Supermax Prison - wikipedia Supermax Prison `` Supermax '' redirects here. For other uses, see Supermax ( disambiguation ). This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. ( Learn how and when to remove these template messages ) This article needs attention from an expert in Law. Please add a reason or a talk parameter to this template to explain the issue with the article. WikiProject Law may be able to help recruit an expert. ( December 2014 ) The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. ( December 2014 ) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( January 2013 ) United States Penitentiary, Florence ADX Supermax ( short for : super-maximum security ) is a primarily U.S. English term used to describe `` control - unit '' prisons, or units within prisons, which represent the most secure levels of custody in the prison systems of certain countries. The objective is to provide long - term, segregated housing for inmates classified as the highest security risks in the prison system -- the `` worst of the worst '' criminals -- and those who pose a threat to both national and global security. Contents 1 Characteristics 2 History 3 Controversy 4 Prisons with supermax facilities 4.1 North America 4.1. 1 United States 4.1. 2 Canada 4.1. 3 Mexico 4.2 South America 4.2. 1 Brazil 4.2. 2 Colombia 4.3 Europe 4.3. 1 United Kingdom 4.4 Africa 4.5 Asia 4.6 Australia 5 Popular media 6 See also 7 References 8 External links Characteristics According to the National Institute of Corrections, an agency of the United States government, `` A supermax is a stand - alone unit or part of another facility and is designated for violent or disruptive inmates. It typically involves up to 23 - hour - per - day, single - cell confinement for an indefinite period of time. Inmates in supermax housing have minimal contact with staff and other inmates, '' a definition confirmed by a majority of prison wardens. Leena Kurki and Norval Morris have argued there is no absolute definition of a supermax, and that different jurisdictions classify prisons as supermax inconsistently. They identify four general features that tend to characterize supermax prisons : Long - term -- Once transferred to a supermax prison, prisoners tend to stay there for several years or indefinitely. Powerful administration -- Supermax administrators and Correctional Officers have ample authority to punish and manage inmates, without outside review or prisoner grievance systems. Solitary confinement -- Supermax prisons rely heavily on intensive ( and long - term ) solitary confinement, which is used to isolate and punish prisoners as well as to protect them from themselves and each other. Communication with outsiders is minimal to none. No activities -- Few opportunities are provided for recreation, education, substance abuse programs, or other activities generally considered healthy and rehabilitative at other prisons. In supermax, prisoners are generally allowed out of their cells for only one hour a day ( one - and - a-half hours in California state prisons ) ; often they are kept in solitary confinement. They receive their meals through ports in the doors of their cells. When supermax inmates are allowed to exercise, this may take place in a small, enclosed area where the prisoner will exercise alone. Prisoners are under constant surveillance, usually with closed - circuit television cameras. Cell doors are usually opaque, while the cells may be windowless. Conditions are plain, with poured concrete or metal furniture common. Cell walls, and sometimes plumbing, may be soundproofed to prevent communication between the inmates. History Alcatraz Island is a historical prototype of the supermax prison standard. The United States Penitentiary Alcatraz Island, opened in 1934, has been considered a prototype and early standard for a supermax prison. 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 security prison block with 40 prison cells having electronically operated doors, surveillance cameras, and no windows. It was closed down two years later over human rights concerns. Since then, some maximum - security prisons have gone to full lockdown as well, while others have been built and dedicated to the supermax standard. Supermax prisons began to proliferate within the United States after 1984. Prior to 1984 only one prison in the U.S. met `` supermax '' standards : the Federal Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois. By 1999, the United States contained at least 57 supermax facilities, spread across 30 -- 34 states. The push for this type of prison came after two correctional officers at Marion, Merle Clutts and Robert Hoffman, were stabbed to death in two separate incidents by inmates Thomas Silverstein and Clayton Fountain. This prompted Norman Carlson, director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, to call for a new type of prison to isolate uncontrollable inmates. In Carlson 's view, such a prison was the only way to deal with inmates who `` show absolutely no concern for human life ''. The Federal Bureau of Prisons ' solitary confinement units are known as Special Housing Units ( SHU ). In recent years a number of U.S. states have downgraded their supermax prisons, as has been done with Wallens Ridge State Prison, a former supermax prison in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. Other supermax prisons that have gained notoriety for their harsh conditions and attendant litigation by inmates and advocates are the former Boscobel ( in Wisconsin ), now named the Wisconsin Secure Program Facility, Red Onion State Prison ( in western Virginia, the twin to Wallens Ridge State Prison ), Tamms ( in Illinois ), and the Ohio State Penitentiary. Placement policies at the Ohio facility were the subject of a U.S. Supreme Court case ( Wilkinson v. Austin ) in 2005 where the Court decided that there had to be some, but only very limited, due process involved in supermax placement. There is only one supermax prison in the United States federal system, ADX Florence in Florence, Colorado. It houses several inmates who have a history of violent behavior in other prisons, with the goal of moving them from solitary confinement for 23 hours a day to a less restrictive prison within three years. However, it is best known for housing several inmates who have been deemed either too dangerous, too high - profile or too great a national security risk for even a maximum - security prison. Residents include Timothy McVeigh, perpetrator of the Oklahoma City Bombing who was executed by lethal injection at the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute on June 11, 2001 ; Theodore Kaczynski, a domestic terrorist otherwise known as the Unabomber, who once attacked via mail bombs ; Robert Hanssen, an American FBI agent turned Soviet spy ; Terry Nichols, McVeigh 's accomplice in the Oklahoma City Bombing ; Richard Reid, known as the `` Shoe Bomber '', who was jailed for life for attempting to detonate explosive materials in his shoes while on board an aircraft ; Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the underwear bomber ; Richard Lee McNair, a persistent prison escapee ; Charles Harrelson, a hitman who was convicted in 1979 of killing Federal Judge John H. Wood Jr. ; and Vito Rizzuto, boss of the `` Sixth '' Mafia `` Family, '' released on October 5, 2012. The maximum security facility in Colorado is the only federal Super Max in the United States. It is reserved for federal crimes. The Boston Marathon Bomber was housed there. Deprivation of social contact and the isolation of inmates has some unintended positive and negative effects. Inmates are safer being in isolation, and prisons create more jobs for their local communities. Super max prisons however are extremely expensive to run and can cost about three times the national average for a maximum security facility. However, many states now have created supermax prisons, either as stand - alone facilities or as secure units within lower - security prisons. State supermax prisons include Pelican Bay in California and Tamms in Illinois. The USP in Marion, Illinois was recently downgraded to a medium - security facility. Some facilities such as California State Prison, Corcoran ( COR ) are hybrids incorporating a supermax partition, housing high security prisoners such as Charles Manson. In September 2001, the Australian state of New South Wales opened a facility in the Goulburn Correctional Centre to the supermax standard. While its condition is an improvement over that of Katingal of the 1970s, this new facility is nonetheless designed on the same principle of sensory deprivation. It has been set up for ' AA ' prisoners who are deemed a risk to public safety and the instruments of government and civil order, or believed to be beyond rehabilitation. Corrections Victoria in the state of Victoria also operates the Acacia and Maleuca units at Barwon Prison which serve to hold the prisoners requiring the highest security in that state including Melbourne Gangland figures such as Tony Mokbel and Carl Williams, who was murdered in the Acacia unit in 2010. Controversy Supermax and Security Housing Unit ( SHU ) prisons are controversial. One criticism is that the living conditions in such facilities violate the United States Constitution, specifically, the Eighth Amendment 's proscription against `` cruel and unusual '' punishments. In 1996, a United Nations team assigned to investigate torture described SHU conditions as `` inhuman and degrading ''. A 2011 New York Bar association comprehensive study suggested that supermax prisons constitute `` torture under international law '' and `` cruel and unusual punishment under the U.S. Constitution ''. In 2012, a federal class action suit against the Federal Bureau of Prisons and officials who run ADX Florence SHU ( Bacote v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, Civil Action 1 : 12 - cv - 01570 ) alleged chronic abuse, failure to properly diagnose prisoners, and neglect of prisoners who are seriously mentally ill. The suit was dismissed. Prisons with supermax facilities This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( September 2010 ) North america United States Allan B. Polunsky Unit houses State of Texas supermax units Mississippi State Penitentiary houses State of Mississippi supermax units This list is incomplete ; you can help by expanding it. Most of these facilities only contain supermax wings or sections, with other parts of the facility under lesser security measures. Alabama Holman Correctional Facility -- Atmore, Alabama Arizona ASPC - Eyman, SMU I -- Florence, Arizona ASPC - Eyman, Browning Unit ( Previously SMU II ) -- Florence, Arizona United States Penitentiary -- Tucson, Arizona Arkansas Varner Supermax -- Lincoln County, Arkansas California United States Penitentiary -- Atwater, California Pelican Bay State Prison -- Crescent City, California Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary -- San Francisco, California ( Closed March 21, 1963 ) California Correctional Institution, Tehachapi, California High Desert State Prison -- Susanville, California Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility - San Ysidro, California Colorado Colorado State Penitentiary -- Cañon City, Colorado U.S. Penitentiary, Administrative Maximum Facility ( ADX Florence ) -- Florence, Colorado Connecticut Northern Correctional Institution -- Somers, Connecticut Florida United States Penitentiary -- Coleman, Florida Florida State Prison -- Raiford, Florida Georgia United States Penitentiary -- Atlanta, Georgia Idaho Idaho Maximum Security Institution -- Boise, Idaho Illinois United States Penitentiary -- Marion, Illinois ( Downgraded to a medium - security facility in September 2006 ) Tamms Correctional Center -- Tamms, Illinois ( Closed January 2013 ) Menard Correctional Center - Chester, Illinois Indiana Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, SHU -- Carlisle, Indiana United States Penitentiary -- Terre Haute, Indiana Westville Correctional Facility, WCU -- Westville, Indiana Kansas United States Disciplinary Barracks -- Fort Leavenworth, Kansas ( military prison ) United States Penitentiary -- Leavenworth, Kansas ( being downgraded to medium security ) Kentucky Kentucky State Penitentiary -- Eddyville, Kentucky ( the only prison in Kentucky housing supermax units ) Louisiana Louisiana State Penitentiary -- West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana United States Penitentiary Pollock Maine Maine State Prison -- Warren, Maine ( contains only 1 supermax unit ) Maryland Maryland Correctional Adjustment Center -- Baltimore, Maryland North Branch Correctional Institution -- Cumberland, Maryland ( final housing unit began operation in summer of 2008 ) Massachusetts Souza - Baranowski Correctional Center - Lancaster, Massachusetts Massachusetts Correctional Institution -- Cedar Junction -- Walpole, Massachusetts Minnesota Minnesota Correctional Facility Oak Park Heights -- Oak Park Heights, Minnesota ( Although Oak Park Heights is classified as a Supermax, the majority of inmates are not housed in solitary confinement ) Mississippi Mississippi State Penitentiary -- Sunflower County, Mississippi ( Unit 32 ) Missouri Jefferson City Correctional Center -- Jefferson City, Missouri Potosi, SECC, SCCC, Chillicothe, etc New Hampshire New Hampshire State Prison -- Men -- Concord, New Hampshire New Jersey New Jersey State Prison -- Trenton, New Jersey East Jersey State Prison -- Woodbridge, New Jersey Northern State Prison -- Newark, New Jersey Essex County Correctional Facility -- Newark, New Jersey New Mexico Penitentiary of New Mexico -- unincorporated Santa Fe County, New Mexico -- Uses the Bureau Classification System -- Level 6 being Supermax New York Attica Correctional Facility -- Attica, New York Upstate Correctional Facility -- Malone, New York Sing Sing Correctional Facility -- Ossining, New York Southport Correctional Facility -- ( disciplinary supermax prison with only solitary confinement ), Pine City, New York North Carolina Polk Correctional Institution -- Butner, North Carolina Ohio Ohio State Penitentiary -- Youngstown, Ohio Oklahoma Oklahoma State Penitentiary -- McAlester, Oklahoma Oregon Oregon State Penitentiary -- Salem, Oregon Pennsylvania United States Penitentiary -- Allenwood, Pennsylvania United States Penitentiary -- Lewisburg, Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution Greene -- Waynesburg, Pennsylvania South Carolina Kirkland Maximum Security Institution -- Columbia, South Carolina Tennessee Riverbend Maximum Security Institution -- Nashville, Tennessee Texas United States Penitentiary -- Jefferson County, Texas Estelle High Security Unit -- W.J. Estelle Unit -- Walker County, Texas Allan B. Polunsky Unit ( formerly Terrell Unit ) -- West Livingston, Texas Utah Utah State Prison -- Draper, Utah Virginia Wallens Ridge State Prison -- Big Stone Gap, Virginia Red Onion State Prison -- Wise County, Virginia Washington Washington State Penitentiary West Virginia Mt. Olive Correctional Complex -- Fayette County, West Virginia Wisconsin Wisconsin Secure Program Facility -- Boscobel, Wisconsin Canada Millhaven Institution ( Bath, Ontario, Canada ) -- Houses non-Canadian citizens being held by security certificates Special Handling Unit ( Sainte - Anne - des - Plaines, Quebec ) -- Houses Canada 's most dangerous and violent inmates Mexico Penal del Altiplano -- Almoloya de Juarez, State of Mexico. Full Supermax and the only facility of this kind in Mexico. South america Brazil In Brazil, the `` regime disciplinar diferenciado '' ( differentiated disciplinary regime ), known by the acronym RDD, and strongly based on the Supermax standard, was created primarily to handle inmates who are considered capable of continuing to run their crime syndicate or to order criminal actions from within the prison system, when confined in normal maximum security prisons that allow contact with other inmates. Since its inception, the following prisons were prepared for the housing of RDD inmates : 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 2 years. Is a part of the prison system of the Brazilian State of São Paulo. Penitenciária Federal de Catanduvas ( Catanduvas, Paraná, Brazil ) -- also based on the supermax standards. It is the first federal prison in Brazil, designed to receive prisoners deemed too dangerous to be kept in the states ' prison systems ( in Brazil, ordinarily, both convicts sentenced by States ' courts or by the Federal Judiciary fulfill their prison terms in state - run prisons ; the Federal Prison System was created to handle only the most dangerous prisoners in Brazil, such as major drug lords, convicted either by the Federal Judiciary or by the judiciary of a state ). Penitenciária Federal de Campo Grande ( Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil ) -- the second of two Brazilian Federal prisons based on the supermax specifications. Colombia Penitenciaría de Cómbita ( Colombia ) -- follows supermax specifications, hosts terrorists and drug lords. Establecimiento Penitenciario de Alta y Mediana Seguridad de Girón EPAMSGIRON. Europe Portlaoise Prison ( Portlaoise, Ireland ) -- One of the most secure prisons in Europe, protected full time by members of the Irish Defence Forces. Held many convicted IRA prisoners. Nieuw Vosseveld -- Dutch High Security prison in Vught Stammheim Prison -- German High Security Prison, partly purpose - built to keep Red Army Faction terrorists in the 1970s and 1980s. Politigårdens Fængsel -- ( Copenhagen -- Denmark ) There are 25 maximum security cells located in the prison of the central police station of Copenhagen The State Prison of East Jutland -- ( Horsens -- Denmark ) -- High Security Prison. Holds many of Denmark 's most dangerous criminals. Penal colony No 6 Federal Penitentiary Service -- Sol - Iletsk -- Russia -- correctional facility in Sol - Iletsk, Orenburg Oblast, Russia. Kumla Prison, Hall Prison and Saltvik Prison -- Sweden -- All three prisons have a similar security unit called Fenix, which can house 24 inmates. Asinara Prison, Sardinia -- Often described as the `` Italian Alcatraz '' for its very low succeeded evasion rate, housed criminals with Mafia - related charges, such as Totò Riina, in a restrictive detention condition known as Article 41 - bis prison regime, Italy 's notorious bandits, such as Graziano Mesina and Matteo Boe and many criminals connected to terrorist organizations, the most known being Brigate Rosse. United Kingdom Her Majesty 's Prison Belmarsh -- London, England, United Kingdom -- many of the terrorists of the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot are imprisoned there. Her Majesty 's Prison Frankland -- Durham, England, United Kingdom -- High Security Prison with a special unit for prisoners suffering from Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorders. Her Majesty 's Prison Full Sutton -- York, England, United Kingdom -- High Security Prison. Her Majesty 's Prison Long Lartin -- Worcestershire, England, United Kingdom -- High Security Prison. Her Majesty 's Prison Maghaberry -- Lisburn, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom -- High Security Prison Her Majesty 's Prison Manchester -- Strangeways, Manchester, England, United Kingdom -- High Security Prison with a special unit for prisoners suffering from Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorders. Her Majesty 's Prison Shotts -- Scotland -- High Security Prison. Holds some of the UK 's most dangerous and violent criminals. Her Majesty 's Prison Whitemoor -- March, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom -- houses up to 500 of the most dangerous criminals in the UK. It has a unit known as the ' Close Supervision Centre ' which is referred to as a `` Prison inside a Prison ''. It has a special unit for prisoners with Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorders. Her Majesty 's Prison Wakefield -- Wakefield, England, United Kingdom -- High Security Prison with a ' Close Supervision Centre ' Her Majesty 's Prison Woodhill -- Milton Keynes, England, United Kingdom -- High Security Prison with a specialist ' Close Supervision Centre '. Africa C Max ( Pretoria, South Africa ) -- for violent and disruptive prisoners. Asia Gyeongbuk Northern the Second Correctional Center ( Prison ), Cheongsong, Gyeongsangbuk - do, South Korea KEMTA, Taiping, Perak Malaysia Al Hayer Prison ( Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ) Bilibid Prison ( Manila, Philippines ) -- Large maximum security prison with around 17,000 - 20,000 convicted prisoners. White Swan -- Russian maximum - security prison for convicts sentenced to life imprisonment. Al - Muwaqqar II Correctional and Rehabilitation Center is a super maximum security prison with 240 cells in Jordan, see also Correction centers in Jordan. It is designed to hold incorrigibly violent inmates in separate isolation cells. Khao Bin Central Prison, Ratchaburi, Thailand -- Supermax facility being opened in the first half of 2014. Australia Goulburn Correctional Centre -- Full Supermax prison, highest level of security in Australia -- 75 - bed centre, ( Goulburn, New South Wales ). Casuarina Prison -- Special Handling Unit ( SHU ) ( Perth, Western Australia ) Risdon Prison -- 8 cell Tamar Unit ( Risdon Vale, Tasmania ) Barwon Prison -- Barwon Supermax ( Lara, Victoria ) Port Phillip Prison -- Charlotte unit ( Laverton, Victoria ) Brisbane Correctional Centre -- 18 - cell Maximum Security Unit ( Brisbane, Queensland ) Alexander Maconochie Centre -- 12 - cell Supermax Section ( Hume, Australian Capital Territory ) Yatala Labour Prison -- G Division ( Northfield, South Australia ) Alice Springs Correctional Centre -- 12 - cell Supermax Unit ( Alice Springs, Northern Territory ) Popular media `` Maximum Insecurity, '' an Amazon bestseller, gives an inside look at the medical system at the Colorado State Penitentiary. In the Season 2 Finale of Arrow, Oliver places Slade Wilson in a Supermax facility designed by A.R.G.U.S.. The movie `` Escape Plan '' starring Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jim Caviezel is based on an ocean based `` supermax facility '' See also List of prisons Penology Panopticon Solitary confinement Incarceration in the United States ( security levels ) Article 41 - bis prison regime the Italian high security treatment for Mafiosi and terrorists Prisoner security categories in the United Kingdom F - type Prisons ( Turkey ) References Jump up ^ Mears, Daniel. `` Evaluating the Effectiveness of Supermax Prisons '' ( PDF ). Urban Institute -- Justice Policy Center. Retrieved 16 May 2012. Jump up ^ Daniel P. Mears, `` Evaluating the Effectiveness of Supermax Prisons '', Urban Institute, March 2006. ^ Jump up to : Leena Kurki and Norval Morris, `` The Purposes, Practices, and Problems of Supermax Prisons '', Crime and Justice 28, 2001 ; accessed via JStor. Jump up ^ Shalev, S. ( 2009 ) Supermax : controlling risk by solitary confinement. Cullompton : Willan Publishing. Jump up ^ Carlson, Peter M. ; Garrett, Judith Simon, Prison and Jail Administration : Practice and Theory, Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 1999. Cf. Chapter 35, p. 252, `` Supermaximum Facilities '', by David A. Ward. Jump up ^ Kennedy, Les ( 19 May 2004 ). `` Final release for Katingal, misguided experiment in extreme jails ''. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 January 2012. ^ Jump up to : Taylor, Michael ( 2011 - 06 - 23 ). `` The Last Worst Place ''. The San Francisco Chronicle. Jump up ^ `` USP McCreary, Visiting Regulations '' accessed May 1, 2008 http://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/mcr/MCR_visit_hours.pdf Jump up ^ Wilkinson v. Austin 04 - 495 ( 2005 ), Link to case text Jump up ^ Vick, Karl ( September 30, 2007 ). `` Isolating the Menace In a Sterile Supermax ''. Washington Post. pp. A03. Retrieved 21 December 2007. Jump up ^ `` Just how bad are American ' supermax ' prisons ? ''. BBC News. 10 April 2012. Jump up ^ `` Woody Harrelson 's Father Dies In Prison ''. cbsnews.com. 21 March 2007. Retrieved 8 March 2015. Jump up ^ Template : Montreal Gazette Jump up ^ Mears, Daniel P. `` Evaluating the Effectiveness of Super max Prisons. '' PsycEXTRA Dataset ( 2006 ) : n. pag. NCJRS, Jan. 2006. Web. 22 Nov. 2015. Jump up ^ Riveland, C. ( 1999 ) Supermax prisons : overview and general considerations. Washington D.C. : U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Corrections ^ Jump up to : Masters, Chris ( 17 November 2005 ). `` SuperMax ''. Four Corners. Retrieved 4 January 2012. Jump up ^ Watson, Rhett ( 9 May 2009 ). `` Inside the walls of SuperMax prison, Goulburn ''. The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 4 January 2012. Jump up ^ PrisonActivist.org -- California 's Security Housing Units. Jump up ^ Paglen.com -- Security Housing Unit Jump up ^ ( 1 ) -- The Brutality of Supermax Confinement Jump up ^ Cohen, Andrew ( 18 June 2012 ) An American Gulag : Descending into Madness at Supermax The Atlantic, Retrieved 20 June 2012 Jump up ^ `` USP Marion ''. bop.gov. Retrieved 8 March 2015. Jump up ^ http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/lockdown/episodes/inside-maximum-security/ Jump up ^ `` George Bell III Transferred from Parchman. '' WLBT. August 18, 2008. Retrieved on August 10, 2010. Jump up ^ Ward, Mike. `` Hunt is on for escaped killer. '' Austin American - Statesman. June 29, 1999. A1. Retrieved on November 27, 2010. `` Clifford Dwayne Jones ' escape from the Estelle High - Security Unit on Sunday afternoon was the first from a Texas prison this year and the first from the `` super max '' lockup, as the unit is called. '' Jump up ^ Ward, Mike. `` Death row inmates free guard, meet with activists. '' Austin American - Statesman. February 23, 2000. `` A prison guard held hostage by two execution - bound killers inside Texas ' ` ` super maxdeath row (... ) '' and `` Tuesday deep inside the maximum - security Terrell Unit just outside (... ) '' Jump up ^ `` The Commandos Fact File From Inside The Gangsters ' Code on DiscoveryUK.com ''. discoveryuk.com. Retrieved 8 March 2015. Jump up ^ `` Prison troublemakers face ' supermax ' unit ''. The Nation. 30 June 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2015. Jump up ^ Wright, William ( 2013 - 12 - 19 ). Maximum Insecurity. William Wright. ISBN 1492895202. Jump up ^ `` Escape Plan ''. IMDB. Retrieved 27 February 2016. External links Supermaxed : Supermax and Maximum Security Prison Website California 's Security Housing Units Recording Carceral Landscapes : Security Housing Unit Supermax lockup for spammer Rizler The Resistable ( sic ) Rise and Predictable Fall of the U.S. Supermax by Stephen F. Eisenman, Monthly Review, November 2009 Incarceration Science Correctional medicine Criminology Penology Punishment Stanford prison experiment Prisoners Criminal Detainee Hostage Political prisoner Prisoner of conscience Prisoner of war Slave Prisons Types Black site Dark Debtors ' Extermination camp Farm Internment Labor camp Military Penal colony Corrective labor colony Prisoner - of - war camp Private Ship Youth detention center Security levels Administrative detention Death row Maximum security Open Supermax Components Cell Solitary confinement Commissary Cemetery Food Library Nursery Officer Warden Sally port Superintendent Trusty system Escape List of prison escapes Helicopter prison escapes Prisoner - of - war escapes Culture Film Gang ( United States ) Handball Literature Blogs American Prison ring Slang Tattooing Social issues Abuse ( United States ) Contemplative programs Solitary confinement Education LGBT people Mentally ill people in the United States Mobile phones Pay - to - stay Overcrowding Private prisons Rape ( United States ) Religion ( United States ) Riots Sexuality Strikes Suicide Protective custody Women in prison ( United States ) Organizations International Network of Prison Ministries African Prisons Project Florida Justice Institute POA ( trade union ) Prison abolition movement Prison Advice and Care Trust Prison Fellowship Prison Fellowship International Prison Legal News Prison Officers ' Association ( Ireland ) Prison Radio Prison Reform Trust Prison University Project The Prison Phoenix Trust WriteAPrisoner.com Leaving prison Escape Rehabilitation Work release Lists Countries by incarceration rate Prisons By country Australia China Chile Estonia Germany India Ireland Jamaica Japan North Korea Russia Soviet Union Gulag Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom United States Imprisonment and detention Commons Criminal justice portal Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Supermax_prison&oldid=803618270 '' Categories : Supermax prisons Prisons Hidden categories : All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from September 2017 Articles needing expert attention with no reason or talk parameter Articles needing expert attention from December 2014 All articles needing expert attention Law articles needing expert attention Articles with limited geographic scope from December 2014 USA - centric Articles needing additional references from January 2013 All articles needing additional references All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from April 2010 All articles with vague or ambiguous time Vague or ambiguous time from January 2017 Articles needing additional references from September 2010 Incomplete lists from August 2008 Articles with unsourced statements from November 2010 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Esperanto Français Polski Русский Suomi Edit links This page was last edited on 3 October 2017, at 16 : 27. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: what is the main purpose of the supermax prison ​
Answer: to provide long-term, segregated housing for inmates classified as the highest security risks in the prison system—the "worst of the worst" criminals—and those who pose a threat to both national and global security