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The ADX Florence facility from the outside
The ADX Florence facility from the outside

The United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Florence, CO. is a supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, USA. Supermax is the name used to describe "control-unit" Prisons or units within prisons which represent the most secure levels of A prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility is a place in which individuals are physically confined or interned and usually deprived of a range of The City of Florence is a Statutory City located in Fremont County, Colorado, United States. It is unofficially known as ADX Florence, Florence ADMAX, Supermax, or The Alcatraz of the Rockies. Alcatraz Island, sometimes informally referred to as simply Alcatraz or locally as the Rock, is a small island located in the middle of San Francisco Bay [1] It is operated by the federal government and is part of the Florence Federal Correctional Complex (FCC). The federal government of the United States is the central United States Governmental body established by the United States Constitution. The Florence Federal Correctional Complex, located in Florence Colorado, which is South of Denver and West of Pueblo on State Highway 67 ADX houses the prisoners who are deemed the most dangerous and in need of the tightest control.

Contents

History

ADX Florence was constructed as a response to the October 22, 1983, correctional officer killings at the United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois. Events 202 BC - Hannibal Barca, leader of the Carthaginians, is defeated by the Roman legions under Scipio Africanus Year 1983 ( MCMLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar) A corrections officer, correctional officer, detention officer, jail guard, prison guard, prison warder, or prison officer The United States Penitentiary is a medium-security Prison located in Marion, Illinois. Two inmates were able to independently kill their accompanying guards. Relatively lax security procedures allowed each prisoner, while walking down a hall, to turn to the side and approach a particular cell so an accomplice could subsequently unlock his handcuffs with a stolen key and provide him with a knife. Handcuffs are restraint devices designed to secure an individual's Wrists close together

As a result, the prison in Marion went into "permanent lockdown" and entirely transformed itself into a "control unit" prison. There are several definitions of the slang word lockdown, the most common of which pertains to a state of containment or a restriction of progression This penal construction and operation theory dictates that inmates remain in solitary confinement for 22–23 hours each day. Solitary confinement, colloquially referred to in American English as "the hole" or "the pound" (or in British English "the block" is a Punishment They do not allow communal dining, exercising, or religious services. These practices are used as administrative measures to keep prisoners under control.

Following the killings, Norman Carlson, then director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, successfully persuaded the federal government that a more secure type of prison needed to be designed. There was a need to isolate uncontrollable prisoners from both officers and each other for the sake of security and safety. Marion became a model for the subsequent construction of ADX Florence, a facility built specifically and entirely as a control unit prison.

ADX Florence was opened in November 1994. The residents in Florence's surrounding area, Fremont County, gladly welcomed the prison in a time of economic hardship. Fremont County is the thirteenth most populous of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. At the time, the county was already home to nine existing prisons. However, the lure of between 750 to 900 permanent jobs, in addition to another 1,000 temporary jobs during the prison's construction, led residents in the area to raise $160,000 to purchase 600 acres (2. 4 km²) for the new prison. Hundreds of people attended the groundbreaking. Construction of ADX Florence cost over $60 million.

The prison

ADX Florence is a federal prison, comprising a 37 acre, 490-bed complex at 5880 Highway 67, Florence, Colorado. It is one of 3 correctional facilities of the Florence Federal Correctional Complex (FFCC), each with a different overall security level. [2]

ADX Florence generally houses around 430 male prisoners, each assigned to one of six security levels. [3] ADX Florence was designed jointly by DLR Group (a part of the architecture, engineering, planning and interiors firm specializing in incarceration-related facilities in the U. DLR Group is an international architecture engineering planning and interior design firm based in Omaha, Nebraska, USA with 13 offices across the nation S. A. ) and LKA Partners of Colorado Springs. [3]

About 22% of inmates have killed fellow prisoners in other correctional facilities; 35% have attempted to attack other prisoners or officers. As a result, most individuals are kept for at least 23 hours each day in solitary confinement. They are housed in a 7 ft (2. 13 m) by 12 ft (3. 66 m) room, built behind a steel door and grate. The remaining free hour is spent exercising alone in a separate concrete chamber. Prisoners seldom see one another, and the inmates' only direct human interaction is with correctional officers. Visiting from outside the prison is conducted through glass, with each prisoner in a separate chamber. Religious services are broadcast from a small chapel.

Part of the prison is a "stepdown" program, designed to encourage less antisocial behavior and eventually transfer prisoners out of the ADX and back to the Maximum Security population. The program is three years in length, each year allowing more freedom and social contact with other inmates. Any violation during the program means participants revert to year one.

Most cells' furniture is made almost entirely out of poured concrete, including a desk, stool, and bed covered by a thin mattress. Concrete is a construction material composed of Cement (commonly Portland cement) as well as other cementitious materials such as Fly ash and Slag Each chamber contains a toilet that shuts off if plugged, a shower that runs on a timer to prevent flooding, and a sink missing a potentially dangerous tap. Rooms may also be fitted with polished steel mirrors bolted to the wall, an electric light, a radio, a 13-inch black and white television set that shows recreational, educational and religious programming[4]. Steel is an Alloy consisting mostly of Iron, with a Carbon content between 0 Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic These privileges can be taken away as punishment. The 4 in (0. 10 m) by 4 ft (1. 22 m) windows confuse the prisoner as to his specific location within the complex because one can see only the sky and roof. Telecommunication with the outside world is forbidden, and food is hand-delivered by correctional officers.

The prison as a whole contains a multitude of motion detectors and cameras, 1,400 remote-controlled steel doors, and 12 ft (3. A motion detector is a device that contains a physical mechanism or electronic sensor that quantifies motion that can be either integrated with or connected to other devices A camera is a device used to capture images either as still Photographs or as sequences of moving images ( Movies or Videos. 66 m) high razor wire fences. Barbed tape or Razor Wire is a mesh of metal strips with sharp edges whose purpose is to prevent passage by humans Laser beams, pressure pads, and attack dogs guard the area between the prison walls and razor wire. A laser is a device that emits Light ( Electromagnetic radiation) through a process called Stimulated emission. A pressure pad may be a Trigger ( Pad) activated by Weight often used as part of a Security system. An attack dog is any Dog bred, trained or used for the purpose of attacking a target either on command or on sight

Eric Rudolph, the Olympic Park bomber, lamented in a series of 2006 letters to a Colorado Springs newspaper that the ADX is meant to "inflict misery and pain. Eric Robert Rudolph (born September 19, 1966) also known as the Olympic Park Bomber, is an American radical described by the FBI as a Terrorist "[5]

Reporters' first-ever tour

On September 14, 2007, the first-ever media tour of the U.S. Bureau of Prison's Administrative Maximum prison, or "Supermax," was allowed. Events 81 - Domitian becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Titus. "Popular press" redirects here note that the University of Wisconsin Press publishes under the imprint "The Popular Press" FBOP redirects here For the bank holding company see FBOP Corporation. Attending reporters remarked on "an astonishing and eerie quiet" within the prison as well as a sense of safety due to the rigorous security measures in place within the facility. [6]

Criticisms

Understaffing

In 2006, the corrections officers' union filed a grievance over staffing levels at ADX Florence, and critics asked Congress to funnel more money for staffing. Of the 240 officer positions originally allotted to ADX Florence, and of the 221 currently allotted, only 186 are filled. The union contends the understaffing has led to dangerously unsafe conditions for both staff and inmates. In 2005, two prisoners were beaten to death by other inmates, the first slayings ADX Florence has seen. Nationwide, the Bureau of Prisons has pledged to reduce its 35,000-strong workforce by 3118 corrections officers. FBOP redirects here For the bank holding company see FBOP Corporation. [7]

Lax security

Related to the understaffing problems, recent reports allege that security at ADX Florence is less than optimal, specifically in the monitoring of prisoners' communications. A Justice Department inquiry was initiated when an ADX inmate, Mohammed Salameh, was caught by Spanish authorities sending letters to a terrorist cell with links to suspects in the 2004 Madrid Train Bombings. For animal rights group see Justice Department (JD The United States Department of Justice ( DOJ) is a Cabinet department Mohammed A Salameh (محمد سلامة (born September 1, 1967) is a convicted perpetrator of the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing. Law enforcement in Spain is carried out by numerous organisations not all of which operate in the same areas Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion

More recently, two inmates, members of the Aryan Brotherhood, were convicted of conspiracy charges that included instigating the murder of two African-American prisoners at a Pennsylvania prison by sending secret messages written in grapefruit juice. The Aryan Brotherhood, also known as the AB or The Brand, is a White Prison gang numbering about 15000 members in and out of prison In the Criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between Natural persons to break the law at some time in the future and in some cases with at least one overt act Murder is the unlawful killing of another human person with Malice aforethought, as defined in Common Law countries The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern In 2006 gangster Ruben Castro was served a federal indictment for continuing to run his Los Angeles drug gang from within his ADX cell. In the Common law legal system an indictment (ɪnˈdaɪtmənt (in-DITE-mint is a formal accusation of having committed a criminal offense Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West

According to a federal arbitrator, "Inmate cells [are] no longer being searched on a regular basis due to lack of staff. "[8]

Notable inmates

Main article: List of prisoners at ADX Florence

References

  1. ^ Fernandes, Edna. "Supermax prison, the Alcatraz of the Rockies", The Times, 2006-05-04. The Times is a daily national Newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1256 - The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV Retrieved on 2008-05-31. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1279 BC - Rameses II (The Great (19th dynasty becomes pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.  
  2. ^ USP Florence ADMAX - Bureau of Prisons
  3. ^ a b DLR Group
  4. ^ "Fast Facts: Supermax Prison" - Fox News - May 04, 2006
  5. ^ http://www.digtriad.com/news/mostpopular/article.aspx?storyid=76415&provider=top/ digitriad. com 12/11/2006 Eric Rudolph Says His Prison Inflicts Misery And Pain
  6. ^ Frieden, Terry. " Reporters get first look inside mysterious Supermax prison" - CNN - September 14, 2007
  7. ^ Tsai, Catherine. Cable News Network, usually referred to by its Initialism CNN, is a major English language Television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner "Prison Guards Say Supermax Understaffed" - Associated Press - (c/o San Francisco Chronicle/SFGate. The Associated Press ( AP) is an American News agency. The AP is a Cooperative owned by its contributing Newspapers radio com) - November 7, 2006
  8. ^ Griffin, Drew, and James Polk. "SuperMax prison is super lax, court cases allege" - CNN - November 15, 2006

External links

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