This Abandoned Supermax Prison Still Has The Power On!

We’re going to take you along for quite the journey as we explore one of americas most violent Supermax prisons that has sat largely abandoned since it permanently closed nearly a decade ago. As we walk rural roads, navigate overgrown dirt trails, trek through large fields, and make our way around razor-wired fences - it was all in effort to witness this place first hand - a once notorious maximum security prison with a wild history. The prison served as a supermax correctional facility, meaning that it had the highest level of prison security and therefore, it was specifically designed to house inmates that were considered the “worst of the worst.” The supermax prison was reserved for gang leaders, kidnappers, killers, and any other prisoners that were considered “extremely dangerous and displayed unpredictable behavior.”
And because of this, the large majority of the inmates spent their days in isolation with 23 hours of lockdown, 7 days a week. The prison also had a death row, where inmates served time in cramped and claustrophobic conditions as they awaited their final day of execution.
The abandoned Supermax prison was established and opened back in 1998 with the intent to contain and manage the most dangerous inmates within the state's entire prison system.
However, its unnerving short history is marked by controversy, operational challenges, and ethical concerns regarding the treatment of the inmates. The prison's model of extreme isolation and its impact on both prisoners and staff raised significant issues, leading to broader conversations about the nature of prison reforms and human rights within the U.S. penal system.
Initially perceived as a necessary response to increasing violence within America’s correctional system, this specific prison employed a supermax design, housing inmates in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day. This seemingly harsh approach aimed to help control high-risk individuals and deter violence, but instead resulted in severe psychological effects on those that were confined.
It seems that right from the prison’s start, inmates began to report that they had been experiencing serious mental health difficulties. Numerous inmates came forward to claim that the prisons living conditions had exacerbated mental health crises and had caused an increase in the number of suicide attempts and other self-harm.
Within just a few years of the prison’s opening, it quickly gained a notorious reputation, often referred to as "guaranteed misery" mainly due to it’s brutally harsh conditions and inhumane treatment of the inmates.
Although conditions vary at each of our nation’s supermax prisons, the one we explored here was plagued with long-term solitary confinement, sensory deprivation, extremely aggressive security measures, and long-term physical and social isolation of inmates.
The inmates frequently suffered from a vast array of mental illness and many were simply ignored and therefore, went untreated. There were also numerous reports showing that everything went down here from homicide to suicide, but self harm was at an all time high as many inmates would cut themselves, many on a daily basis.
While the prison has implemented some policies intended to lessen the harshness of life within its walls, it also has some practices certain to increase inmate discomfort which seemed to be callous, intrusive, and intentional.
Another aspect of the prison’s much needed reform was centered around the state executions that were conducted via lethal injection somewhere within the prison itself. It appears that shortly after the execution of a reputed serial killer at the prison in 1999, all death row inmates and upcoming executions were moved to another facility until the state eventually outlawed all executions in 2011.
Although this supermax prison was continuously criticized for its maltreatment of inmates, it would still be a couple of years before anything would finally change.
In 2011, a notable story emerged when a group of inmates and human rights advocates organized to demand changes, shedding light on the prison's inhumane practices that had been happening since its initial inception, over a decade earlier.
In 2013, in what seemed like a direct response to the controversy, officials announced the permanent closure of the state’s only supermax prison, but claimed it was due to budget cuts. They did say the decision was framed not just as a logistical choice, but a moral imperative. The fallout from the closure of this prison would lead to a complete overhaul within the system and transformed policies regarding the future treatment of inmates.
By the time that the Supermax closed in 2013, there were already 23 federal lawsuits against the prison itself, which only solidified and reinforced the decision to permanently close it down.