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32 Sw. U. L. Rev. 317 (2003)
Home Sweet Hell: An Analysis of the Eighth Amendment's Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause as Applied to Supermax Prisons

handle is hein.journals/swulr32 and id is 327 raw text is: HOME SWEET HELL: AN ANALYSIS OF THE EIGHTH AMENDMENT'S 'CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT' CLAUSE AS APPLIED TO SUPERMAX PRISONS I. INTRODUCTION Let me take you now into the universe of violence, as I have seen it in the maximum-security prison.... Entering this woeful city feels like entering the underworld, even though it is mostly above ground. The architecture creates the illusion of being buried alive in an underground concrete bunker. These graves for the living are defined as supermaximum security (hereinafter supermax) prisons. Supermax prisons are a manifestation of the public's demand for increased security by means of a get tough on crime approach to incarceration.2 Many favor the concept, expressing their approval for institutions that emphasize restrictions, reduce rehabilitation programs, and decrease the use of incentives.' Powered by political fuel, the construction of supermax prisons is on the rise in modern America.4 While depicted as a cure for the unruly inmate,5 supermax prisons are more accurately described as vehicles of psychological torture. The result is a growing population of inmates suffering from psychological harm. This Comment will address the questionable implementation of solitary confinement at supermax facilities and analyze whether conditions inherent in the supermax design violate the Eighth 1. JAMES GILLIGAN, VIOLENCE: OUR DEADLY EPIDEMIC AND ITS CAUSES, 31-32 (1992). 2. Richard H. Franklin, Assessing Supermax Operations, CORRECTIONS TODAY, July 1998 at 126. 3. Id. 4. Id. 5. Gregory L. Hershberger, To the Max. Supermax Facilities Provide Prison Administrators With More Security Options, CORRECTIONS TODAY, Feb. 1998, at 54.

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