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doi: 10.1177/0032885507310529pmid: N/A
The U.S. Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois (USP Marion) was the first federal supermax prison. The “mean little house” is one of the most significant U.S. prisons built in the past century. It has served as a model for high-security detention confinement and been copied worldwide. Marion also has a history of violence, mistakes, and inflicting serious damage on prisoners. This article employs a “convict criminology perspective” to discuss the history of Marion, the profile of federal prisoners, control units, programs and services, prisoners released from Marion, the prison camp, transfer of high-security prisoners, and comparable supermax penitentiaries. Early in 2007, USP Marion was converted to medium security, closing one of the most infamous chapters in recent American penal history.
Pizarro, Jesenia M.; Narag, Raymund E.
doi: 10.1177/0032885507310530pmid: N/A
Supermax prisons have substantially increased in popularity during the last 20 years. This article presents an examination of the current state of knowledge on supermax prisons, in terms of both case law and criminal justice research, to assess the potential future of these facilities. Three research questions are posed: (a) What does the academic community know or not know about supermax prisons? (b) How have U.S. courts ruled in supermax prison litigation? and (c) Do current supermax case law and research indicate that their administration, existence, and operation will change in the near future?
doi: 10.1177/0032885507310964pmid: N/A
In recent years, states have invested heavily in supermaximum (supermax) security prisons, yet critical questions about them remain unaddressed. In this article, the author examines these prisons through an evaluation research framework, focusing on five questions: (a) Are supermaxes needed? (b) Do they rest on sound theory? (c) Are they typically implemented as intended? (d) Do they achieve their intended goals (i.e., impacts)? (e) Are they cost-efficient? This article argues that investigation of each question reveals substantial research gaps that raise significant questions about whether supermaxes are warranted, effective, or efficient. It then discusses a range of research and policy implications.
Naday, Alexandra; Freilich, Joshua D.; Mellow, Jeff
doi: 10.1177/0032885507310978pmid: N/A
This exploratory research examines supermax confinement in the United States. An examination of counts of supermax institutions and inmates from 2001-2004 produced by the American Correctional Association and an examination of Criminal Justice Institute data found that different procedures made it difficult to compare numbers across states. Certain states produced incorrect figures about the number of supermax prisons and inmates because of reporting and/or recording errors. This study found, in short, that disagreements about definitions, changing policies and court decisions, reporting and recording errors, and different counting procedures have led to a lack of reliable and valid data on supermax issues. These findings indicate that researchers attempting to examine, or collect data on, supermax issues on the macrolevel (e.g., across states) face important difficulties. This article accounts for this confusion, discusses policy implications that may result from this confusion, and concludes with suggestions for future research.
Sundt, Jody L.; Castellano, Thomas C.; Briggs, Chad S.
doi: 10.1177/0032885507310994pmid: N/A
This research explores the sociopolitical context of prison violence and its control in the state of Illinois, and discusses the series of events that led to the opening of a supermax prison. Interrupted time series analyses were used to test whether the use of the supermax was associated with declines in prison violence, controlling for the potentially confounding influence of a systemwide effort to restructure the Illinois Department of Corrections following a prison scandal in 1996. There was no association between the opening of a supermax and inmate-on-inmate assaults; however, the supermax appears to have resulted in an abrupt, permanent reduction in assaults against staff. The opening of the supermax was also associated with an abrupt, permanent reduction in the use of lockdown days.
doi: 10.1177/0032885507310999pmid: N/A
The growth of the inmate population nationwide has given rise to supermax prisons over the past two decades. Among the controversial issues that supermax prisons face are concerns about the types of individuals placed in solitary confinement and the arbitrary nature of those placements. This study profiled inmates in administrative segregation, as supermax confinement is called in Colorado, and the process and reasons for their placement. Evidence of institutional misbehavior, more serious criminal histories, and preexisting mental health needs were found among segregated inmates.
King, Kate; Steiner, Benjamin; Ritchie Breach, Stephanie
doi: 10.1177/0032885507311000pmid: N/A
The supermax prison was designed to control the most violent, assaultive individuals, gang members, and other prisoners who could not be managed in less secure settings. Pelican Bay State Prison, which houses California's supermax, holds approximately 1,300 inmates in its security housing unit (SHU). This article examines the mission, architecture, and organization of Pelican Bay State Prison, the architecture and procedures in the SHU, the training and mind-set of correctional officers who work at Pelican Bay, the inmate culture and mentality, and the findings of the federal court in Madrid v. Gomez, which addressed conditions in the SHU. The authors maintain that the mission of Pelican Bay, combined with the officer and inmate cultures, creates a self fulfilling prophecy: the super violent supermax.
doi: 10.1177/0032885507311001pmid: N/A
Prison administrators claim that supermax prisons are essential tools in the management of unruly prisoners and that these facilities act as a deterrent to prisoners contemplating violence. Pelican Bay, known in prison jargon as “Up North,” is California's supermax prison. This article states that not only does Pelican Bay not deter, it has created a new standard of toughness, an upper class of prisoners whose survival at Pelican Bay affords them high status. This status allows them great influence on daily events in the prison. Instead of isolating the most negative elements, the supermax has simply raised the bar on toughness. California now has a new breed of prisoners who have survived the trial by fire and are afraid of nothing. Suggestions are offered to ease the conversation away from the supermax and toward programs that might actually work on the ground. Ask the prisoners what they think will work. Include prisoners in designing and implementing smarter programs.
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