History

An early form of supermax-style prison unit appeared in Australia in 1975, when "Katingal" was built inside the Long Bay Correctional Centre in Sydney. Dubbed the "electronic zoo" by inmates, "Katingal" was a super-maximum prison block designed for sensory deprivation, with its 40 prison cells having electronically-operated doors, surveillance cameras, and no windows. It was closed down two years later over human rights concerns, and was finally demolished in early 2006.

Prisoner life

In Supermax prisons, prisoners are generally allowed out of their cells for only an hour a day; often they are kept in solitary confinement. They receive their meals through "food ports" ("bean holes") in the doors of their cells. Prisoners are given no work and very little access to leisure activities, though some categories of prisoner are allowed to have a television. When Supermax inmates are allowed to exercise, this may take place in a small, enclosed area where the prisoner will exercise alone.

Controversy

Supermax/SHU prisons are somewhat controversial in some quarters, as some claim ^[2] that they violate the United States Constitution (though courts disagree), and in 1996, a United Nations team assigned to investigate torture described SHU conditions as "inhuman and degrading". ^[3]

Prisons with supermax facilities

United States

Maximum security prisons in other countries

• Al Hayer Prison, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• Goulburn Correctional Centre, Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia
• Centro de Readaptação Provisória de Presidente Bernardes, Presidente Bernardes, São Paulo, Brazil, inspired by the Supermax standards, although prisoners can only stay there for a maximum of 180 days.
• Penitenciária Federal de Catanduvas, Catanduvas, Paraná, Brazil, also based on the Supermax standards. It is the first federal prison in Brazil, designed to receive prisioners deemed too dangerous to be kept in the states' prison systems.
• Penitenciaría de Combita, Colombia, follows supermax specifications, hosts terrorists and drug lords.
• C Max, Pretoria, South Africa, for violent and disruptive prisoners.

Well-known supermax inmates

• Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber
• Charles Harrelson, father of actor Woody Harrelson
• Dandeny Munoz-Mosquera, former chief assassin for the Medellín Cartel of Colombia
• Lee Boyd Malvo, conspirator in the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks
• Terry Nichols, conspirator in the Oklahoma City bombing
• Richard Reid, the "shoe bomber"
• Eric Robert Rudolph, abortion clinic and 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bomber
• Carlos Lehder, Colombian cocaine trafficker, a founding member of the Medellín Cartel
• Christopher "Rizler" William Smith "Minnesota spam king"
• Zacarias Moussaoui, the alleged "20th hijacker" in the September 11, 2001 attacks. Spared the death penalty when it was determined he was not directly involved in the 9/11 attacks.
• Ivan Milat, Australia's worst serial killer. Responsible for the backpacker murders.
• Ramzi Yusef, World Trade Center bomber.

Books and movies at maximum security units