ADX Florence
The United States Penitentiary, Administrative Maximum Facility is an American federal prison in unincorporated Fremont County near Florence, Colorado. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. ADX Florence, which opened in 1994, is classed as a supermax or "control unit" prison, thus providing a higher level of custody than a maximum security prison. ADX Florence forms part of the Florence Federal Correctional Complex, which is situated on of land and houses different facilities with varying degrees of security, including the United States Penitentiary, Florence High.
ADX Florence was commissioned as the Federal Bureau of Prisons needed a unit designed specifically for the secure housing of those prisoners most capable of violence toward staff or other inmates., there are 365 prisoners who spend 23 hours per day in single cells with facilities made of poured concrete to deter self-harm, and 24-hour supervision, carried out intensively with high staff-inmate ratios. Phones are generally banned and only limited broadcast entertainment is permitted. After three years in maximum confinement, some prisoners may be transferred to a less restrictive prison. The aim is to encourage "reasonably peaceful behavior" from the most violent "career" prisoners.
Function
The institution is unofficially known as ADX Florence, or the "Alcatraz of the Rockies". It is part of the Florence Federal Correctional Complex, which is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. The complex also includes an adjacent minimum-security camp that,, houses more prisoners than the supermax unit.ADX Florence houses male inmates in the federal prison system who are deemed the most dangerous and in need of the tightest control, including prisoners whose escape would pose a serious threat to national security. The BOP does not have a designated "supermax" facility for women. Women in the BOP system who are classified as "special management concerns" due to violence or escape attempts are confined in the administrative unit of Federal Medical Center, Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas.
History
In 1983, members of the Aryan Brotherhood, Thomas Silverstein and Clayton Fountain stabbed correctional officers Merle Clutts and Robert Hoffman to death at the United States Penitentiary, Marion. The stabbings took place only a few hours apart and were blamed on inadequate prison design.Federal Bureau of Prisons director Norman Carlson argued for the creation of a new type of facility where the most dangerous, uncontrollable inmates could be isolated from correction officers and other prisoners for security and safety. Under his guidance, Marion Penitentiary would be in "permanent lockdown" for the next two decades and became a model for the construction of ADX, designed as a control unit prison. Carlson said that such a prison would hold criminals desperate enough to murder corrections officers or other inmates in the hopes of being sentenced to death. He argued that as draconian as these measures were, it was the only way to deal with inmates who have "absolutely no concern for human life."
ADX opened in November 1994, and the residents of Fremont County, Colorado welcomed it as a source of employment. The county already had nine prisons, but the lure of 750 to 900 permanent jobs led residents to raise $160,000 to purchase for the new prison. Hundreds of people attended the groundbreaking for the facility, which was designed by two leading architecture firms in Colorado Springs and cost $60 million to build.
As of early 2018, the warden of ADX Florence is Andre Matevousian.
During the 2020 COVID-19 virus outbreak, Florence ADX was considered as safe due in part to the extreme social distancing. As of April 12, 2020, no cases had been reported at the facility.
Inmate population
The supermax unit at ADX Florence houses about 400 male inmates, each assigned to one of six security levels. It is designed for 490 inmates but has never been at full capacity.The facility is best known for housing inmates who have been deemed too dangerous, too high-profile, or too great a security risk for even a maximum-security prison. For example, Joseph Romano was sentenced to life in federal prison for plotting to murder the judge and federal prosecutor who helped sentence him to 15 years in prison for masterminding a coin fraud operation. After he plotted to have an undercover officer who took part in the investigation murdered, he was sent to ADX. The majority of current inmates, however, have been placed there because they have an extensive history of committing violent crimes against corrections officers and fellow inmates in other prisons, including murder. These inmates are kept in administrative segregation. They are confined in a single-person cell for 23 hours a day and are removed under restraint ; their one hour out of their cell may occur at any time of the day or night. The hour outside of the cell is for exercise and a phone call if they have earned the privilege. Their diet is restricted to ensure that the food cannot be used to harm themselves or to create unhygienic conditions in their cell. Some cells have showers which reduces the amount of handling that correctional officers have to perform.
Inmates are gradually allowed out for longer periods after at least one year, depending on their conduct. The long-term goal is to keep them at ADX for no more than three years and then transfer them to a less restrictive prison to serve out the remainder of their sentences. According to a 1998 report in the San Francisco Chronicle, ADX Florence's main purpose is to "try and extract reasonably peaceful behavior from extremely violent career prisoners".
Prison facility
ADX Florence is a complex located at 5880 Highway 67, Florence, Colorado, about south of Denver and south of Colorado Springs. It is part of the Florence Federal Correctional Complex which consists of three correctional facilities, each with a different security rating.The majority of the facility is above ground, with the exception of a subterranean corridor which links cellblocks to the lobby. Each cell has a desk, stool, and bed, which are almost entirely made out of poured concrete, as well as a toilet that shuts off if blocked, a shower that runs on a timer to prevent flooding, and a sink lacking a potentially dangerous tap. Rooms may also be fitted with polished steel mirrors bolted to the wall, an electric light that can be shut off only remotely, a radio, and a television that shows recreational, educational, and religious programming. All cells are sound-proofed to prevent prisoners from communicating with one another.
The by windows are designed to prevent inmates from knowing their specific location within the complex. They can see only the sky and roof through them, so it is virtually impossible to plan an escape. Inmates exercise in a concrete pit resembling an empty swimming pool, also designed to prevent them from knowing their location in the facility. The pit is large enough only for a prisoner to walk 10 steps in a straight line or 31 steps in a circle. Correctional officers deliver food to the cells, although inmates sent to ADX from other prisons can potentially be allowed to eat in a shared dining room.
The prison as a whole contains a multitude of motion detectors and cameras and 1,400 remote-controlled steel doors. Officers in the prison's control center monitor inmates 24 hours a day and can activate a "panic button" which closes every door in the facility should an escape attempt be suspected. Pressure pads and razor wire fences surround the perimeter, which is patrolled by heavily armed officers.
The Bureau of Prisons allowed the media to take a guided tour of ADX Florence on September 14, 2007. Attending reporters remarked on "an astonishing and eerie quiet" within the prison as well as a sense of safety due to the rigorous security measures. 60 Minutes producer Henry Schuster said, "A few minutes inside that cell and two hours inside Supermax were enough to remind me why I left high school a year early. The walls close in very fast."
Controversies
The prison has received far less criticism than comparable facilities at the state level, which tend to suffer from over-population, low staff-to-inmate ratios, and security issues. Jamie Fellner of Human Rights Watch said after a tour of the facility, "The Bureau of Prisons has taken a harsh punitive model and implemented it as well as anybody I know."In 2012, eleven inmates filed a federal class-action suit against the Bureau of Prisons in Cunningham v. Federal Bureau of Prisons. The suit alleged chronic abuse and failure to properly diagnose prisoners who are seriously mentally ill. At the time of the lawsuit, at least six inmates have allegedly committed suicide. That number may be underestimated because suicide attempts are common with many succeeding.
Critics claim the use of extended confinement in solitary cells adversely affects prisoners' mental health. As of March 2015, settlement negotiations were underway with the help of a federal magistrate and some changes had been made by the Bureau of Prisons.
Suicides at the prison
Eight inmates have committed or are suspected of committing suicide at the facility.| Inmate | Date of Death | Age | Ref |
| Kevin Lee Wilson | June 17, 1999 | 37 | |
| Gregory Britt | December 9, 1999 | 43 | |
| Lawrence Klaker | November 18, 2002 | 45 | |
| Lance Vanderstappen | April 17, 2006 | 26 | |
| John Frierson | May 27, 2008 | 35 | |
| Jose Martin Vega | May 1, 2010 | 35 | |
| Robert Gerald Knott | September 7, 2013 | 48 | |
| Jamie Jarold McMahan | November 13, 2017 | 42 |
Notable current inmates
Foreign terrorists
This list contains foreign citizens who committed or attempted to commit terrorist attacks against United States citizens and interests. All sentences are without parole.| Inmate name | Register number | Photo | Status | Details |
| Serving 6 life sentences. | French citizen and Al-Qaeda operative, pleaded guilty to terrorism conspiracy charges in 2005 for playing a key role in planning the September 11 attacks by helping the hijackers obtain flight lessons, money and material used in the attacks. | |||
| Ramzi Yousef | Serving life plus 240 years. | Convicted in 1994 of terrorism conspiracy and other charges in connection with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, which killed 6 people and injured more than 1,000. Yousef was also convicted in 1996 of planning Project Bojinka, a foiled plot conceived by senior Al-Qaeda member Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to bomb twelve planes in a 48-hour period. | ||
| Wadih el-Hage Khalfan Mohamed Khalid al-Fawwaz | Serving life sentences. | Al-Qaeda operatives from Lebanon, Tanzania, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia; convicted in connection with the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, Africa, which were conceived by Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden; the bombings killed 224 people and injured more than 4,000. | ||
| Abu Hamza al-Masri | Serving a life sentence under the name Kamel Mostafa Mostafa. | Egyptian cleric and former associate of deceased Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden; extradited from the UK in 2012; convicted in 2014 of masterminding the 1998 kidnapping of Westerners in Yemen and conspiring to establish a terrorist training camp in Oregon in 1999. | ||
| Serving 3 life sentences plus 110 years. | British national who became an Al-Qaeda operative; pleaded guilty in 2002 to attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction in connection with his 2001 attempt to detonate explosive devices hidden in his shoes on a plane traveling from Paris to Miami; known as the "Shoe Bomber." | |||
| Serving 4 life sentences plus 50 years. | A Nigerian national and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operative, follower of the late militant cleric Anwar al-Awlaki; pleaded guilty in 2011 to attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction for trying to detonate an explosive sewn into his underwear on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day 2009; known as the "Underwear Bomber." | |||
| Serving a 37-year sentence; scheduled for release on July 1, 2032. | Algerian national convicted in 2001 of terrorism conspiracy for planning to bomb Los Angeles International Airport on December 31, 1999, in what is known as one of the 2000 millennium attack plots. | |||
| Serving a 60-year sentence under the name Juvenal Ovidio Palmera Pineda; scheduled for release on February 17, 2055. | Member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a guerrilla group on the U.S. State Department list of Terrorist Organizations; convicted in 2007 of terrorism conspiracy for his involvement in the 2003 kidnapping of three American military contractors. | |||
| Adis Medunjanin | Serving a life sentence. | Al-Qaeda operative; convicted in 2012 of plotting to conduct coordinated suicide bombings in the New York City subway system in September 2009; co-conspirators Najibullah Zazi and Zarein Ahmedzay pleaded guilty. | ||
| Sulaiman Abu Ghaith | Serving a life sentence. | Al-Qaeda spokesman and son-in-law to Osama Bin Laden. Convicted in March 2014 for conspiring to kill Americans and providing material support to terrorists. | ||
| Mamdouh Mahmud Salim | Serving a life sentence. | Al-Qaeda co-founder and advisor to Osama Bin Laden. Extradited in 1998 for participating in the U.S. Embassy bombings and sentenced to life in prison for attempted murder during an escape attempt in 2000. | ||
| Shain Duka | Serving life plus 30 years. | Convicted in 2008 for conspiring to kill members of the Army at the Fort Dix, New Jersey, army base. His two brothers were also convicted: Eljvir Duka, who is being held at USP Hazelton and Dritan Duka, who is being held at USP Marion. | ||
| Mahmud Abouhalima | Serving a 240 year sentence ;Scheduled for release in 2085. | Egyptian terrorist who was one of the men convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. In 1988 he traveled to Afghanistan to receive combat training. He also assisted El Sayyid Nosair in the assassination of far-right rabbi Meir Kahane, acting as the getaway driver. | ||
| Mohammed Jabarah | Serving a life sentence. | Canadian citizen convicted of plotting to bomb U.S. embassies in Singapore and the Philippines, he was turned over to U.S. authorities after agreeing to assist them with terror investigations, but was sentenced to life in federal prison in 2008 as a result of violating the terms of his release. |
Domestic terrorists
This list contains U.S. citizens regardless of origin who committed or attempted to commit terrorist attacks against United States citizens and interests.| Inmate name | Register number | Photo | Status | Details |
| Dzhokhar Tsarnaev | Originally sentenced to death on June 24, 2015; sentence overturned by a federal appeals court on July 31, 2020. New penalty phase trial planned. | Participant in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing; Dzhokhar planted a pressure cooker bomb at the direction of his brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev near the finish line, which killed 3 people and injured over 250. Was to be transferred to USP Terre Haute in Indiana when his execution date was set. | ||
| Serving 8 life sentences. | Known as the Unabomber; pleaded guilty in 1998 to building, transporting, and mailing explosives to carry out 16 bombings from 1978 to 1995 in a mail bombing campaign targeting those involved with modern technology, which killed 3 people and injured 23 others. | |||
| Serving 161 consecutive life sentences. | Co-conspirator in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, which killed 168 people. Timothy McVeigh, who planned and carried out the bombing was executed in Indiana in 2001. | |||
| Serving a 21-year sentence; scheduled for release on February 15, 2026. | Al-Qaeda operative and one of the first U.S. citizens to be designated as an enemy combatant after the September 11th attacks; convicted in 2007 of terrorism conspiracy for traveling overseas to attend an Al-Qaeda training camp in order to murder citizens of a foreign country. | |||
| Serving 4 consecutive life sentences. | Member of the Christian extremist group Army of God; pleaded guilty in 2005 to carrying out four bombings between 1996 and 1998, including the Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta; 3 people were killed during the bombing spree. | |||
| Serving a life sentence. | Tehrik-i-Taliban operative; pleaded guilty to attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and other charges in connection with the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt; received explosives training in 2009 from the terrorist organization Tehrik-i-Taliban in Pakistan. | |||
| Naser Jason Abdo | Serving 2 life sentences plus 60 years. | U.S. Army private who refused to deploy to Afghanistan and went AWOL; convicted in 2012 of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction for plotting to detonate a bomb at a restaurant near Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, when it was filled with soldiers in 2011. | ||
| Muhanad Mahmoud Al Farekh | Serving a 45 year sentence; scheduled for release in 2053. | Houston man who was convicted of terrorism related charges in 2017 after he attended an Al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. He was charged with material support of terrorism for a planning role in a 2009 attack on Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost. He had reportedly been radicalized by Zarein Ahmedzay, one of the men charged with the 2009 New York City subway bombing plot. | ||
| Ali Al-Tamimi | Serving a life sentence. | Former resident of Fairfax County and radical Salafi preacher convicted of participating in terrorism, including engaging in paramilitary training. According to the court, Al-Tamimi had lead other members in the Virginia Jihad Network to fund and train terrorist activities overseas, including material to support the Lashkar-e-Taiba, a U.S. designated terror group. As of 2020 Al-Timimi is the only member involved with the Virginia Jihad network still incarcerated in the Federal Bureau of Prisons. |