Spotlight on Terre Haute Prison, Indiana
Bernie Dwyer Radio Havana Cuba
23rd September 2007
Fernando
Gonzalez, one of the Cuban Five incarcerated in US prisons for fighting
against terrorism, has been moved from Oxford Federal Correctional Institute
(FCI) in Wisconsin to Terre Haute FCI in Indiana. These location moves
are done without any notice to the prisoner or family until completed.
We don't know why Fernando was moved or whether his conditions will improve
or worsen. Whatever the case is, it is more important than ever that Fernando
continues to receive letters and cards from supporters so that he and
the prison authorities are aware that he is not forgotten.
Write to Fernando using his alias but addressing your letter to Fernando:
Ruben Campa, #58733-004, FCI Terre Haute, PO Box 33, Terre Haute, IN 47808.
What and where is FCI Terre Haute
The
Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Terre Haute, Indiana, where
Fernando Gonzalez, one of the Cuban Five, has recently been moved to,
is a medium security facility housing male inmates with an adjacent satellite
prison camp that houses minimum security male offenders. It is part of
the Terre Haute Federal Correctional Complex (FCC).
There are two main facilities at FCC Terre Haute: the Federal Correctional
Institution, where Fernando has been moved to, and a United States Penitentiary
(USP).
FCI Terre Haute is located on Highway 63, 2 miles south of the City of
Terre Haute, which is 70 miles west of Indianapolis on Interstate 70 in
the Judicial District of Southern Indiana.
History
A new penitentiary was authorized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in
1938 and was eventually established in Terre Haute, Indiana in 1940 on
1,126 acres of land. The architectural design of the prison is a modified
telephone pole design with all housing and other facilities opening onto
a long central corridor. It was the first penitentiary for adult felons
ever to be constructed without a wall.
The opening of the prison in this city was partly due to heavy promotion
by Terre Haute's Chamber of Commerce, which eventually went on to raise
$50,000 to pay for the property on which the prison was built. The residents
of Terre Haute initially embraced the prison due to the impression that
it would provide jobs to local residents in addition to helping Terre
Haute's economy while only housing non-violent offenders.
Terre Haute Today
The present day Terre Haute Federal Correction Complex (FCC) is made up
of the following:
Federal Corrections Institute
The Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Terre Haute, Indiana, is
a medium security facility housing male inmates with an adjacent satellite
prison camp that houses minimum security male offenders. In 2001, the
Federal Bureau of Prisons decided to build a second facility, costing
approximately $80 million. This new penitentiary was initially intended
to be another maximum-security facility that would include a new Special
Confinement Unit, but ended up serving as a medium-security facility without
the Special Confinement Unit. This new unit went on to become part of
the USP while the FCI instead acquired the adjacent camp that is used
to house minimum-security male offenders.
In 2004, the USP was rebuilt on adjoining property with the old penitentiary
becoming a medium-security Federal Correctional Institution (FCI).
United
States Penitentiary
The United States Penitentiary (USP), Terre Haute, Indiana, is a high
security facility housing male inmates. It is part of the Terre Haute
Federal Correctional Complex (FCC). The USP contains the Special Confinement
Unit for inmates serving Federal death sentences.
Camp
The Terre Haute Camp was built in 1962 with the purpose of housing non-violent
felons to perform farm and maintenance duties. The camp has two, eight,
and twelve-person rooms. Programs are provided for inmates in this facility
including drug education classes.
Death row
In 1993, USP Terre Haute became the only federal prison in the United
States to house a death row. It was selected due to its geographic location
in the center of the country and the fact that it already was a high-security
prison that housed some of the nation's most dangerous inmates. This institution
carries out executions of inmates by means of lethal injection. The most
public and controversial death sentence to take place at the prison was
the June 11, 2001 execution of Timothy McVeigh, who was convicted in the
1995 Oklahoma City bombing. All inmates serving death row sentences are
placed in the Special Confinement Unit (SCU) of USP Terre Haute. This
unit became a part of USP in July 1999. The SCU can hold a maximum of
fifty inmates.
Communications Management Unit
The CMU was opened in December 2006 and is located in an area that formerly
served as death row. Death row has been moved to the new high-security
facility (USP) in the Federal Correctional Complex. All but two of the
inmates are Arab Muslims, leading the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
to raise a concern about racial profiling. (see story below)
On the 27th February 2007, the Washington Post reported that the Justice
Department had quietly created a medium security Communications Management
Unit (CMU) housing 213 inmates in Terre Haute. The CMU monitors all telephone
calls and mail, and requires that all inmate conversations occur in English
unless special permission is arranged for conversations in other languages.
(*see story below)
The Federal Bureau of Prisons says it created the CMU in response to criticism
that it had not been adequately monitoring the communications of terrorist
prisoners. "By concentrating resources in this fashion, it will greatly
enhance the agency's capabilities for language translation, content analysis
and intelligence sharing," according to the Bureau's summary of the
CMU.
Demographics
The USP Terre Haute total inmate population is 1,410. The racial breakdown
of the USP is as follows: 57% of inmates are black, 39% are white, 4%
are of other ethnicity. 26% of inmates were convicted for weapon violations,
25% for drug offenses, 25% for robbery charge, 10% for homicide offenses,
and 14% for other offenses. The average sentencing length for the USP
is 198 months. The median inmate age is 37 years old.
The Terre Haute Camp houses 429 inmates. The racial breakdown of the camp
is as follows: 50% of inmates are white, 49% are black, and 1% are of
other ethnicity. 71% of the inmates were sentenced for drug offenses,
14% for fraud/robbery/extortion, 9% for weapon-related offenses, and 6%
for other offenses. The average sentencing length for the camp is 84 months.
The FCI Terre Haute total inmate population is 1200. The racial breakdown
of the FCI is as follows: 56% are black, 39% are white, and 5% are of
other ethnicity. 43% of inmates were sentenced for drug-related offense
s, 28% for weapon-related offenses, 13% for robbery offenses, and 16%
for other offenses. The average sentencing length is 130 months. The median
inmate age at the FCI is 36 years old.
Types of Prison in the United States
The US Bureau of Prisons operates institutions at five different security
levels. Security levels are based on such features as the presence of
external patrols, towers, security barriers, or detection devices; the
type of housing within the institution; internal security features; and
the staff-to-inmate ratio. Each facility is designated as minimum, low,
medium, high, or administrative.
Minimum Security
Minimum-security institutions, also known as Federal Prison Camps (FPCs),
have dormitory housing, a relatively low staff-to-inmate ratio, and limited
or no perimeter fencing. These institutions are work- and program-oriented;
and many are located adjacent to larger institutions or on military bases,
where inmates help serve the labor needs of the larger institution or
base.
Low Security
Low security Federal Correctional Institutions (FCIs) have double-fenced
perimeters, mostly dormitory or cubicle housing, and strong work and program
components. The staff-to-inmate ratio in these institutions is higher
than in minimum-security facilities.
Medium Security
Medium security FCIs have strengthened perimeters (often double fences
with electronic detection systems), mostly cell-type housing, a wide variety
of work and treatment programs, an even higher staff-to-inmate ratio than
low security FCIs, and even greater internal controls.
High Security
High security institutions, also known as United States Penitentiaries
(USPs), have highly-secured perimeters (featuring walls or reinforced
fences), multiple- and single-occupant cell housing, the highest staff-to-inmate
ratio, and close control of inmate movement.
Correctional Complexes
A number of BOP institutions belong to Federal Correctional Complexes
(FCCs). At FCCs, institutions with different missions and security levels
are located in close proximity to one another.
Administrative
Administrative facilities are institutions with special missions, such
as the detention of pretrial offenders; the treatment of inmates with
serious or chronic medical problems; or the containment of extremely dangerous,
violent, or escape-prone inmates. Administrative facilities include Metropolitan
Correctional Centers (MCCs), Metropolitan Detention Centers (MDCs), Federal
Detention Centers (FDCs), and Federal Medical Centers (FMCs), as well
as the Federal Transfer Center (FTC), the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners
(MCFP), and the Administrative-Maximum (ADX) U.S. Penitentiary. Administrative
facilities are capable of holding inmates in all security categories.
Satellite Camps
A number of BOP institutions have a small, minimum security camp adjacent
to the main facility. These camps, often referred to as satellite camps,
provide inmate labor to the main institution and to off-site work programs.
*Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, May-June
2007, pages 12-13
Special Report
Dr. Rafil A. Dhafir at Terre Haute Prison's New Communications Management
Unit
By Katherine Hughes
The Federal Correctional Institution at Terre Haute, Indiana (www.rawstory.com).
AT PRECISELY 7 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 11, 2006, 17 federal prisoners across
the country were taken out of their cells, held in isolation for two days,
then bused to the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Terre Haute,
Indiana. Here the government quietly began implementing the first stages
of a secret new program, the Communications Management Unit (CMU). A completely
self-contained unit housing almost exclusively Arab and/or Muslim inmates,
it eventually will hold approximately 85 prisoners.
Special new rules set out in a "CMU Institutional Supplement"
dated Nov. 30, 2006 include severe restrictions on prisoner communication.
Contact with family and friends is limited; outgoing and incoming mail
is monitored and copied, with a one- to two- week delivery delay; and
no contact visits are allowed. Instead of 300 minutes of phone time a
month, prisoners may receive only one 15-minute call a week, which the
warden has the power to reduce to just three minutes a month. Unlike the
usual weekly or biweekly all-day contact visits, visits in the CMU are
for two hours, just twice a month, and are restricted to non-contact only.
Calls and visits must be conducted in English unless prior arrangement
is made.
According to Jennifer Van Bergen, the journalist who broke the CMU story,
there are only three government offices-all within the Justice Department-that
have authority to issue changes to federal prison operations: the Office
of the Director of the Prisons Bureau, the Office of Legal Counsel, and
the Office of the U.S. Attorney General. Van Bergen was unable to get
confirmation of where the authorization originated. The Bureau of Prisons
Web site (<www.bop.gov>) does not list CMU among its facility abbreviations,
and a search of the site for "CMU" or "Communications Management
Unit" yields no result.
In a Dec. 18, 2006 letter, however, CMU inmate Dr. Rafil A. Dhafir wrote:
"No one seems to know about this top-secret operation until now.
It is still not fully understood. The order came from the Attorney General
himself. The staff here is struggling to make sense of the whole situation.
There are 16 of us, all Muslims but two, with one non-Arab Muslim. We
are housed in what we are told was the holding area for those on death
row!!!!! We are told this is an experiment, so the whole concept is evolving
on a daily basis." [emphasis added]
Dhafir and other HTN associates were arrested in the early morning of
Feb. 26, 2003, just weeks before the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Between the
hours of 6 and 10 a.m. that day, law enforcement agents interrogated 150
Muslim families who had donated to the Muslim charity: Help the Needy.
Then-Attorney General John Ashcroft announced that a number of "funders
of terrorism" had been arrested.
