4. Rikers Island Prison, USA
Made up of 10 separate jails which house men, women and youth, Rikers Island Prison has a reputation for excessive violence, corruption and gross mistreatment of its inmates, especially those who are mentally ill. In 2008, after the beating death of 18-year-old Christoper Robinson, it was found that the inmates responsible were part of “The Program,” a secret society run by the prison’s guards to have certain inmates exert violence toward other prisoners as a way to maintain order. Rikers also has one of America’s highest rates of solitary confinement, cells that are used so often that the Department of Corrections has recently built 1,000 more special isolation units for adolescents and those with mental illnesses.
3. United States Penitentiary, Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX), USA
Also known as ADX Florence, Florence ADMAX, Supermax, or the Alcatraz of the Rockies, this is the most maximum-security prison in the United States. Built in 1994, this facility houses some of the world’d most dangerous criminals, including Ted Kaczynski (the Unabomber), Ramzi Yousef (reponsible for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing), and Zacarias Moussaoui (involved in the 9/11 attacks). Inmates at this facility spend 23 hours a day in solitary confinement in their 7-by-12 foot concrete cells that contain unmovable concrete furniture such as a stool, desk and bed that is topped with a thin mattress. Cell windows measure only three feet in height and four inches in width, and meals are served through small slots in the metal doors. When prisoners are allowed out of their cells during the one hour recreation period, they wear several restraints and are escorted by multiple guards to a small outdoor cage. The prison was once described by former warden Robert Hood as “a clean version of hell.”