Abstract
ADX, the US most secure Supermax prison is the home to the plotter of the 1993 WTC (World Trade Center) bombing. It is also the home to Zacarias Moussaoui, the conspirator of the September 11 attacks and other prisoners considered the worst offenders worldwide. Such people threaten both national and international security. This paper questions whether such criminals should live under the conditions of the Supermax prisons which human rights activists claim to be inhumane and contrary to the US Constitution.
Supermax prisons operate under specific policies and procedures designed to enhance the safety of the inmates and staff. However, some activists claim that Supermax prisons violate fundamental human rights. They depress human interaction and the development of knowledge. These situations have negative consequences on the inmates.
Although the above opinions can be justified when viewed through the lens of the proclamation of human rights as stipulated in the US Constitution and international laws, a question emerges whether the lives of the inmate held at the Supermax prisons are superior as compared to those of the harmless individuals. In this case, the arguments of the human rights activists are unjustified in terms that all people have equal rights (Cole & Dempsey, 2002).
Justice is delivered to match the threshold of the offense committed. Therefore, intermediate sanctions or prisons are each most appropriate depending on the crime committed. For example, a terrorist who bombs 1000 people leaving them dead while he or she narrowly escapes death, can only be an aggravated source of national and international security when an intermediate sanction is deployed to punish him or her. Such a person must not be in contact with other people who he or she can potentially harm or conspire to commit another deadly crime.
Depending on the threshold of crime, the intermediate sanctions for selected groups of offenders are effective. Instead of bringing petty offenders in contact with hardcore criminals who can instigate them to commit serious crimes when released to the communities, the intermediate sanction is effective as it reduces the chances of recidivism (Shalev, 2009). The exercise is done in a way that the offenders are monitored in order to avoid causing safety challenges to the communities integrating them.
As the state director of corrections, I would maintain the current standards of Supermax prisons. However, to make the prisons safer and secure for the inmates and correctional officers working in them, I would make changes in conditions that are inhumane so prisoners do not lose their social connections with the world. For instance, I would ensure easy access to qualitative healthcare, especially for the mentally ill prisoners and those with poor coping skills.
The mission of the Supermax prisons must be to provide the last living place for hardcore criminals in a humane manner. The prisons should be home to the serial killers including terrorists. State rooters, especially for monetary resources for delivering welfare to the general populations, should also find a place in the prisons. Such people are merciless silent killers. Supermax inmates should be categorized according to the seriousness of the crime committed (Shalev, 2009). Such crimes should be grouped according to their nature, such as economic and/or serial killing crimes. The nature of the conditions under which a prisoner is kept should correspond to the risk he or she is likely to pose to people should he or she escape.
Reference List
Cole, D., & Dempsey, J. (2002). Terrorism and the Constitution: Sacrificing Civil Liberties in the Name of National Security. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Co.
Shalev, S. (2009) Supermax: Controlling Risk by Solitary Confinement. Cullompton: Willan Publishing.