Florida State Prison
Florida State Prison (FSP), formerly known as the "Florida State Prison-East Unit" as it was originally part of Florida State Prison in Raiford, Florida (now known as Union Correctional Institution), is a correctional institution located in unincorporated Bradford County, Florida.[1] The facility, a part of the Florida Department of Corrections, is located on Florida State Road 16 right across the border from Union County. The institution opened in 1961, even though construction was not completed until 1968. With a maximum population of over 1,400 inmates, FSP is one of the largest prisons in the state. FSP houses one of the state's three death row cell blocks, and the state's execution chamber. Union Correctional Institution also houses male death row inmates while Lowell Annex houses female death row inmates.
Lethal injection became the standard method of execution in 2000. The electric chair is only used if the condemned person requests it.
FSP sits in the center of several other prisons. It is surrounded by New River Correctional Institution, New River O-Unit, FSP West Unit, and sits across the river from Union Correctional Institution. Even though Union Correctional Institution is on the same property, immediately north-west of FSP, the county line (with Union County) runs in between the two, which makes Raiford the United States Postal Service address city of Union Correctional Institution, while Starke is the USPS address city of Florida State Prison.
FSP is Florida's only prison that is officially named "prison", with the other institutions being named "Correctional Institutions" (or "Correctional Facility" if it is a privately contracted prison).
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Notable inmates [edit]
- Konstantino Fotopoulos—convicted of The Boardwalk Murders in Daytona.
- Rod Ferrell (at the West Unit)—leader of the "Vampire Clan" murders
Notable deceased inmates [edit]
- Ted Bundy—executed[2]
- John Couey—died in prison before execution could be carried out[3]
- Paul Jennings Hill—executed[4]
- Danny Rolling—executed[5]
- Gerard John Schaefer—murdered by another prisoner[6]
- John Spenkelink—executed[7]
- Ottis Toole—died in prison[8][9]
- Aileen Wuornos—executed[10]
- Martin Grossman—executed[11]
- Oba Chandler—executed on November 15, 2011.[12]
- Manuel Pardo – executed on December 11, 2012. Ex-police officer who was charged and subsequently found guilty of murdering 6 men and 3 women, during a series of robberies over a three month period in early 1986.
- Giuseppe Zangara--executed March 20, 1933, convicted of the murder of Anton Cermak
In popular culture [edit]
Lynyrd Skynyrd's song "Four Walls of Raiford" tells the story of a convict who escapes from the Florida State Prison.
See also [edit]
Footnotes [edit]
- ^ "Florida State Prison". Florida Department of Corrections. Retrieved 2007-10-09.
- ^ "Ted Bundy executed". Florida Department of Corrections.
- ^ "Convicted child killer Couey dies in prison, Florida officials say". CNN. 2007-03-07.
- ^ "Anti-abortion murderer executed in Florida". wsws.org.
- ^ "Serial killer Danny Rolling executed". MSNBC.
- ^ "Gerard Schaefer profile". TruTV.
- ^ "John Arthur Spenkelink". Clark Prosecutor.
- ^ "AMG Fugitives – Ottis Toole". America's Most Wanted.
- ^ Bazar, Emily; Leinwand, Donna (2008-12-17). "Police ID killer of 'Most Wanted' host's son". USA Today.
- ^ "Florida executes Wuornos". CNN. 2002-09-30.
- ^ "Grossman executed". WTSP.
- ^ Thalji, Jamal. "Oba Chandler executed for murdering Ohio mom, two daughters". St. Petersburg Times.
