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Alcatraz was the prototype until it closed in 1963. In 1861, it was used for civil war prisoners. In 1867, a brick jailhouse was built, and in 1868, it was officially designated a long-term detention facility for military prisoners. After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, it housed civilian prisoners, but remained a military facility until 1933 when it was transferred to the Bureau of Prisons.
Supermax facilities evolved from a "get tough on crime" philosophy, keeping hardened offenders separate from the rest, the greater prison population safer, and the public also because they're "escape-proof." In addition, they provide high-paying jobs in isolated areas that would have far fewer ones otherwise. Over the last two decades, nearly 60 facilities were built in over 40 states, currently housing over 20,000 inmates. They represent a huge investment because they're expensive to build and operate, two to three times more than a conventional prison.
They have high-tech security features. Walls, floors, ceilings and doors are built out of reinforced materials. Complex electronic systems minimize officer-inmate contact. Moving inmates requires multiple officers. They're confined in windowless single cells about 7 by 12 feet for up to 23 hours a day, with a shower and concrete bed. The staff-to-prisoner ratio is much higher than in conventional prisons. Inmates have few if any programs. Very little constructive activity is offered on a daily basis. Few visits are allowed, though almost no contact ones.
Overall, there's very little human contact. Most inmates are incarcerated for life but other sentences are determinate. No federal entry or release standard is observed. Some states use Supermax facilities for different reasons, including when a shortage of segregation beds exist elsewhere.
Money spent on them reduces amounts for other facilities. Long-term isolation contributes to anti-social behavior and mental illness, so released inmates may be violent and unemployable. Yet proponents say they're the most effective way to deal with dangerous offenders. Opponents believe they do more harm than good, and the expense compounds the problem.
They're designed for society's most incorrigible (or ones authorities want to punish for political or other reasons) on the notion that solitary confinement, sensory deprivation, and punitive treatment will change behavior, only for the worst according to experts.
The facilities are extremely harsh. They crush the human spirit, mind and body through isolation and cruelty. Physical abuse and extreme deprivation are common, inflicted as punishment. Inmate contact with staff is restricted and none allowed with other prisoners. They're confined in windowless cells 23 hours a day, have no work, social contact, education, recreation, rehabilitation or personal privacy. Nearly everything is delivered - food, medical supplies and other materials. Outside their cells, they're escorted by 4-man teams, painfully handcuffed and shacked. Over time, it causes
-- severe anxiety;
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