Prison Trivia

Why is it given?

Furlough is a privilege, not an entitlement. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a reward for good behavior, nor is it a means to shorten one’s sentence. It’s a program provided to inmates for specific reasons, including medical leave and attending a loved one’s funeral, to name just a few. Furloughs are thus classified according to their purpose. They may be “transfer furloughs” or “non-transfer furloughs.” Transfer furloughs involve taking a prisoner to another Bureau facility, a non-federal facility, or community confinement. Anything that falls outside of that definition is a non-transfer furlough.

The primary goal of prison furlough is to rehabilitate prisoners and help them reintegrate into society. The United States locks up more people than any other country in the world, housing 25% of the world’s prison population. One of the objectives of prison furlough is to curb alarmingly high recidivism rates in the country. Recidivism refers to the tendency of released inmates to return to prison. 

While prison furloughs may be granted for medical and transfer reasons, the leading cause is social furloughs. Social furloughs allow inmates to spend some much-needed time away from prison with their loved ones. This temporary leave can easily be the highlight of an inmate’s sentence. 

Who is eligible?

There are different eligibility requirements between transfer furloughs and non-transfer furloughs. There are also different conditions for each transfer furlough situation, as listed below.

1. Inmates transferring to administrative, low, medium, and high-security facilities are typically ineligible to participate in transfer furloughs.
2. Apart from those mentioned in the previous situation, inmates may participate in transfer furloughs if:

• They are mentally and physically capable of completing the furlough.
• They display sufficient responsibility to ensure that transfer furlough requirements are met.

1. Along with the requirements in section B, prisoners transferring to minimum security facilities must also:

• Be transferring from a low or medium-security facility
• Qualify for placement in a minimum-security facility with their security designation and custody classification at the time of the transfer

1. Prisoners transferring to community confinement also need to meet the requirements in section B. Additionally, they should also be eligible for community confinement according to their security designation and custody classification at the time of the transfer. 

As for non-transfer furloughs, these are the following conditions:

• If a prisoner has been confined at an institution for less than 90 days, they may only be considered for an emergency furlough. 
• If a prisoner has more than two years until their projected release date, they may only be considered for an emergency furlough. 
• If a prisoner has less than two years until their projected release date, they may only be considered for an emergency furlough or a routine day furlough.
• If a prisoner has 18 months or less until their projected release date, they may only be considered for an emergency furlough, a routine day furlough, or a routine overnight furlough within the institution’s commuting area.
• If a prisoner has 12 months or less until their projected release date, they may only be considered for an emergency furlough, a routine day furlough, a routine overnight furlough within or outside the institution’s commuting area.

Top 10 Most Dangerous Prisons in the US

10: United States Penitentiary, Marion

The United States Penitentiary is a former supermax prison located in Marion, Illinois. Interestingly enough, this prison was opened in 1963 to replace another infamous prison – Alcatraz, which closed down that very year. 

Perhaps the most violent event in this prison’s history happened on October 22, 1983, when two guards were violently killed by members of the Aryan Brotherhood, a neo-Nazi prison gang. Because of this incident, the United States Penitentiary went into “permanent lockdown,” being utilized as a “control unit” prison of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Its supermax classification meant that inmates were subject to solitary confinement for almost the entire day – up to 22 or 23 hours. 

9: Rikers Island

Rikers Island is known as one of the most violent prisons in the country. This prison is where convicted sex offender and former producer Harvey Weinstein was remanded before his trial in March of last year. Many reporters and investigators who’ve had the opportunity of entering this prison attest to the severe conditions and treatments inmates, especially the mentally and physically ill, receive here. Even in recent times, there have been a series of deaths and beatings reported in this prison, earning Rikers Island a spot on our list.

8: San Quentin State Prison

The San Quentin State Prison is the oldest prison in the state of California and one of the oldest prisons overall in the United States. As such, it is often referenced in television and movies. However, behind that notoriety is a history of violent crimes, riots, rapes, and gang activities. One of the primary reasons for this violent atmosphere is the overcrowding problem due to a large influx of prisoners. Of course, that wouldn’t be too much of a problem if it weren’t for the fact that the prison’s facilities weren’t made to house that large of an inmate population, inciting anger and frustration among its prisoners. 

To compound to that, prisoners are far outnumbering the number of prison guards. With all these factors added up, violence and trouble are likely outcomes. The latest major event that happened here was in 2005 when 80 White and Latino inmates fought for nearly six minutes. It took 50 riot officers to stop the fighting, which had resulted in the injuries of 42 inmates.

7: Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary

The Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary is an all-male, medium-security federal prison that houses some of the country’s most dangerous criminals under oppressive conditions. From 1903 to 2005, it served as the largest maximum-security prison in the country before it was downgraded to a medium-security one. It is most notably known for housing Michael Vick for 23 months for his involvement in a dog-fighting ring. This facility is an all-male prison dedicated to carrying out the judgments of Federal courts. 

6: Louisiana State Penitentiary

The Louisiana State Penitentiary has an inmate population of 6300, making it the most densely populated maximum-security prison throughout the entire country. This prison has a very bloody past, with hundreds of murders and stabbings occurring from 1960 to the 1990s. But perhaps the most horrifying fact about this 18,000-acre facility is that it used to be a slave plantation back in the day. For the most part, the prison has turned a new leaf ever since its new warden introduced an alternative approach to correctional treatment by using religion instead of force. 

5: Folsom State Prison

Folsom State Prison is the second-oldest penitentiary in the state, having been built in the year 1880. Besides being the second-oldest penitentiary in its state, it is also one of the country’s first maximum-security prisons. One of the most alarming facts about this facility is that its inmate population has a yearly growth of about 68%! This growth rate was alarming enough to prompt legislators to demand a larger budget to construct more cells to house incoming inmates. 

One of the craziest events I’ve read about this penitentiary happened in 2012 when two prisoners slit the throat of another under the command of their gang head. However, this was never reported to the authorities because of the prison’s “code of silence,” which is an unspoken rule to keep hush about violence and maltreatment that takes place within the prison walls. 

4: Sing Sing Correctional Facility

Sing Sing might sound like a completely non-threatening place to be in, but it’s actually known to have an incredibly large number of attempted escapes in the country. Actually, the phrase “attempted escapes” may be misleading, as some prisoners really manage to evade recapture. The facility is situated next to the Hudson River, close to railroad tracks, inspiring prisoners of an easy escape. 

3: Cook County Jail

Of course, the facility that housed Al Capone and John Wayne Gacy would make a great addition to this list. Cook County Jail is located in Cook County, Illinois, and is the largest jail in America. The major negative aspects of this jail are the apparent verbal and physical abuse wardens subject their inmates to, as well as overcrowding and rodent-infestation within. If you know an inmate inside, you won’t want to visit them with the highly inefficient visitation system Cook County Jail has; it’s an absolute nightmare, where you will see yourself waiting unjustifiably long hours. Despite having numerous staff and employees, Cook County Jail is one of the most poorly managed facilities in the country.

2: ADX Florence Facility

ADX Florence Facility can be found near Florence, Colorado, and is one of the most notorious federal prisons in the country, earning the moniker of “Alcatraz of the Rockies.” This facility is the only federal supermax prison in all of the United States, known for keeping its residents under solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day in cramped 7-by-12 foot concrete cells. If that’s not enough to drive you crazy, I don’t know what will. The facility also houses some of the most violent and dangerous criminals, from terrorists to white supremacists. 

1: Attica Correctional Facility

Attica Correctional Facility is found in Wyoming County, New York. Like the other prisons on this list, it houses some of the most dangerous criminals in the country. What’s unique to this facility is that it is home to inmates who have had disciplinary problems at other facilities, too. The most notable event in its eerie history is a riot that occurred in 1971, where 30 inmates and 10 correctional officers lost their lives. Due to this and a string of other riots, the facility was then equipped with a tear gas system to subdue residents within the mess hall and industry area.

What is a life sentence?

A life sentence is the imprisonment of a person convicted of a crime for the rest of their natural life or until they are granted parole or commuted to a shorter fixed term. A life sentence refers to an imprisoned term of 15-20 years before being released for parole in most states. It can be quite alarming or confusing hearing a man be “sentenced to life,” only to see them walk as a free man in a decade or two.

The reason behind this is that the defendant may live out the rest of their sentence under parole. Parole is the conditional release of a prisoner to reintegrate into society. These paroles may be supervised or unsupervised, with the former requiring the parolee (released prisoner) to report to them periodically.

In this way, the term life sentence can be a misnomer, leading people to believe that convicts serve their sentence until death. However, other cases sentence prisoners to life without parole, which is the life sentence that most of us believe it to be. Defendants sentenced to life without parole rarely ever get out, as only some kind of clemency can clear them of their sentence.

Who gets life sentences?

Life sentences are given to people who are convicted of grave crimes. The list is long, including murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, terrorism, severe child abuse, rape, and child rape, to name a few.

Multiple life sentences

You may hear a judge sentence a prisoner to more than one life sentence, and it would seem redundant to have multiple life sentences. After all, each person only has one life. However, multiple life sentences may play a key role in keeping a danger to society behind bars. Let’s say someone is sentenced to 5 different life sentences of 15 years with parole. That person has to serve the sum of their minimum years before any chance of receiving parole. In this case, they’d need to serve a minimum of 75 years before even being considered for parole. If someone is sentenced to multiple life sentences without parole, they have to appeal to the convictions, so at least that one may be overturned.

How Old Do You Have To Be To Go To Jail?

The minimum age of criminal responsibility varies per state. In some parts of the US, children as young as 15 to 17 years old can go to jail. But in most states, you can be tried as an adult only when you reach 18 years old.

Anyone below those ages who commits a crime is usually sent to juvenile detention centers. Again, the minimum age for juvenile detention varies per state.

In North Carolina, even six-year-old kids can be arrested and sent to detention centers. In some states, the age can vary from 7 to 10 years old. While 33 states have no specified age and the punishment depends on the prosecutor’s discretion.

Of course, this depends on the severity of the crime you’ve committed. As mentioned, there are instances where you can’t use the defense of infancy. Most of the time, children can be tried as adults even if they’re below the age limit if:

• the charges against them are very serious (i.e. murder, rape, etc.)
• they have a significant history of criminal activity

Juvenile Justice in the US

As you already know, the country’s juvenile justice system focuses on rehabilitation. It’s built on the belief that children can still be molded into upright, productive citizens.

As such, they are tried in juvenile court and afforded special protections under the law. For example, some states require that a parent or guardian be present during questioning. The US Supreme Court has also voted to abolish the death penalty for convicted children below 18 years old.

When a juvenile is convicted of delinquency, the judge will assess what intervention they need. Those will then be provided in the delinquency centers where they will be kept. Among the interventions they receive are classes and psychological therapy.