Prisons were created to detain people awaiting trial or awaiting punishment. Now prisons are places for punishment, public safety, and rehabilitation.
What comes to mind when you think about prison? A place with cells with a lot of people in orange, getting into fights in the common area or cafeteria? What do you think of when you think of maximum security prisons?
Does Hannibal Lecter come to mind? Strapped on a dolly with a hockey mask behind thick glass/polycarbonate. Maximum security prisons or Supermax prisons are the prisons where the worst criminals are kept. If Patrick Bateman had been caught he would have been in a supermax prison, probably in the mental wing.
In other words, these are the places the really bad guys (and girls) go.
What is a Supermax prison?
A supermax is a stand-alone unit or part of another facility and is designated for violent or disruptive incarcerated individuals. It typically involves up to 23 hours per day, solitary confinement for an indefinite period of time. Those incarcerated in supermax housing have minimal contact with staff and other inmates
Most supermax prisons are long-term for inmates, with very high and very tough security, solitary confinement, and few opportunities for recreation, learning, and substance abuse programs.
However, in the end, supermax prison is for those who are the most violent and disruptive inmates.
How many Supermax prisons are in Texas?
Texas has 2 supermax prisons, including the most notorious, the Polunsky Unit.
W. J. “Jim” Estelle Unit
The Estelle Unit is one of seven prisons in Huntsville, Texas. It opened in June 1984. The Estelle Unit can hold almost 3,200 inmates. Although the prison houses other prisoners, the high-security, supermax facility is separate from the main prison.
The Allan B. Polunsky Unit
The Polunsky Unit is located in Livingston, Texas, and was opened in 1993. It is one of the most lethal prisons in Texas. The prison’s capacity is 2,900 inmates and it is the death row prison for men in Texas. Those who have been sentenced to death are housed in this unit awaiting their final days. The Polunsky Unit is known as one of the worst prisons in the country.
Read More: Texas is Home to Two of the Worst Prisons in the U.S. |
There are currently 167 men on death row in Texas and 7 women. Women on death row in Texas are held at the Patrick O’Daniel Unit in Gatesville, Texas, this unit is not a supermax facility.
DOING TIME: The 27 Federal Prisons Found in Texas
There are a whopping 18 federal prisons and 9 federal prison camps in the state of Texas.
Take a look at these heavily guarded places where federal inmates serve their long sentences.
Gallery Credit: Sarah Clark/TSM
What Is A Day Like In Texas Prisons? A View From Both Sides Of The Bars
Have you ever wondered what life inside a Texas prison is really like? I asked friends who are correction officers and folks who have volunteered at jails. I also asked former inmates, and browsed forums and articles with current and former inmates. Put all together, it paints what I hope is a fairly accurate picture of daily prison life in Texas.
Gallery Credit: Renee Raven
Central Unit Prison Sugar Land, Texas
This prison was originally opened in 1909. Before it was a prison, it was a plantation. Convicts worked the fields.
Ghost Adventures visited the prison six months after it closed in August 2011, and found activity within the walls of the prison.
Gallery Credit: Lori Crofford
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