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ADX Florence

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The United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Florence is a supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. Also known unofficially as ADX Florence, Florence ADMAX, Supermax, or the Alcatraz of the Rockies, it is operated by the federal government. A part of the Florence Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) in Florence, Colorado, it is supposed to house only the most dangerous prisoners in need of the tightest control.

History

Opened in November of 1994, ADX Florence was constructed as a response to the October 22, 1983, correctional officer killings in Marion, Illinois. United States Penitentiary (USP) Marion was, at the time, the holding place for the Federal Bureau of Prisons' most dangerous prisoners. However, in two separate incidents, an inmate managed to kill his accompanying officer. Relatively lax security procedures allowed the prisoner, while walking down a hall, to turn to the side and approach a particular cell. An accomplice would 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 calls for the keeping of inmates in solitary confinement between twenty-two and twenty-three hours each day. They do not allow congregate 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.

The residents in the 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 1000 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 attended the groundbreaking, and ADX Florence opened in November of 1994 with a price tag of $60 million.

ADX Florence is now a 37-acre complex located at 5880 Highway 67, Florence, Colorado. It is part of four separate correctional facilities, representing four different security levels. More than half the jobs in surrounding Fremont County are related in some way to the corrections industry.

The prison

ADX Florence is generally home to between 400 and 500 male prisoners. About 22 percent of inmates have killed fellow prisoners in other correctional facilities; 35 percent 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 foot (3.5-by-2 meter) soundproofed 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 inmates' only human interaction is limited to that of the correctional officers. Religious services are broadcast in from a small chapel.

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 13-inch black and white television that shows only educational programming, which not all inmates are allowed to have, and a cigarette lighter. Windows in rooms are small, set high up in the wall, and point towards the sky, confusing the prisoner as to his specific location within the complex.

The prison as a whole contains countless motion detectors and cameras, 1,400 remote-controlled steel doors, and 12-foot high razor wire fences. Laser beams, pressure pads, and attack dogs guard the area between the prison walls and razor wire.

Controversy

Psychological effects

Many have argued that the psychological effects of long-term solitary confinement can be devastating. Prisoners may suffer from hallucinations, anxiety, problems with impulse control, and self-mutilation. In addition, confinement may encourage anger and rage, resulting in further violence. Depression may set in, with prisoners becoming extremely lethargic, losing memory, and refusing to exercise.

Human rights

Prisoners have complained about excessive steps taken by officers and officials in these types of facilities to control inmates. Constant surveillance and random searches at the whim of prison staff can be humiliating, and their frequency may be used as methods of intimidation and sleep deprivation.

The maximum security facility at Marion, Illinois, which is the model ADX Florence is based on, has been denounced by Amnesty International for violating the United Nations' Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.

Environmental issues

In 1958, Cotter Corporation, a company owned by Commonwealth Edison of Chicago, Illinois, began to process uranium ore in Cañon City, Colorado. In the process of mining uranium ore, the company contaminated the surrounding land, and compromised the water supply of nearby Lincoln Park, Colorado, 10 miles from ADX Florence. In a class-action lawsuit filed by 340 people, the company was accused of lowering nearby land values due to radioactive contamination both at the site of the mill and along the railroads of Santa Fe Railway. Subsequently, in 1983, the state of Colorado sued over these damages to the environment; settling for $15 million, Cotter Corporation promised to clean up the mill site. The company resumed work in 1999, but laid off the majority of employees in 2005 after it was determined that shipping ore from Colorado's Western Slope was cost-prohibitive. The water contamination in Lincoln Park remains, and the area has been declared a Superfund site.

While there are continuing problems for residents of the Lincoln Park neighborhood, there is no evidence that the area around Florence has been affected.

Prisoners

See: List of prisoners at ADX Florence
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