Legal Commentary

Will Supermax Become Gitmo of the Rockies?

By Jeralyn

There's lots of speculation that the Guantanamo detainees may be moved to Supermax at Florence, Colorado, home to the nation's supposedly most dangerous criminals. Not so fast. Right now, there's no room at the inn.

It would probably take the building of a separate facility. Or, the moving of our supposedly most dangerous criminals to prisons in other states.

As for the folks in Florence, many of whom have jobs because of the prison industry there, they have no problem with accomodating the Gitmo detainees:[More...]

Once details were worked out, Florence residents probably would be supportive, Town Manager Tom Piltingsrud said.

They took the initiative on establishing Supermax in the first place, scraping together money to buy land and then donating it to the government for the complex, he said.They remain glad for the jobs it provides.

"It's a recession-proof industry," Piltingsrud said.

The Mayor of Florence agrees:

Florence Mayor Bart Hall has little worry about maintaining the security of the area, even in the event of a large-scale transfer from Guantanamo. Hall noted that in rural Colorado, people are pretty self-reliant.

"Most of us own guns," he said.

Supermax is not set up, however, to accomodate prisoners awaiting trial.

I'd be fine with the transfer except for those who haven't been convicted of a crime. The conditions are far too harsh. But I'm sure if they get moved to Supermax and are allowed access to the courts, there will be plenty of Colorado lawyer willing to assist them in challenging the conditions of their confinement.

As I wrote the day Zacarias Moussaoui arrived at Supermax:

He will spend his days alone in a 8 by 10 or 7 × 12 foot cell, in 23 hour a day isolation. His meals will be delivered through a slot in his cell door. The shower will be brought to his cell. His one hour a day of exercise will be with a guard, not other inmates. He will have no contact with other inmates.

In time, if he's good, he may work his way up from a windowless cell to one in another unit with a small window where he can see the sky and clouds and may be able to see other prisoners (who can't see him due to a one-way mirror finish on the internal window.) He may be able to get his lights turned off at night.

All in all, this will be a dismal, dehumanizing, psychologically debilitating existence for him. The prospect of winning his appeal will keep him going. Should he lose all of his appeals, he will have nothing to look to forward to but decades of confinement under these conditions. What a wretched way to spend one's life.

Memo to Obama and Congress: If it will help close Guantanamo, fine, bring them to Colorado. But as to those who are not going to be charged with a crime, if you think you can hold them indefinitely in preventive detention, you better build a separate facility for them with conditions appropriate for a pre-trial detainee. If you intend to subject them to the punitive conditions for convicted prisoners at Supermax, be ready for a host of legal challenges, with the Government paying the hefty tab for the expenses of the litigation.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on May 23, 2009 (boomark / email).