Supermax - a bit of good news in today's headlines

Buster T · 12-11-2006, 08:41 AM

FLORENCE, Colorado (AP) -- Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph laments in a series of letters to a newspaper that the maximum-security federal prison where he is spending the rest of his life is designed to drive him insane.

"It is a closed-off world designed to isolate inmates from social and environmental stimuli, with the ultimate purpose of causing mental illness and chronic physical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and arthritis," he wrote in one letter to The Gazette of Colorado Springs.

Rudolph wrote that he spends 23 hours a day in his 7-by-12-foot cell, his only exercise confined to an enclosed area he described as a "large empty swimming pool" divided into "dog-kennel style cages."

"Using solitary confinement, Supermax is designed to inflict as much misery and pain as is constitutionally permissible," he wrote in a letter.
One of Rudolph's victims had no sympathy for him.

"It gives me a great deal of pride to think he's never coming out of there," said Diane Derzis, who runs a Birmingham, Alabama, women's clinic Rudolph bombed in 1998. "He should never see daylight again."

The newspaper reported in its Sunday editions that it has corresponded by mail with Rudolph for more than a year, and prison officials have refused the paper's request to interview Rudolph.

The Gazette refused Rudolph's request that it publish his writings in their entirety. The newspaper said if it published articles, it would print portions of the letters as long as they were not hate literature or libelous.

Rudolph, an anti-government extremist, pleaded guilty in April 2005 to setting the bomb that killed one person and wounded more than 100 at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and three other bombings, including a fatal explosion at a Birmingham clinic.

Justice is served, knowing that the inmates of Supermax are living lives of hell for what they did. I wish their pain and agony would be published often and everyone in the US understood what it was like to be in there. If they did, maybe crime would be less rampant. Of course, I'm pro-death penalty too, I actually agree with the concept of being punished for ones crimes.

MThunter · 12-11-2006, 08:46 AM

Yes glad to hear that this guy is rotting away. I happen to be anti-death penalty, but also believe in one being punished for his crimes. Sounds like this guy is suffering.

burniegoeasily · 12-11-2006, 09:14 AM

Allowme a moment to cry him a river.

bawanajim · 12-11-2006, 09:35 AM

The only way I think it could be better is if its really cold in there.I don't think a steady 45 degrees would harm any of those confined there!

Aught Six · 12-11-2006, 10:06 AM

That's what the little POS gets. This is the primary reason I'm anti-death penalty for murderers--let their mindsdissolve in agonizing solitude. Here's to many more years of insanity yet to come...

etothepii · 12-11-2006, 01:15 PM

He's admitting that it's Constitutionally permitted. What's his point? Is he writing letters just to complain? If so, then why is the newspaper giving him the forum? It doesn't seem like he deserves it. I don't get to complain about all my problems in a newspaper, and I'm, a law abiding citizen!

kevin1 · 12-11-2006, 01:19 PM

Tuff titty , you know what you did , man up and take your medicine . I wish all prisons were like that , I would even support having flogging reinstated .

Champlain Islander · 12-11-2006, 01:53 PM

Death penalty is too good for him. Let him suffer for another 30 years before his heart gives out. I hope his brain is the last thing to go so he knows what is happening. Sounds like that is what jail should be all about...not some summer camp.

Buster T · 12-11-2006, 02:09 PM

Prisoner life
In Supermax prisons, prisoners are generally allowed out of their cells for only an hour a day; often they are kept in solitary confinement. They receive their meals through "food ports" ("bean holes") in the doors of their cells. Prisoners are given no work and very little access to leisure activities, though some categories of prisoners are allowed to have a television. When Supermax inmates are allowed to exercise, this may take place in a small, enclosed area where the prisoner will exercise alone.
Prisoners are under constant surveillance, usually with closed-circuit television cameras. Cell doors are usually opaque, while the cells may be windowless. Conditions are spartan, with poured concrete or metal furniture common. Cell walls are often soundproofed to prevent communication between the inmates and sometimes plumbing as well.

Think about it. Mark out a 7' by 12' around and close your eyes ....... imagine you are alone in that 23 hours a day, for the rest of your life. No communications with anyone. It would truly be maddening would it not ? I cannot imagine NOT smelling the wind, or seeing sunlight, or a blade of grass, or having conversation with people.

Champlain Islander · 12-11-2006, 02:28 PM

Bad people need to be treated badly. The only issue I have is we are paying for it through our taxes. Sounds like a pretty spartan existence and I bet the food sucks too. A convicted killer deserves no better treatment. I hope the TP is not the soft stuff but that cheap rough paper that allows breakthrough at the slightest pressure.