Supermax

Today, during a break from my grown-up educated coloring, I was scanning headlines on CNN. Mostly it was the usual stuff-Health-care, Tiger Woods & The Olympics, but a side note story caught my eye-Killer in Solitary Confinement 27 yrs. Curiosity got the best of me so clicked and read.

"Terrible Tommy" Silverstein has lived in solitary confinement for 27 yrs, the longest term in the federal penitentiary system. The article details the crimes that led to his unusual "No-Human-Contact" order that is now being carried out at ADX Supermax in Florence, Colorado. (I Google Earthed Supermax-impressive looking) Anyway, I know really bad people get sent there but that was about all I knew so I started a little research.

ADX is short for The United States Penitentiary-Administrative Maximum

The ADX is one of four federal prisons in Florence, Colorado

Florence donated the land for the prisons to the US Government in 1990

ADX employs a staff of 347 people

ADX contains beds for 490 inmates

ADX currently house 404 inmates

Cells range from 77 to 87 square feet in size

Each cell contains a bed, shower, sink, toilet, metal mirror & TV/Radio

ADX was constructed in 1994 for $60 million

ADX has had no escapes or serious attempts to escape

ADX houses less than 1/3 of 1% of the federal inmate population

Only 5% of ADX inmates enter directly from their sentencing

95% are transferred from another prison

The control unit holds the most dangerous and disruptive inmates

All outgoing and incoming mail as well as telephone calls are monitored

Immediate family members, attorneys, boy or girlfriends my visit

Educational & recreational programs are played on inmates TV's

In a nutshell, that's ADX Supermax. Now back to "Terrible Tommy".

Tommy received his no-human-contact order in 1983 after he murdered a guard at the federal prison in Marion, Illinois. At that time Marion was the most rigorous confinement in the federal prison system. Tommys adult life behind bars began in 1978, 26 & addicted to heroin, he received 15 years for robberies he committed with his father (excellent role model). Two years later he was convicted of his first murder of a fellow inmate in a Kansas prison. He was then moved to Marion-that conviction would later be overturned. While at Marion he was convicted of killing 2 inmates but it was the 1983 murder of prison guard Merle Clutts that lead to the no-human-contact order.

Tommy was transferred to the federal prison in Atlanta, Georgia where in 1987 a group of Cuban inmates rioted and took control of the prison. They freed Tommy and then traded him back to prison authorities hoping to lighten their sentences.

Tommy was then sent to Leavenworth, Kansas. Isolated in the basement (nicknamed the Silverstein suite) Tommy began to focus on his art, a hobby since childhood. It was therapy-a way to communicate his harsh conditions to the outside world (I think I hear a violin playing in the background). Tommys final move came in 2005 when he was moved to Supermax in Colorado.

I have always been a proponent of the death penalty, not because I think it deters crime, because some people just don't deserve to continue breathing my air. Some crimes are so heinous that the convicted just needs to be vaporized out of existence. Criminals lose certain civil rights when they are convicted but I believe they should lose more, like the freedom from cruel and unusual punishment and the right to be treated fairly and humane. Seriously-did Ted Bundy show any compassion for his victims? How about Jeffery Dahmer (justice served), Manson, McVeigh, Eric Rudolph etc....? Anyway....

"Terrible Tommy" made me think a little about the true punishment of life in prison.

Tommy wrote in a letter to a friend,"It's almost more humane to kill someone immediately than it is to intentionally bury a man alive." Others have said that it's almost worse than death row, at least on death row you have privileges. Tommy has referred to his solitary existence as "a slow, constant peeling of the skin."

The articled also commented on how uncomfortable Tommy was in his 6' x 7' cell in Atlanta. He's over 6' tall so he was a little cramped. Plus bright lights lit the cell 24 hours a day and security cameras scrutinized him. Leavenworth's conditions were an upgrade, although legal documents allege that rats infested his cell at one point. The cell space increased to 9 feet by 16 feet. Ummmm, that's at least better than a coffin, where his victims are crammed into. (sarcasm)

Basically I believe Tommy, and thousands others are getting what they deserved. We sent our kids to their rooms when they misbehave, so this is kinda like grown-up time out. Bigger misbehaving, bigger punishment. Tommy ended the lives of 3 (4) people. 2 (3) were not shinning members of society, but it wasn't Tommys place to decide they were no longer needed here on earth. He hasn't got the right to complain about how he's being treated, he's alive, housed, fed and medically cared for. He's in solitary, not chance for other prisoners to beat the crap out of him. He has more than many working class people have. He's a criminal, he doesn't deserve to treated better than he is. Do Unto Others As You Would Have Done To You.

CNN Article

You can also Google Supermax for more information. I also watched a TLC program call Supermax on Youtube.