There’s definitely a certain mystique about prisons. We may imagine what it’s like to be there in some strange way, and we may wonder what life is like behind bars for some of our most notorious criminals. Following are the five US prisons with the most notoriety.
1. Alcatraz – Alcatraz is a museum today, but it was once the prison that housed Al Capone, among others. The prison was built on a small island just off San Francisco in 1850s as a military prison and fort. In 1933 it was passed to the US Department of Justice, who operated it as a civil prison until it was closed in 1963. It was designed to be unable to escape from, since escapees would have to brave the San Francisco Bay’s icy waters. A few men tried; some were never found, but none were ever considered successful escapes.
2. San Quentin- California’s only death row prison has little to brag about. Over the years it’s been the site of riots and it has consistently been overcrowded, filthy and is believed to have the worst healthcare of any US prison. San Quentin has more guards per inmate than most others, and still has difficulty controlling violence. It also has the distinction of being the most valuable prison in the US. It overlooks the San Francisco Bay, sitting on property that is estimated to be worth as much as $2 billion. In fact, it has been suggested by California lawmakers that rather than perform much needed renovations on the prison, it be torn down, the land sold and the money used to build a new prison elsewhere in California. A new prison facility could be build elsewhere for less than the amount the land would fetch. Scott Peterson, who murdered his wife Laci and their unborn child, is housed at San Quentin. He is on death row.
3. Folsom State Prison – This prison is less famous for its prison life than for the fact that Johnny Cash wrote a song about it and performed a concert there in 1968. Today Folsom, located in California, houses over 7000 inmates.
4. Sing Sing – The expression “going up the river” came from sending people up the Hudson River to Ossining, NY, where this prison is located. It is the US prison most closely associated with the electric chair, since more than 600 people, including Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, were executed by this method at Sing Sing between 1890 and 1963.
5. Leavenworth- Located in Leavenworth, Kansas, this prison has been noted for being one of the most secure. That’s probably because its perimeter walls are 40 feet high and extend 40 feet below the ground. Robert Stroud, the “Birdman of Alcatraz” spent 30 years at Leavenworth, and this is where he became known as a bird expert. This prison has been open since 1906 and now houses about 1600 inmates.
The US, of course, has many other prisons, since we have the largest number (based on population) of incarcerated criminals in the world. But none are more famous than the five listed here.
P. Zerkle writes about how to acquire a masters in criminal justice.
