ADX Florence

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The ADX Florence facility from the outside

The United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Florence is a supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. It is unofficially known as ADX Florence, Florence ADMAX, Supermax, or the Alcatraz of the Rockies. It is operated by the federal government and is part of the Florence Federal Correctional Complex (FCC). ADX houses the prisoners who are deemed the most dangerous and in need of the tightest control.

1 History
2 The prison
3 Criticisms
- 3.1 Understaffing
- 3.2 Lax security
4 Notable inmates
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

ADX Florence was constructed as a response to the October 22, 1983, correctional officer killings at the United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois. At this time the penitentiary was the holding place for the Federal Bureau of Prisons' most dangerous prisoners. 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.

As a result, the prison in Marion went into "permanent lockdown" and entirely transformed itself into a "control unit" prison. This penal construction and operation theory dictates that inmates remain in solitary confinement for 22–23 hours each day. 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 personal 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. 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 for the new prison. Hundreds of people attended the groundbreaking. Creating ADX Florence cost $60 million. More than half the jobs in the county are related in some way to the corrections industry.

[edit] 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.^[1]

ADX Florence generally houses around 430 male prisoners, each assigned to one of six security levels.^[2] ADX Florence was designed jointly by DLR Group Justice (a part of the architecture, engineering, planning and interiors firm specializing in justice-related facilities in the U.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-by-12 ft (3.5-by-2 m) room, built behind a steel door and grate. The remaining free hour is spent exercising alone in a separate concrete chamber. Prisoners rarely see each other, 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. 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] and a cigarette lighter. These privileges can be taken away as punishment. The 4-in by 4-ft 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 (3.7 m) high razor wire fences. Laser beams, pressure pads, and attack dogs guard the area between the prison walls and razor wire.

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."^[5]

[edit] Criticisms

[edit] 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 guard 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.^[6]

[edit] 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 terror cell with links to suspects in the Madrid train bombings.

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. In 2006 gangster Ruben Castro was served a federal indictment for continuing to run his Los Angeles drug gang from within his ADX cell.

According to a federal arbitrator, "Inmate cells [are] no longer being searched on a regular basis due to lack of staff."^[7]