Supermax: A Double Edged Sword

In a recent Time article, Jeffry Kluger attempted to address the inheirent problems of America’s SuperMax prisons (1). We have all heard of county prisons, state and federal prisons, and even the infamous maximum security prisons, however, I was surprised to hear of yet another tier: the Supermax prison. The name “Supermax” is meant to describe a type of “control unit” prison and represent the most secure level within our legal system that we know of. These prisons have housed several well known inmates including the Unabomber (Theodore Kaczynski), The shoe bomber (Richard Reid), and Omar Abdel-Rahman a terrorist leader (2).

The idea of Supermax prisons was derived from the permanent lock down of the Federal penitentiary in Marion, Illinois where two corrections officers were murdered by inmates on the same day (2). Specifically dedicated Supermax prisons have cells with either poured concrete or steel furniture, a window (if they’re lucky, most don’t have one) that allows a view of the sky to prevent orientation within the prison. Food is slid through a “bean” hole by guards, the solid steel doors and sinks are constructed with padding between them to prevent communication. Lights are kept on 24 hours a day and the inmates are allowed outside to exercise for one hour per day, but even this is done alone (2). In other words, inmates in the nations Supermax prisons spend 23 hours a day, 7 days a week, for decades on end, alone in solitary confinement.

The debate on Supermax prisons centers on their constitutional appropriateness, and whether or not they can be defined as torture. A UN team sent to investigate torture described Supermax conditions as inhuman and degrading. Unfortunately, I honestly see this as one of two options to contain prisoners who cannot be held within the general prisoner population either because of violence or other reasons. Besides, there is a bigger problem at stake here.

Experiments into solitary confinement and sensory depravation performed by the Quakers quickly showed that such conditions can quickly lead to mental instability, depression, existential crisis, catatonia, and even rage (3). Experiments performed on mice show that continued light input for 24 hours a day can drive a mouse to commit suicide. After only a few days in this environment, studies have shown that the brain waves shift towards delirium. In cases of sensory depravation, a hallucinatory state sets in within 24 hours (1). Is this unintentional (or perhaps intentional) means of no-touch-torture handed out by our governmental a good correctional (if we are ever planning on releasing them) or punishment system? Are we releasing people back into society who may be ticking time bombs? Are we torturing our own?

Two wrongs do not make a right. And if you haven’t stopped to think about it, prison isn’t exactly the easy life either. Yes, 3 meals a day are provided; a bed to sleep on is provided; and even your shower mate, Bubba, is also provided free of charge. There is a reason why people do not want to go to prison. You dont see people skipping to the cop car to be taken to prison. No one smiles when they go to prison, its not some sort of Disneyland. So although many of these people have committed horrendous crimes against humanity, these people have to spend a significant amount of their lives in a place that a size-able chunk of our society is terrified of. When someone goes to prison, they forfeit a portion of their lives. If they go to Federal Prison, then they forfeit their right to vote, on every job application, they have to put down that they have been convicted of a Felony often limiting their potential job pool, and casting them into the lower rungs of societal structure. A prisoner becomes an outcast of society, do we have to take away his mental capacity as well?

My final point is thus. What makes us human? Its not compassion for humankind, nor is it the instinct to survive. Its not our social interactions, structure, or family. Its not our intelligence, ethics, or reasoning ability. When taken singly, none of these make us human. However the sum of these create the human mind, and its our mind that make us human. You take that away, and what do we become?

Supermax prisons are there as a means to control inmates that either could not be controlled, needed protection, or were at risk of running a crime ring within the prison. Yes, this is a problem, and yes we need to figure out some way to deal with it. However, Supermax prisons are not the solution. They in-and-of-themselves, create another problem all together.


1 Kluger, Jeffrey. “The Paradox of Supermax.” Time February 5, 2007: 52-53
2” ”Supermax.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. February 27, 2007. Wikimedia Foundation. March 5, 2007 .
3 “Solitary Confinement.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. February 27, 2007. Wikimedia Foundation. March 5, 2007 .