8.4.1: Prisons

A prison is a place in which individuals convicted of felony crimes are held. The differences between jails and prisons have developed overtime with the growth of both institution types with distinct purposes. As discussed in the previous section, jails are looked at by society as a more temporary holding location for those pending court appearances or who have been sentenced to “shorter” (less than one year) sentences. Where prisons have developed into institutions used to house convicted felons for more than one year and, in some cases, for life sentences. We will cover these topics in more detail in this section.

There are two ways to categorize prisons in the United States. The first is by jurisdiction, which refers to which organization manages the prisons. A prison warden is considered the managerial face of the institution. However, a prison warden and the prison itself are part of a much larger organizational structure, usually separated by state. Some non-state jurisdictions manage or operate prisons, including U.S. cities and territories like New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

State Prisons

At the state level, most prisons are organized under a Department of Corrections, which is run by a director, who is usually appointed by a governor. For example, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is currently led by the Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation which is a position that is appointed by the Governor.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): In 2026, Jeff Macomber is the Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Governor Gavin Newsom appointed him to this position in December 2022 CA. Macomber has nearly three decades of experience with CDCR, having worked in various roles including Warden, Deputy Director, and Undersecretary before becoming Secretary.

Federal Facilities

The Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP or BOP) was established in 1930 to house an increasing number of individuals convicted of federal crimes. While there were some federal facilities at the time, congressional legislation officially created the BOP as a division of the Justice Department. Sanford Bates became the first Director of the FBOP based on his long-standing work as an organizer and leader at Elmira Reformatory in New York. Today, the BOP has 132 facilities (prisons, camps, etc.) across the nation. There are also military prisons, alternative facilities, reentry centers, and training centers that are managed by the BOP. The federal prisons are separated into regions. Within these regions there are regional directors, who are similar to state-level directors for departments of corrections.

Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): To see a detailed listing and map of facilities run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, visit BOP: Locations By State Know Your Rights | Prisoners’ Rights | American Civil Liberties Union

Private Prisons

Often, to cut costs, the state allows private companies to provide goods and services within the prison. This privatization is a long-standing practice of the state’s Department of Corrections. This includes services like food and transportation, medical, dental, and mental health services, education services, and even laundry services.

Corrections Corporation of America is the first privately owned prison in the United States (in 1984). Today, CoreCivic (formerly Corrections Corporation of America) runs approximately 113 correctional, detention, or reentry facilities in the United States (CoreCivic, n.d.). The GEO Group, the other primary private prison company, runs 136 correctional, detention, or reentry facilities (StackPath, n.d.). The figure below shows that in 2020; roughly half of the states had privately run prisons.

Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\): Percent of Imprisoned People in Private Prisons, 2020 (cropped). Roughly half of the states have privately run prisons, as indicated by the varying colors across the map.

There is much debate that has come from the incorporation of private prisons. The critics of private prisons denote the lack of transparency in the reporting processes that would come from a normal prison. Still, others tackle a bigger issue—punishment for profit. That is, while taxpayers ultimately pay for all punishment of individuals, either at the State or Federal level, shareholders and administrators of the companies are making money by punishing people.

Levels of Prison

Each prison jurisdiction also operates facilities of varying degrees of intensity or seriousness. These are often considered prison levels or classifications. Prison level is associated with the seriousness of crimes committed by the individuals housed within these institutions. For example, many states have three classification levels: minimum, medium, and maximum. Some states have a fourth level called super-maximum, close, or administrative level. The BOP has five levels: minimum, low, medium, high, and unclassified. ADX Florence is a United States Penitentiary (USP) that would be considered an unclassified facility known as a super-max. It houses the most dangerous individuals at the Federal level. Although not in operation today, Alcatraz, seen below, was probably the most famous Federal USP and was also considered a super-max at one point. It, too, housed the most dangerous federal custodies.

Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\): The iconic Alcatraz prison is known as “The Rock.”

Some states use a simple number designator to assign prison intensity, such as Level I, Level II, Level III, Level IV, and sometimes Level V. Others incorporate a Camp level into their list of designations. The facilities have a specific purpose within the low level, such as a Fire Camp, which is dedicated to fighting fires.

Intake Centers

An intake center can be part of an institution, running alongside the normal operations of an institution, or standing alone as a separate institution. The purpose of an intake center is to classify felony-convicted individuals coming from courts in the jurisdiction. The individual’s initial classification comes from a points-based assessment and determines which of the jurisdiction’s prisons they are assigned to. This assessment looks at prior convictions, prior and current violence, escape risk, potential self-harm, and more.

Minimum

Minimum prisons usually have dorm-style housing and are for only nonviolent individuals with shorter sentences. There is freedom of movement, as individuals housed within the prisons can move about without being escorted from place to place. The fencing or perimeters of these types of facilities are usually low. The BOP generally refers to these as camps.

Medium

Medium prisons have cells rather than dorms. There are usually two people in a cell. The perimeter is usually a high fence, and it may even have barbed wire or large walls surrounding the institution. Freedom of movement within the institution is reduced and seen as a privilege. Individuals housed here typically have longer sentences and more serious convictions.

Maximum

People housed in maximum prisons have been convicted of serious and sometimes violent offenses and have longer sentences, including life in prison. Most cells are single-occupancy, and many individuals housed here will spend most of their day in a cell. Freedom of movement is even more reduced and seen as a privilege. Perimeter fences are doubled with wire and cement block fences circling the prison. Exterior fences often have towers with armed guards staffing them.

Administrative

Administrative prisons have different missions, and the individuals housed in these institutions could be vastly different. For instance, a prison designated to address mental health concerns does not operate the same way as a supermax. The supermax houses individuals in their cells for almost the entire day, every day. The cells are almost all single occupancy. Many services, like sick calls and meals, come to individuals in their cell instead of them going to a cafeteria or infirmary. Most of these individuals are also classified as extreme threats and have long sentences like life without the possibility of parole.

Who Goes to Prison

In the United States, people are generally sentenced to prison for felony-level crimes, which are more serious offenses. Here are the main categories:

• Violent crimes - These include murder, manslaughter, assault and battery, robbery, kidnapping, and sexual assault. These often result in longer prison sentences.
• Property crimes - Burglary, arson, theft (when it rises to felony level based on the value stolen), motor vehicle theft, and vandalism can lead to prison time.
• Drug offenses - Manufacturing, distributing, or possessing large quantities of controlled substances. Simple possession may result in prison depending on the drug type, amount, and prior criminal history.
• Weapons offenses - Illegal possession of firearms, using weapons during the commission of other crimes, or trafficking in weapons.
• White-collar crimes - Fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, identity theft, and tax evasion can result in federal or state prison sentences.
• Driving offenses - DUI/DWI (especially repeat offenses or those causing injury or death) and vehicular manslaughter.
• Sex offenses - Beyond sexual assault, this includes crimes like child pornography, solicitation, and failure to register as a sex offender.

The actual sentence depends on many factors: the severity of the crime, whether anyone was harmed, the defendant's criminal history, whether a weapon was used, and state versus federal jurisdiction. Some states have mandatory minimum sentences for certain crimes, while others give judges more discretion. Less serious crimes (misdemeanors) typically result in jail time (under a year) rather than prison, or alternative sentences like probation or fines.

Figure \(\PageIndex{5}\): Most individuals incarcerated in correctional facilities in the United States are in state prisons for violent offenses. The other portions are there for property, drug, and public order offenses. If we want to incarcerate fewer people in the U.S., where should we put our focus? Image description.

Focusing on the left side of the graph above, there are roughly 1,042,000 individuals locked up in state prisons. Here, we can see the types of crimes for which they are convicted. A little over half (58 percent) are incarcerated for violent crimes. Drug crimes and property crimes make up the next big sections. When you add in those in federal facilities (about 208,000), territorial prisons (10,000), Indian Country prisons (2,000), and military prisons (1,000), we start to see how that number changes to about 1,263,000, not including privatized prison populations (Nazgol, 2022).

While the total number of prisoners has dropped slightly in the last few years (since 2015), figure below shows that the overall number has increased substantially over the last 45 years.

Figure \(\PageIndex{6}\): In this graph showing prison population growth, you will note that prison populations have decreased over the past decade. However, the overall population of prisoners has radically increased over the past 45 years. Image description.

It is estimated that we have over eight million people in correctional control, and that number does not seem to be subsiding. Yes, there have been reductions in certain areas, such as a decline in the prison population in the last few years, but this does not mean that they are still under control. In one of the more detailed examples of where individuals are in corrections, Alexi Jones (2018) of the Prison Policy Initiative provides a graphic, the figure below, based on state and federal data to demonstrate this impact.

Figure \(\PageIndex{7}\): Rates of Correctional Control Breakdown by individual states. Information from the original source

Not only does this graphic demonstrate the overall volume of correctional control, but it also highlights how states are managing their populations differently. The second half of Jones’ report details the volume of individuals within each state (2018). Please take a moment to review the last portion of this report to see how many are under correctional control, found here: Correctional Control 2018: Incarceration and supervision by state: Prison Policy Initiative.

Prison overcrowding is problematic for multiple reasons. First, when there are too many individuals (especially antisocial ones) within a facility, there are more assaults and injuries that occur within the institution. Moreover, there is a safety concern for not only the offender-on-offender violence but also the offender of staff crimes. Second, the more people you have in a facility, the faster that facility wears down. Operating a jail or prison at maximum (or over maximum) capacity causes more items to break or wear out within the facility at a faster rate. Finally, when individuals are unable to access adequate health and mental health care because of excessively long waits due to overcrowding, it is a violation of their constitutional rights.

The public and the state have a responsibility to house and properly care for the individuals who are incarcerated. This is not to say these individuals are getting better care than the community, but that they are at least receiving a modicum of care. When this low level of care is deliberately denied due to excessive volumes of individuals, it is a violation of a person’s Eighth Amendment rights against cruel and unusual punishment, as was found in the case of Estelle v. Gamble (1976).

This similar issue was presented in California more than ten years ago. A three-judge panel ruled with the incarcerated individuals, citing the need for California to reduce its prison population to a level where the individuals could effectively be managed and cared for (emphasis on the latter). Dealing with overcrowding is a constant issue for most prisons and jails. Some have resolved to release more into the community at a higher volume, on parole, or just release. However, this has its own set of problems, as reentry is now becoming the current issue within corrections.