Who is the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition?

Our mission is to reverse the trend of mass incarceration in Colorado. We are a coalition of nearly 7,000 individual members and over 100 faith and community organizations who have united to stop perpetual prison expansion in Colorado through policy and sentence reform.

Our chief areas of interest include drug policy reform, women in prison, racial injustice, the impact of incarceration on children and families, the problems associated with re-entry and stopping the practice of using private prisons in our state.

If you would like to be involved please go to our website and become a member.


Saturday, September 15, 2007

CNN - Reporters Get First Look Inside Supermax

CNN justice producer Terry Frieden was part of the first-ever media tour of the U.S. Bureau of Prison's Administrative Maximum prison -- also known as "Supermax." What follows is Frieden's account of his experience.

art.supermax.gi.jpg

A file photo of the SuperMax prison taken when the facility opened 13 years ago.

FLORENCE, Colorado (CNN) -- Visiting Supermax, the "Alcatraz of the Rockies," reveals nothing so much as an astonishing and eerie quiet.

It's not what one would expect of a place that houses 473 notorious terrorists, vicious murderers and violent, disruptive escape-prone inmates brought in from other federal penitentiaries.

I've visited noisy, boisterous state and federal prisons, where inmates scream for a visitor's attention or proclaim their innocence.

But at Supermax -- officially called "Administrative Maximum," or ADX -- everything is very tightly controlled, with nothing left to chance, so there is no particular sense of a threat, no feeling of vulnerability. View an explainer of Supermax's security »

Corrections officials were blunt in explaining their reason for finally inviting reporters, albeit without cameras, to peek behind the heavy metal gates for the first time since the penitentiary opened 13 years ago.

"This is about dispelling myths and rumors," said Warden Ron Wiley.

Myths that particularly rile prison officials are reports that Supermax, southwest of Colorado Springs, is a dungeon where inmates are cast aside to rot and die, and that the prison is underground, which it obviously is not. View a map of Supermax's location »

The first hint of the level of control throughout Supermax is the cumbersome, time-consuming security procedures we visitors (already cleared for admittance) were subjected to.

I expect metal detectors these days, but despite possessing my Justice Department-issued photo ID, I still had to be photographed by the Bureau of Prisons, which is part of the Justice Department. Even Bureau of Prisons executives had to display their credentials to guards time and time again.

Prison officials also have been bugged by rumors that the penitentiary was not entirely safe and secure, and that the lack of adequate staffing and a perimeter fence were potential problems to the community.

Bureau officials insist allegations of inadequate security were fueled by corrections labor unions wanting more staffing, but complaints caught the attention of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Colorado Sens. Ken Salazar and Wayne Allard, all of whom visited.

In the end, it was agreed that a $10 million perimeter fence wasn't needed.

The handful of journalists allowed in were not allowed to see the headline-grabbing terrorists isolated under specially designed procedures. We didn't get a glimpse of Zacharias Moussaoui, Ramzi Yousef, Richard Reid, Theodore Kaczynski or Terry Nichols. But we've seen them in court, and they're not the guys you'd most fear.


CNN

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is an perfect example of spin. There is no rumors of understaffing "fermented" by labor unions wanting more staff. The union wants the BOP to staff this facility as the level THE BOP says is the minimum for safe and secure operations. To back the union's claim, there is a federal arbitrator, OIG reports, and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales himself admitting there are problems (and getting the Attorney General to admit to anything seems to be no small feat). Also, now we seem to be back to the $10 million figure for the perimeter fence. What happened to the $23 million plus it was suppose to cost when it was still under consideration for funding? Why isn't there any mention that it was the BOP that put the fence into their budget request for four year in a row. Why don't they suddenly want it when it is offered by Congress?

Also, why is it that every story that was "fermented" by the union had some attempt by the reporter to get BOP management's side of it - funny that there was no attempt here to contact any union official that I am aware of.

For CNN this is very amateurish and lazy reporting. This story is simply amazing and Terry Frieden needs to be ashamed for writing it and trying to pass it off as real news.

Anonymous said...

I don't think the Supermax is totally safe for the prisoners either, from what I've heard. This is not a blanket statement against the people who live and/or work at the Supermax, but rather against "the system" (nationwide down to city level). I am very grateful I found this site. It gives me hope.

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