Supermax
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Supermax is the name used to describe control-unit prisons, the most secure prisons in the prison system. The term originated in the United States as a contraction of super-maximum.
In supermax prisons, prisoners are kept in their cells for 22 to 23 hours a day, often in solitary confinement. The balance of the day, they are allowed access to an exercise area to be able to exercise.
Prisoners are under constant surveillance, usually with video cameras.
Recently, Australia has opened a facility in the Goulburn Correctional Center to the supermax standard.
Current Supermax Prisons in the United States
- Wallens Ridge State Prison - Big Stone Gap, Virginia
- Red Onion State Prison - Pound, Virginia
- Wisconsin Secure Program Facility - Boscobel, Wisconsin
- USP Florence ADMAX (Administrative Maximum) Facility - Florence, Colorado
- Ohio State Prison - Youngstown, Ohio
- Pelican Bay State Prison - Crescent City, California
Examples of Supermax inmates include:
- Terry Nichols, conspirator in the Oklahoma City bombing
- Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber
- Lee Boyd Malvo, conspirator in the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks
- John Allen Muhammad, implementator of the Beltway sniper attacks
