Institute - Somers, Connecticut
Florida State Prison - Raiford, Florida
United States Penitentiary - Allenwood, Pennsylvania
Sing Sing Correctional Facility - Ossining, New York
Ohio State Penitentiary - Youngstown, Ohio
Oklahoma State Penitentiary - McAlester, Oklahoma
United States Penitentiary - Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
Riverbend Maximum Security Institution - Nashville, Tennessee
Polunsky Unit - Livingston, Texas
United States Penitentiary - Beaumont, Texas
Utah State Prison - Draper, Utah
Wallens Ridge State Prison - Big Stone Gap, Virginia
Red Onion State Prison - Pound, Virginia
Mt. Olive Correctional Complex - Fayette County, West Virginia
Wisconsin Secure Program Facility - Boscobel, Wisconsin
North Branch Correctional Institution - Cumberland, Maryland (final housing unit will begin operation in summer of 2008)
New Hampshire State Prison - Men - Concord, New Hampshire
Massachusetts Correctional Institution - Cedar Junction - Walpole, Massachusetts
Attica Correctional Facility - Attica, New York
Upstate Correctional Facility - Malone, New York

[edit] Maximum security prisons in other countries

Portlaoise Prison (Portlaoise, Ireland) - one of the most secure prisons in Europe, protected full time by members of the Irish Defence Forces.
Al Hayer Prison (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)
Goulburn Correctional Centre (Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia)
Centro de Readaptação Provisória de Presidente Bernardes (Presidente Bernardes, São Paulo, Brazil) - inspired by the Supermax standards, although prisoners can only stay there for a maximum of 2 years.
HMP Belmarsh (London] - England) - its most notable residents are terrorists, including many of the alleged terrorists of the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot imprisoned there. It has been used to detain a number of people indefinitely without trial under the provisions of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001.
HMP Frankland - Durham - England - Maximum Security Prison with a special unit for prisoners suffering from Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorders.
Full Sutton (HM Prison) - York - England - Maximum Security Prison.
Long Lartin (HM Prison) - Worcestershire - United Kingdom - Maximum Security Prison.
Maghaberry (HM Prison) - Lisburn - Northern Ireland - Maximum Security Prison
Manchester (HM Prison) - Strangeways Manchester - England - Maximum Security.
HMP Shotts - Scotland - Maximum Security.
HMP Whitemoor - (March, Cambridgeshire - England) - houses up to 500 of the most dangerous criminals in the UK. It has a unit called the Close Supervision Centre which is referred to as a "Prison inside a Prison". Also home to a Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorder Unit.
HMP Wakefield - (Wakefield - England) - Maximum Security Prison with a Close Supervision Centre
Woodhill (HM Prison) - Milton Keynes - England - Maximum Security Prison with a Close Supervision Centre
Penitenciária Federal de Catanduvas (Catanduvas, Paraná, Brazil) - also based on the Supermax standards. It is the first federal prison in Brazil, designed to receive prisoners deemed too dangerous to be kept in the states' prison systems.
Penitenciária Federal de Campo Grande (Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil) - Abriga os mais perigosos presos do país, como Fernandinho Beira-Mar, o traficante colombiano Juan Carlos Ramírez Abadía e o bicheiro João Arcanjo.
Penitenciaría de Cómbita (Colombia) - follows supermax specifications, hosts terrorists and drug lords.
C Max (Pretoria, South Africa) - for violent and disruptive prisoners.
Casuarina Prison - Special Handling Unit (SHU) (Perth, Western Australia)
Kingston Penitentiary (Kingston, Ontario, Canada)
Extra Beveiligde Inrichting - Dutch High Security prison in Vught
Millhaven Institution (Bath, Ontario, Canada) - Houses Canadians being held by Security certificates.
Special Handling Unit (Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, Quebec, Canada) - Canada's highest-security super-maximum security prison.
Kamunting Detention Center - Located in Kamunting, Perak, Malaysia.

[edit] Well-known supermax inmates

Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber
Dandeny Muñoz Mosquera, former chief assassin for the Medellín Cartel of Colombia
Terry Nichols, conspirator in the Oklahoma City bombing
Richard Reid, the "shoe bomber"
Eric Robert Rudolph, abortion clinic and 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bomber
Carlos Lehder, Colombian cocaine trafficker, a founding member of the Medellín Cartel
Christopher "Rizler" William Smith "Minnesota spam king"
Zacarias Moussaoui, the alleged "20th hijacker" in the September 11, 2001 attacks. Spared the death penalty when it was determined he was not directly involved in the 9/11 attacks.
Ramzi Yusef, World Trade Center bomber
Robert Hanssen, American FBI Agent turned Soviet spy
Omar Abdel-Rahman, terrorist leader
Sammy Gravano, "The Bull", notable Mafia leader
John Walker Lindh, "American Taliban", interred at the Supermax prison for a short time, now currently serving his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, Terre Haute at Terre Haute, Indiana.^[5]
Christopher Boyce, Soviet spy (now released)
Jeff Fort, gang leader and attempted terrorist for Libya^[6]
Kenneth McGriff, American drug trafficker and organized crime figure. Subject of the book "Queens Reign Supreme", and basis of the fictional characters Nino Brown in the 1991 film New Jack City and Majestic in Get Rich or Die Tryin.
David Ayala, Infamous leader of Chicago's Gangster Two Six street gang.

[edit] Books and media portraying maximum security units

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

The Chamber (1994) by John Grisham, made into a film (1996) starring Gene Hackman and Chris O'Donnell
CHERUB: Maximum Security (2005) by Robert Muchamore
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (2004), a video game set within a futuristic prison facility that includes a supermax section
Dead Man Walking (1993) by Sister Helen Prejean, made into
- a film (1995) starring Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon
- an opera (2000), composed by Jake Heggie, and
- a play (2002), stage adaption by Tim Robbins
Face/Off (1997), starring John Travolta and Nicholas Cage
Ghosts... of the Civil Dead (1988, Australia) by John Hillcoat, starring Vincent Gil, Nick Cave, and Dave Mason
Going Up the River: Travels in a Prison Nation (2001), by Joseph T. Hallinan
The Green Mile serial novel (1996) by Stephen King, made into a film (1999) starring Tom Hanks
The Life of David Gale (2003) by Charles Randolph, starring Kate Winslet, Kevin Spacey and Laura Linney
Lost Highway (1997) by David Lynch, which briefly features a supermax cell where the protagonist is held
Prison Break (2005), a TV series, which revolves around a man who was sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit and his brother's elaborate plan to help him break out the prison.
Oz (1997–2003), an HBO TV series created by Tom Fontana and produced by Barry Levinson
Up the Ridge (2006), a TV documentary by Amelia Kirby and Nick Szuberla (Website)
Silence of the Lambs (1991), Hannibal Lecter is held in a supermax facility with glass instead of bars, and with no human contact (i.e nothing is handed directly to him, it is put in a deposit box.)
The Longest Yard featured a supermax facility
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit episode 189 (Svengali), Made reference to the ADMAX facility in Florence, Colorado.
Through the Wire (1990), documentary directed by Nina Rosunblum, narrated by Susan Sarandon and Dean Irby