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USP Marion

The First Federal Supermax

University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, scrichards{at}charter.net

The U.S. Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois (USP Marion) was the first federal supermax prison. The "mean little house" is one of the most significant U.S. prisons built in the past century. It has served as a model for high-security detention confinement and been copied worldwide. Marion also has a history of violence, mistakes, and inflicting serious damage on prisoners. This article employs a "convict criminology perspective" to discuss the history of Marion, the profile of federal prisoners, control units, programs and services, prisoners released from Marion, the prison camp, transfer of high-security prisoners, and comparable supermax penitentiaries. Early in 2007, USP Marion was converted to medium security, closing one of the most infamous chapters in recent American penal history.

Key Words: Federal Bureau of Prisons • USP Marion • supermax • control unit • administrative detention • Marionization

The Prison Journal, Vol. 88, No. 1, 6-22 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0032885507310529


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