Marion, U.S. Penitentiary

The Federal Bureau of Prisons

The BOP uses an “inmate classification system” as a means to segregate, punish, and reward prisoners. This is a “classification ladder” with maximum security at the top and minimum security at the bottom. The classification designations have changed over the years to accommodate the dramatic growth in BOP prisons and population.

The old system had six security levels, with 6–5 being maximum security, 4–2 being medium, and 1 being minimum. USP Marion was the only Level 6 institution. U.S. Penitentiaries were Level 5 (e.g., USP Atlanta, USP Leavenworth, USP Lewisburg, USP Lompoc); the Federal Correctional Institutions (FCI) ranged from 4 to 2 (e.g., FCI Talladega, FCI Sandstone, FCI Oxford); and the Federal Prison Camps (FPC) were 1. Security levels 6 through 2 were “in” custody, which meant inside the fence or wall. Level 1 was “out” custody, which meant they were federal camps and do not have fences. Level 1 “community custody” referred to prisoners in camps who were eligible for community programs, work assignments, or furloughs.

In the 1990s, the BOP collapsed these six security designations into five: high, medium high, medium low, minimum, and administrative. The BOP prisoner population is approximately 10% high (USP), 25% high medium (FCI), 35% low medium (FCI), and 25% minimum (FPC), with the rest not assigned a security level; many of these men and women are in administrative facilities (detention or medical), in transit, or are held in local jails or private prisons. “Administrative” refers to Administrative Detention Max (ADX) Florence (Colorado), the highest-security prison in the country; FTC Oklahoma City, a medium-security transport prison; and the federal medical centers, which may be maximum, medium, or minimum security.

The federal prisoner population can further be described as 92% male and 50% white, with the rest being black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, or “other.” The BOP reports that 70% of prisoners are American citizens, with 20% being Mexican, Colombian, or Cuban, and 10% unknown or from other countries. Seventy-five percent of these men and women are serving sentences longer than five years, with nearly 50% doing 10 years or more. Fifty-eight percent are doing time for drug convictions. The average age of a federal prisoner is 37 years. The federal prison system has no parole; all prisoners are required to serve at least 85% of their sentence before release to community supervision.

All federal penitentiaries (maximum security) and correctional institutions (medium security) have disciplinary or administrative detention cellblocks that hold hundreds of prisoners for weeks or months at a time. In comparison, USP Marion and ADX Florence are used to isolate individual prisoners for years at a time. These prisons are used to segregate maximum-security male prisoners who are escape risks, political problems, a threat to the order of other institutions, or have assaulted or murdered prisoners or correctional staff. Today, Marion serves as a model for the construction of similar federal and state facilities.

...