Strict Rules Inmates In A Supermax Prison Have To Follow

"Supermax" is a mash-up word and abbreviation for "super maximum," as in a maximum security prison that's got even more measures, force, and systems in place to keep convicted criminals incarcerated. Many states around the U.S. operate such fearsome facilities, while the Federal Bureau of Prisons counts just one Supermax prison in its portfolio: ADX Florence, located far from civilization in the wilds of Colorado. What makes it different, and so much more severe than other prisons: It was created to house those convicted of the worst crimes imaginable, to make escape impossible, and to ensure that all residents live in almost complete solitary confinement. It's the current home of drug trafficker El Chapo after his incredible escape and recapture and Boston Marathon bombing co-conspirator Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and it's where the Unabomber went after his takedown.

While the stark and brutally punishing Alcatraz off the coast of California could be considered an early Supermax prison, modern Supermax prisons were conceived after inmates at the Marion Federal Prison in Illinois killed two guards and the facility went into around-the-clock lockdown. The Colorado center is now the standard for strict prison life, and its inmates must abide by a stringent system — there are weird prison rules you never knew existed, and they're extreme at ADX Florence. 

In what's one of the most bizarre world records ever, ADX Florence is listed in Guinness World Records as the planet's most secure prison. While most of the prisoners sent there are considered dangerous or violent, the facility doesn't treat everyone the same, operating six different units, each with its own level of security. The Control Unit promises full isolation even during recreation and 23 to 24 hours of daily cell time. Prisoners sent here for behavioral problems are evaluated monthly — if they act up at all, those 30 days don't count toward their sentence. 

Most prisons have a solitary confinement section, but as ADX Florence uses solitary confinement as its standard, its Special Housing Unit is for new inmates and for overflow from the Control Unit. The Special Security Unit is for inmates deemed security risks by a judge, such as gang leaders and terrorists. 

There's also a general population wing, which functions much like the Control Unit but with slightly more time outside cells, up to two hours daily. Step Down Units house prisoners en route from a more strict section into the general population, and they're allowed to converse with other inmates. The least restrictive area is the Kilo Unit. This is where inmates with no history of violence toward guards and no behavioral write-ups for three years are sent to protect their safety — notorious or famous prisoners or those who risk getting attacked in the general population.

Everyone housed in the ADX Florence Supermax prison are there because they've been convicted of particularly reprehensible crimes. Some of those actions are deemed worse than others, in terms of their lasting social or political effects, or the potentially harmful future activities of the inmate who did them. Thus, ADX Florence has a special wing, the Special Security Unit, also known as the Hotel Unit or H Unit, for a particular kind of individual — those imprisoned for acts of terrorism or with demonstrated links to terrorist organizations, or for high-ranking members of criminal gangs.

Such inmates have had "special administrative measures" levied against them, usually via a judicial order. With the courts determining that access to communication channels could lead to more acts of terrorism or hideous crimes, those prisoners are subject to extra security measures. For example, all written materials heading to Special Security Unit inmates are carefully screened and examined by staff, and that includes mail, magazines, books, and newspapers. Their visits and phone calls are also observed and scrutinized.

A prison by its very nature denies its residents of rights, pleasures, and independence in the name of punishment and righting wrong behavior. But when inmates misbehave in a particularly unpleasant or violent manner, they're stripped of one of the little aspects of a regular human existence that remains: social interaction. Prisoners who break the rules in most other facilities may get sent to administrative segregation or "the hole," or a solitary confinement area, where, for an indefinite period, they sit in a tiny box of a cell and are denied all contact with other people. One of the defining characteristics of a Supermax prison, particularly ADX Florence, is that solitary confinement is an ongoing measure. Regular cells are solitary confinement units, and prisoners are kept in there by themselves, with no contact with others, for most of every day.

When prisoners enter ADX Florence, they're immediately sent into an almost completely solitary environment for at least three years. The very worst offenders may find themselves relegated to Range 13, a set of four cells in the already restrictive Special Housing Unit. Isolated from every other section of the prison, inmates there aren't permitted to speak with or see anyone, and prison system critics have likened life in that block to torture.

Supermax prisons are built to hold, restrain, and punish those offenders that the criminal justice system has decided are necessary to isolate from society and other inmates. ADX Florence in Colorado is that kind of place, but being forced to live there doesn't necessarily mean solitary confinement for the remainder of the convicted's life or sentence. The staff continuously evaluates prisoners, and those who can get through their time without causing trouble for themselves, guards, or others are rewarded with modest but significant extra privileges and rights.

Prisoners who behave well may be enrolled in a Step Down program. They're transferred to a special housing unit that allows for an ADX Florence high of three daily hours outside of their cells. At various phases of Step Down, they may earn as many as 300 minutes of monthly phone time and access to a computer and a GED program.

It depends on which block of ADX Florence they've landed, but for most inmates, life in prison means a life spent almost entirely in their prison cell. Across all security levels, an inmate at ADX Florence can expect to be inside their one-man cell for anywhere between 22 and 24 hours a day. Those cells are not the least bit roomy, measuring about 7 feet wide by 12 feet long. Inmates are kept inside with a two-door system. A heavy, locked steel door adjacent to the cell itself is used, as well as a second door covering a small area in front of the residential space.

There is no cafeteria at ADX Florence — prisoners have to take their meals in their cells, which are delivered via a narrow slot in the inner door. That cuts off interaction with other human beings to almost nothing. They may see a guard when food arrives, but otherwise, they won't see other inmates of their own volition, even through the food slot, because cells in every place except Step-Down Units are situated all on one side of a hallway. In that part of the prison, inmates share a common area where their interactions with a couple of others may happen in a watched and limited capacity.

There isn't a lot of room in a cell at the ADX Florence Supermax prison. As a matter of rule, there's just enough space for the absolute basics of existence — nothing frivolous, and only the basic materials needed to sustain existence. Most of the furniture is heavy and thus fixed in place to prevent any weaponization, made of poured concrete. There's a single bed, a shelf-like desk attached to the wall, a bookshelf, and a stool. Windows can often make a space feel roomier and let in some sunlight, but that's not really happening at ADX Florence. The cell design allows for the inclusion of just one window, and it's 42 inches long and only four inches wide. That allows the cell resident to tell whether or not it's day or night outside, but it's angled in such a way that all they're able to make out is the sky, or possibly some brush or another part of the prison campus.

The bathroom facilities are inside the cells at ADX Florence, and not in a separate compartment or area, but right next to the bed. All the plumbing happens with a sink and toilet combo unit made of stainless steel alongside a shower. No prisoner is allowed or is able to take long, hot showers either: It's designed to automatically shut off after just a few minutes of use.

An 84-square-foot cell that serves as one's entire world for almost 24 hours a day, for years on end, with only a couple of pieces of furniture, doesn't offer much in the way of stimulation. That's not a concern for the staff at the ADX Florence Supermax prison. While in their cells, inmates are allowed to do whatever they want, so long as it isn't harmful to themselves or others. "Wasn't much you could do — push-ups, reading," explained Travis Dusenbury, once incarcerated at ADX Florence for 10 years, told The Marshall Project. "You could also write, but the only pens you could get were expensive and then when you got them, they were these little floppy rubber ink pens, the length of a crayon," Dusenbury added, explaining that such implements couldn't be turned into a knife.

Inmates in good standing are supplied with a small radio for their cell, as well as a TV (but as a rule, nobody in the Special Security Unit). The radio broadcasts music only from prison-based stations, while the television set is a source of a few entertainment options, but primarily religious and educational programming. Adherent prisoners participate in church services held completely via TV, with no physical congregating allowed. Classes are delivered in the same remote, televisual fashion.

A very small percentage of one's time at the ADX Florence Supermax prison is spent outside of the cell. Trips beyond the two metal doors into other parts of the facility are exceedingly seldom, but they still don't take the prisoner all that far from the place where they spend almost 24 hours a day. Inmates are only allowed to leave the cell at all for a handful of pre-arranged purposes, such as a visit to the law library. There isn't a giant room full of law books on the premises that prisoners can access. In the higher-security wings of ADX Florence, that library is truly just an empty cell, located within the inmate's cell block unit, which has been equipped with a computer that's been adulterated to research only pertinent materials.

Close to the makeshift law library is another empty space set aside to be an observation cell. That's where an inmate will be sent if authorities deem them a risk for suicide and they need to be watched closely, if there's been a behavioral incident in which the prisoner damaged ADX Florence property in their cells, or where residents will field a phone call with their attorney. Medical treatments and check-ups are administered outside cells as well, in an exam room set up near the observation cell and law library.

Inmates are allowed to exercise in their rooms, as much as a tiny cell can allow. Beyond privately conducted calisthenics with no equipment, prisoners are allowed regular or occasional periods of physical activity. For an average of approximately one hour at a time, prisoners will be escorted out of their cells by a team of three to five guards to an exercise and recreation area. (However, according to a former resident of ADX Florence, staff may cancel such periods at will and with no reason given.) 

During the transfer, inmates are restrained at the wrists and ankles with handcuffs and shackles, respectively, where they wind up in an indoor room equipped with a pull-up bar, or on alternating days, an outside pen. For Control Unit prisoners, recreation takes place in one of six empty concrete rooms, while general population inmates work out — doing pull-ups, or walking or running around within a radius of about 10 steps — in a concrete room with a barred ceiling while they're free to look at and talk with others. Special Security Unit prisoners get exercise time in a similar area, but they're only allowed to work out in a solitary manner. The Kilo Unit has a common area outfitted with one stationary bicycle, according to the District of Columbia Corrections Information Council.

The regular exercise of prisoners is also important for security. It's while inmates are out of their cells that guards conduct thorough and routine searches for contraband.

ADX Florence works under a system of almost total solitary confinement. If certain eligible prisoners continue to show signs of rehabilitation and positive behavior, they may find themselves rewarded in the form of less time alone. One aspect of the multi-tiered Step Down system covers exercise time. Preferred prisoners may take their regular periods of exercise and relaxation in a larger but still confined outdoor space. "You could see the sky," former ADX Florence resident Travis Dusenbury told The Marshall Project. "You were with two to seven people at a time, instead of just yourself."

Prisoners that the staff declares trustworthy, and who aren't under some kind of security restriction or living in one of the most secure wings of ADX Florence, may experience another benefit: labor. The vast majority of residents of this center don't get to have jobs, unlike at many other prisons. At a Supermax facility, work is coveted because it leads to more precious social interaction. Only one resident per unit may hold the position of orderly at any given time. "Sometimes I was the 'orderly' and would go around to different cells on the unit, cleaning up," Dusenbury explained.

Life is characteristically and purposely solo at ADX Florence, with very little interaction between inmates and between inmates and members of the staff. But the Supermax prison does allow for some contact with the world outside its impenetrable walls, albeit with some caveats and expected restrictions. In-person visits are allowed, but the nature of the prison makes it difficult for all parties. 

Florence ADX was constructed in a hard-to-access spot. It's about 40 miles South of Colorado Springs and roughly 115 miles from Denver. Without a car, there aren't a lot of travel options to and away from the prison, let alone hotel rooms for visitors. Most units can accept visitors on Thursday through Sunday, with the Special Security Unit inmates subject to guests from Monday through Wednesday. Under a rule of "special administrative days," visits are banned on those 34 annual days.

Upon arrival at Florence ADX, visitors are selectively but not necessarily screened by an Ion Spectrometry device to look for banned, illegal, and dangerous objects. They then proceed to a room that holds eight visitation stalls, although only one inmate and their guests are allowed in the area at any given time. There's no physical contact between inmates and their visitors allowed — they speak via a direct telephone line and are separated by transparent glass. For inmates for whom a phone call is more appropriate, they're allowed one a month, and it can't last longer than 15 minutes. And while prisoners speak to visitors, guards conduct cell checks.