Supermax is the name used to describe "control-unit" prisons, or units within prisons, which represent the most secure levels of custody in some countries' prison systems. The objective is to provide long term, segregated housing for inmates classified as the highest security risks in the prison system - the "worst of the worst" criminals and those who pose a threat to the national security of a nation.
An early form of supermax-style prison unit...
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Supermax is the name used to describe "control-unit" prisons, or units within prisons, which represent the most secure levels of custody in some countries' prison systems. The objective is to provide long term, segregated housing for inmates classified as the highest security risks in the prison system - the "worst of the worst" criminals and those who pose a threat to the national security of a nation.
An early form of supermax-style prison unit appeared in Australia in 1975, when "Katingal" was built inside the Long Bay Correctional Centre in Sydney. Dubbed the "electronic zoo" by inmates, Katingal was a super-maximum security prison block with 40 prison cells having electronically operated doors, surveillance cameras, and no windows. It was closed down two years later over human rights concerns, and was finally demolished in late 2006.
The term "supermax," however, originated in the United States as a portmanteau of "super-maximum," and the concept developed from the 23-year...
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