The Ten Worst Prisons in America

May 2, 2013 By Jean Casella and James Ridgeway

The Ten Worst Prisons in America,! o"r ele#en$%art article, %remiered
yesterday o#er at MotherJones&com with the notorio"s A'( )lorence *ederal
s"%erma+& A new worst %rison will ,e %",lished each wee-day .with some
dishonora,le mentions at the end/, so %lease chec- in *rom time to time *or
new %ostings& What *ollows is the introd"ction to the series&
0* yo" can1t do the time, don1t do the crime&! 2o goes the old saying& 3et
conditions in some American *acilities are so o,scene that they amo"nt to a
*orm o* e+tra4"dicial %"nishment&
'oing time is not s"%%osed to incl"de ,eing ra%ed ,y *ellow %risoners or
sta**, ,eaten ,y g"ards *or the slightest %ro#ocation, dri#en mad ,y long$
term solitary con*inement, or -illed o** ,y medical neglect& These, howe#er,
are the *ates o* tho"sands o* %risoners e#ery year5men, women, and
children ho"sed in loc-"%s that gi#e 6itmo and A," 6hrai, a r"n *or their
money&
The 7nited 2tates ,oasts the world1s highest incarceration rate, with close to
2&3 million %eo%le loc-ed away in some 1,800 %risons and 3,000 4ails& Most
are nasty %laces ,y design, aimed at %"nishment and e+cl"sion rather than
reha,ilitation9 while relia,le n"m,ers are hard to come ,y, at last co"nt
81,:22 %risoners were ,eing held in some *orm o* isolation in state and
*ederal %risons&
Tho"sands more are ,eing held in solitary at 4ails, de%ortation *acilities, and
4"#enile$detention centers& ;early 1 in 10 %risoners is se+"ally #ictimi<ed, ,y
%rison em%loyees a,o"t hal* o* the time5more than 200,000 s"ch assa"lts
ta-e %lace in American %enal *acilities e#ery year .P')/, according to
estimates com%iled "nder the *ederal Prison Ra%e =limination Act& 2"icides,
meanwhile, acco"nt *or almost a third o* %risoner deaths, %er the B"rea" o*
J"stice 2tatistics, while an "n-nown n"m,er o* *atalities res"lt *rom
s",standard n"trition and medical care&
While there1s %lenty o* ,lame to go aro"nd, and while not all o* the *acilities
descri,ed in this series ha#e all o* these %ro,lems, some stand o"t as
%artic"larly ,ad actors& We1#e com%iled this s",4ecti#e list o* America1s 10
worst loc-"%s .%l"s a hand*"l o* dishonora,le mentions/ ,ased on three
years o* research, corres%ondence with %risoners, and inter#iews with re*orm
ad#ocates concerning the %enal *acilities with the grimmest claims to in*amy&
We will ,e rolling o"t %ro*iles o* the contenders o#er the ne+t 10 days,
com%lete with %hotos and #ideo&
htt%>??solitarywatch&com?2013?0@?02?the$ten$worst$%risons$in$america?
Read the rest at MotherJones&com&