ADX Florence: Only prison in the world from where no one could escape

Prisons have been used in human civilisation for thousands of years as punishment. Ancient Greek philosophers, such as Plato, began to develop ideas of using prison in a civilised way.

Imprisonment as a penalty was initially used for those who could not afford to pay their fines. The prison in ancient Athens was known as the demotion (place of chains). Then, during the Middle Ages in Europe, castles, fortresses, and the basements of public buildings were often used as makeshift prisons.

Since then, prisons have undergone all kinds of modifications, and now we have various kinds of prisons for multiple types of crimes and criminals. But no jail in the world is as secure as ADX Florence. Known as ADX, it's the only supermax prison in the world, and no one has ever escaped it.

Opened in November 1994, ADX Florence provides a higher, more controlled custody level than other prisons. This prison is designed to hold prisoners who pose extreme security threats.

Prisoners have little to no time outside their cells, very few activities, and little contact with other humans. It was commissioned when the Federal Bureau of Prisons of the USA needed a prison explicitly designed for the secure housing of those prisoners most capable of extreme, sustained violence toward staff or other prisoners.

ADX Florence is the place of the worst criminals. Serial killers, terrorists, mobsters, cult leaders, drug kingpins, and offenders who have proven themselves adept at escape, prone to violence, or otherwise unreformable are put in there with no chance of being free ever again.

ADX Florence Prison contains motion detectors, cameras, and 1,400 remote-controlled steel doors. Officers in the prison's control centre monitor prisoners 24 hours a day and can activate a 'panic button,' which closes every door in the facility, should an escape attempt happen. Pressure pads and 12-foot-tall razor-wire fences surround the perimeter, which heavily armed officers patrol. As an added level of security, attack dogs guard the area surrounding the prison's outlying fences.

As of June 2024, ADX Florence houses 337 male prisoners, each assigned to one of six security levels. It is designed to house up to 474 prisoners but has never been fully operational.

ADX prisoners live in solitary confinement inside a soundproof 7-by-12-foot cell. There is a single four-inch slit for a window, a bed, desk, and stool made of poured concrete, and stainless steel sink-and-toilet combo. Pending good behaviour, prisoners can earn ten or more hours per week handcuffed outside their cells. Prisoners with an excellent behavioural record will be granted television.

Correctional officers hand-deliver food to each prisoner. The ADX Florence has a three-year program that keeps prisoners in their cells 23 hours a day for the first year and gradually socialises them with other prisoners and staff. Older prisoners can leave their cells from 6 AM to 10 PM and eat in a shared dining room.

With all these security measures, ADX Florence is home to many controversies. Human rights activists claim that the use of extended confinement in solitary cells severely affects prisoners' mental health, a conclusion supported by numerous studies. After that protest, some changes have been made by the Bureau of Prisons.

In 2020, a British magistrate refused to extradite Julian Assange to the United States on espionage charges in part because he would possibly be subjected to solitary confinement and cruel measures at ADX Florence. On July 7, 2021, the High Court of Justice for England agreed to allow the United States to appeal this decision, with the understanding that Assange would not be imprisoned at ADX if he was deported.

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