The Most Famous Prisons In The USA
In the recent past, prisons are often home to a wide variety of people throughout history, from violent criminals to political dissidents. Some of these institutions have become well-known for several reasons:
- Their famous inmates.
- Harsh treatment of prisoners.
- The daring escape attempts that some of its inmates plot during incarceration.
- Below is the list of the most famous jails in the US.
San Quentin Prison
The location of San Quentin Prison is in the state of California. It is one of the country’s most notorious prisons. Clinton Truman Duffy, the prison’s newly appointed warden, began implementing prison reform in the 1940s. His appointment was as a result of the horrendous circumstances in the facility since its founding in 1852. He did not support capital punishment from his appointment to the end of his tenure in 1952. He adopted methods such as solitary confinement, shaving to the skin, and infrequent meals as alternative disciplinary methods.
San Quentin has the nation’s highest concentration of death row inmates and is one of the most dangerous places.
Alcatraz
Alcatraz is one of the world’s busiest prisons, and the locals call it The Rock. The location of the former federal facility is on a small rocky island in San Francisco Bay. Alcatraz has been home to some of America’s most notorious criminals since its establishment in 1850, including Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly. This facility was an early “supermax” prison that was the focus of several well-known tales with its remote location and high security.
There were 36 prison escapes in the facility where 23 were re-arrested, eight were killed in the escape process. Authorities believe that the other five escapees drowned. There are still many people who believe they were successful in evading arrest during the 1962 jailbreak. The jailbreak is still one of the most famous prison escape stories in history.
The facility ceased operations a year later, in 1963. As a result, tourists have been visiting the facility as a tourist attraction since then.
ADX Florence Facility
ADX Florence Facility is in Florence, Colorado. It holds a maximum capacity of 490 inmates. The United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility (USPAMF) is situated in unincorporated Fremont County in the United States of America, south of Florence. Additionally, the facility is a supermax prison for male inmates. The facility is sometimes referred to as USP Florence, Florence ADMAX, or The Alcatraz of the Rockies in informal circles. The Federal Bureau of Prisons, a United States Department of Justice component, is responsible for its operation and administration.
The current location of the facility is inside the Florence Federal Correctional Complex (FCC). ADX holds the most dangerous and dangerously delinquent inmates who need the most stringent supervision and control of all the inmates under the Federal Prison System of the United States of America. Some of the most famous inmates in this facility are Larry Hoover, Ted Kaczynski, and Timothy McVeigh.
Sing Sing
This facility is in Ossining, New York. It has a size capacity of 1700 inmates. Ossining’s initial name, “Sing Sing,” was derived from the Native American SinckSinck tribe, from whom the property was bought in 1685 and which gave the town its current name.
Local officials have made suggestions from as early as 2002 of converting a portion of Sing Sing’s former powerhouse into a museum, linking it to a decommissioned cell block through a tunnel and cost $5 million to construct. The municipality of Ossining has sought a federal grant of $12.5 million for a project expected to cost $14 million at the time of the grant proposal. The museum would include artifacts from Sing Sing’s history and explain the story of the city’s evolution.
Notably, the Correctional Facility was the third jail constructed by the state of New York. One of the famous inmates in the facility was Charles “Lucky” Luciano.
Attica Correctional Facility
The Attica Correctional Facility is in Attica, New York. It has a maximum capacity of 2150 inmates. Some of the famous inmates held here are Tupac Shakur and Mark David Chapman. In fact, the facility has seen its fair share of rogue celebrities, as visible from the list of well-known prisoners who have served time at this institution.
The jail is presently home to a significant number of inmates serving a wide range of sentences (from short to life in prison). Mostly, inmates in this facility are transferees from other facilities due to disciplinary issues.
In 1971, a rebellion in the prison claimed the lives of 39 convicts and ten police officers who were taken hostage and later killed. As a consequence, a tear gas system was built in anticipation of future confrontation.
United States Penitentiary Atlanta
The location of United States Penitentiary Atlanta is in Atlanta, Georgia that holds male inmates. It is a medium-security prison primarily used as a transfer prison. The United States Department of Justice’s Federal Bureau of Prisons oversees and administers the prison system. The facility also has a pretrial detention center and a carryover prison. In addition, the facility has a minimum-security male prison camp and a satellite prison camp. It is well known for holding Cuban Refugees from the Mariel Boatlift. Some of the famous inmates held here are Big Meech, Michael Vick, and Benard Madoff.
As of 2006, the facility had about 56 square feet (5.2 m2) in size isolation cells. According to prison officials, these cells could house 3–5 in-transit inmates for up to eight weeks. This facility is currently under temporary closure.
Folsom State Prison
The situation of Folsom State Prison is maximum security prison in Folsom, California. The facility has been home to some famous inmates, including Charles Manson, Rick James, and Suge Knight. Folsom State Jail opened its doors in 1880, making it the second-oldest prison in California and the oldest in the country. It was also the first facility in the nation to be powered by electric power.
Folsom State Prison is most known for hosting two performances by singer Johnny Cash at its facilities in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Musician Johnny Cash performed two live shows during a visit to the jail on January 13, 1968. The facility recorded the performances and published them as a live CD with the title “Folsom Prison Blues.” Johnny Cash said that he had written the songs more than a decade before then.
United States Penitentiary Marion
The United States Penitentiary Marion’s location is in Marion, Illinois. Currently, the facility holds famous inmates, including John Gotti, Pete Rose, and Thomas Silverstein. Marion Federal Correctional Institution in Marion, Illinois, first opened its doors in 1963 and became the United States’ highest control security prison within 15 years. It was converted into the nation’s first control unit after violence forced a long-term lockdown. Additionally, the facility has acquired the “SuperMax” status.
However, the Federal Bureau of Prisons argues that the facility no longer operates as a SuperMax facility. Instead, it now houses one of the only two“Communication Management Units” in the federal prison system with predominantly Arab inmates. The other Communication Management Units are the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, and Indianapolis.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons created the CMU in response to concerns that the Bureau was not adequately monitoring prisoners’ communications. Federal Bureau of Prisons argues that concentrating resources in the creation of Communication Units will substantially enhance the agency’s capability for language translation, content analysis, and intelligence sharing. Andrew Stepanian, an animal rights activist who was imprisoned at the CMU, talked with Democracy Now! about his experience on June 25, 2009. Stepanian is believed to be the first prisoner to be released from prison.
Rikers Island
Rikers Island facilities’ situation is in Queens, New York, with a maximum capacity of 14000 inmates. Some famous inmates held here were Lil Wayne, Tupac Shakur, DMX, and Sid Vicious. Additionally, Rikers Island is the major prison facility in New York City. It consists of 10 prisons housing about 12,000 prisoners under the supervision of 8,000 police officers. The inmates in the facility include local criminals, those unable to post bail, and those serving a one-year term or awaiting a transfer or trial.
The Island’s facilities do not house prisoners receiving life sentences; hence it is not a jail under US law. The facility is home to ten of the Department of Correction’s fifteen facilities, and it can accommodate up to 15,000 prisoners.
Louisiana State Penitentiary
Louisiana State Penitentiary is a facility that holds male inmates with its location in Angola, Louisiana. The facility, often known as Angola, is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States, holding 5,000 convicts under the watchful eye of 2,000 guards. The grounds also house the state’s male death row as well as the state execution chamber. Notably, the 18,000-acre property was once a slave plantation.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic in Louisiana spread to Angola, with ProPublica reporting that deliberately low testing rates concealed a widespread outbreak in the jail population.
Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary
The location of Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary is in Leavenworth, Kansas. It has been home to some famous inmates, including Michael Vick, Bugs Moran, and George Kelly. This medium-security facility is solely for male prisoners and is devoted to enforcing the judgments of the Federal Courts. Currently, there are about 2,000 inmates at the institution.
California State Prison
Journalist Mark Arax investigated the jail in 1996 and found it to be the most dangerous in the state at that time. There has been more inmate kills by prison officers in this facility than in any other. Further, there has been no reasonable explanation for these murders.
People believe that prison authorities in the facility often started most fights among prisoners. Charles Manson and Phillip Garrido, the men responsible for the kidnapping of Jaycee Lee Dugard, are now inmates of the facility.
The Protective Housing Unit and Death Row Unit in the facility have 47 beds available for those who need special protection from other prisoners. As a result, inmates facing death threats from other prisoners have a secure area where they can stay without fear. Despite the description of the Protective Housing Unit as “strikingly silent,” there were fights in 1999. Three inmates attacked Juan Corona, inflicting minor injuries on him, and destroyed Charles Manson’s guitar during the attacks. Three more Protective Housing Unit inmates were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Notably, California State Prison has an acute care hospital where prisoners requiring urgent medical treatments go.
Pelican Bay Prison
Pelican Bay Prison is a state-run SuperMax prison in California. The facility is home to that holds some of the toughest and most dangerous prisoners in the state. The popularity of the facility results from its extensive use of solitary confinement and for keeping a tight lid on its inmates.
Eastern State Penitentiary
The East State Penitentiary is one of America’s most infamous and oldest correctional facilities. The operations began in 1829 until its closure in 1971. Moreover, the facility was the world’s first penitentiary hence gaining its famous status. The inspiration for the facility’s architecture resulted from ideas from the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons.
The operation of the facility was on the belief that only total isolation can successfully rehabilitate a criminal. These beliefs were on the basis of the Philadelphia Society at large. This method is currently known as the Pennsylvania System.
The facility provided a restroom, meal doors, and a small exercise yard in each individual cell to ensure that there was as little interaction between inmates as possible as well as with prison staff. The confinement had its downfalls. Prisoners went in the facility went insane as a result of the solitude. There were many uprisings and escapes in the facility. The authorities ultimately turned the Eastern State Penitentiary into a regular jail for a short period before its closure in 1971. Eastern State Penitentiary now operates as a history museum. It’s also one of the listings on the National Register of Historic Places.