The Pros And Cons Of Super-Maximum Security Prisons
Twenty years ago, super-maximum-security prisons were rare in America.
As of 1996, over two-thirds of states had "supermax" facilities that collectively
housed more than 20,000 inmates. Based on the present study, however,
as of 2004, 44 states had supermax prisons. Designed to hold the
most violent and disruptive inmates in single-cell confinement for 23 hours
per day, often for an indefinite period of time, these facilities have been lightning
rods for controversy. Economic considerations are one reason, supermaxes
typically cost two or three times more to build and operate than traditional
maximum security prisons. A perhaps bigger reason lies in the criticism by
some that supermax confinement is unconstitutional and …show more content…
Acording to Cortina and
other gang members messages were easy to get out on to the street
because Inmates on the SHU are able to break their isolation and scheme with
one another through a myriad of clever methods, including talking through
storm drains and ventilation pipes, as well as through something called "fishing,"
in which inmates fashion a fishing line from the threads of their underwear,
bed sheets and socks and tie tiny notes onto the end. The inmates
As of 1996, over two-thirds of states had "supermax" facilities that collectively
housed more than 20,000 inmates. Based on the present study, however,
as of 2004, 44 states had supermax prisons. Designed to hold the
most violent and disruptive inmates in single-cell confinement for 23 hours
per day, often for an indefinite period of time, these facilities have been lightning
rods for controversy. Economic considerations are one reason, supermaxes
typically cost two or three times more to build and operate than traditional
maximum security prisons. A perhaps bigger reason lies in the criticism by
some that supermax confinement is unconstitutional and …show more content…
Acording to Cortina and
other gang members messages were easy to get out on to the street
because Inmates on the SHU are able to break their isolation and scheme with
one another through a myriad of clever methods, including talking through
storm drains and ventilation pipes, as well as through something called "fishing,"
in which inmates fashion a fishing line from the threads of their underwear,
bed sheets and socks and tie tiny notes onto the end. The inmates