Supermax Prisons

In case people missed it, for "fun" I thought I'd post this 60 Minutes report on perhaps the most "secure" prison in the country, ADX Florence, a prison specifically designed as a "supermax" prison.


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There are many criticisms of these types of prisons, many of which concern the lack of normal interaction of a prisoner with his (and they are almost always men) surroundings and with other people. Lawsuits have abounded regarding the treatment of prisoners at these places. It would seem to me this severe deprivation is a violation of human rights. But these prisons are the end result of the so-called "tough on crime" philosophy. I don't see any movement away from this type of prison.

This report was first broadcast in 2007. Calling it the "Harvard" of the prison system may be appropriate; the same has been said for the infamous Pelican Bay State Prison, just a few miles north of Crescent City, California, off Highway 101 (when we drove to the coast a couple of weeks ago, we saw the sign pointing to the prison, which isn't that terribly far away from the road and is located towards the Pacific Ocean). In that prison, only inmates no other California prison will have end up there.

More here.