ADX Florence

USP Florence ADMAX
Location:	Florence, Colorado
Coordinates:	38°21′30″N 105°06′09″W / 38.3583°N 105.1026°W / 38.3583; -105.1026
Status:	Operational
Security class:	Supermax
Capacity:	490
Opened:	1994
Managed by:	Federal Bureau of Prisons

The United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) is a supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, USA. It is unofficially known as ADX Florence, Florence ADMAX, Supermax, or The Alcatraz of the Rockies.^[1] 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.

History

ADX Florence was constructed as a response to an incident that occurred on October 22, 1983, in which two inmates murdered their accompanying guards at the United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois. 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 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 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, persuaded the federal government that a more secure type of prison needed to be designed. There was a need to isolate uncontrollable prisoners from officers and from other prisoners for the sake of security and safety. Marion became a model for the subsequent construction of ADX Florence, a facility built as a control unit prison.

ADX Florence opened in November 1994. The residents in Florence's surrounding area, Fremont County, welcomed the prison as a source of employment 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 (2.4 km²) for the new prison. Hundreds of people attended the groundbreaking construction of ADX Florence, which cost over $60 million.

Prison facility

Supermax prison, Florence Colorado.

ADX Florence is a federal prison, comprising a 37-acre (150,000 m²), 490-bed complex at 5880 Highway 67, Florence, Colorado. It is one of three 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 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 (2.1 m) by 12 ft (3.7 m) room, built behind a steel door and grate. Their 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 or other prison staff. 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 with each subsequent 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 the desk, stool, and bed. 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 trap. Rooms may also be fitted with polished steel mirrors bolted to the wall, an electric light, a radio, and a television set that shows recreational, educational and religious programming.^[4] These privileges can be taken away as punishment. The 4 in (10 cm) by 4 ft (1.2 m) windows are designed to prevent the prisoner from knowing his specific location within the complex because he can see only the sky and roof through them. 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 (3.66 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]

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. 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]

Notable inmates

Main article: List of prisoners at ADX Florence

References

External links

• Official website of Federal Bureau of Prisons and its section on ADX Florence. Information on visiting is on the linked PDF