Top 10 Most Notorious Prisons In The U.S.
The Complex Legacy of the U.S. Prison System
The U.S. prison system has a storied past, marked by its complexity, controversy, and cultural impact. No two prisons are alike, yet certain facilities stand out for their infamous reputations, historical significance, and notorious inmates. These institutions represent some of the most crucial intersections of justice and punishment, each with stories that reflect broader societal challenges and shifts in the American approach to incarceration.
Prisons in the United States date back to the early 18th century, starting with small penitentiaries that focused on reforming individuals. However, by the mid-20th century, the system expanded dramatically, responding to rising crime rates, stricter laws, and cultural shifts. Today, these institutions hold millions of people and play a pivotal role in the justice system, with some achieving notoriety for their size, inmate populations, or the severity of their security measures.
Facilities like ADX Florence in Colorado, dubbed 'The Alcatraz of the Rockies,' symbolize the extreme levels of control implemented in modern incarceration. With near-total isolation for inmates, its methods have sparked debates over human rights and mental health. The massive Rikers Island in New York captures a different side of the penal system, holding thousands of short-term detainees while grappling with widespread allegations of violence and neglect. Meanwhile, San Quentin in California blends a grim legacy of executions with modern efforts at inmate rehabilitation, including groundbreaking media programs led by the prisoners themselves.
Prisons also hold a prominent place in cultural narratives, thanks to their infamous inmates and historical events. Figures like Al Capone, Ted Kaczynski, and Tupac Shakur have brought attention to these facilities, while iconic moments, such as the Attica Prison Riot of 1971, highlight systemic failures and the ongoing push for reform.
These prisons exist at the crossroads of justice and societal reflection. They underscore the tensions between safety, punishment, and rehabilitation, serving as a mirror that reflects the broader national conversation about equity, humanity, and the role of incarceration in shaping lives. With their notoriety often casting them into the spotlight, these facilities tell stories that go beyond their walls, weaving into the cultural fabric of America.
Check out the list below.
10. United States Penitentiary, MarionLocation: Marion, Illinois
Capacity: Approximately 1,000 inmates
Opening its doors in 1963, USP Marion quickly became the most secure prison in the United States by the late 1970s. It introduced the concept of a 'control unit' after violence led to a prolonged lockdown, becoming the nation's first SuperMax facility. Though its status as a SuperMax has since changed, Marion houses one of only two Communication Management Units in the country, primarily holding Arab-American prisoners.
Notable inmates: Mafia boss John Gotti, baseball legend Pete Rose, and serial killer Thomas Silverstein.
9. Rikers IslandLocation: Queens, New York
Capacity: Approximately 14,000 inmates
Rikers Island is a sprawling jail complex comprising ten separate facilities. It is notorious for housing individuals awaiting trial, those unable to post bail, and people serving short sentences. Over the years, Rikers has developed a harsh reputation due to reports of violence, neglect, and overcrowding.
Notable inmates: Music icons Tupac Shakur, Lil Wayne, and DMX, along with David 'Son of Sam' Berkowitz and Sid Vicious.
8. Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola)Location: Angola, Louisiana
Capacity: 5,000 inmates
Once a plantation, Angola is now the largest maximum-security prison in the United States, covering 18,000 acres. Known as 'The Alcatraz of the South,' the prison holds Louisiana's male death row inmates and includes the state's execution chamber. Despite its grim history, Angola has drawn attention for its prison rodeos and rehabilitation programs.
Notable inmates: The Angola Three, whose controversial imprisonment placed the prison under a global spotlight.
7. Leavenworth Federal PenitentiaryLocation: Leavenworth, Kansas
Capacity: 2,000 inmates
Leavenworth is a medium-security federal prison for men operated by the Bureau of Prisons. Known for its historical importance, it has housed some of the most notorious offenders and serves as a symbol of the justice system's rigid framework.
Notable inmates: Mobster Bugs Moran, NFL quarterback Michael Vick, and gangster George 'Machine Gun' Kelly.
6. Folsom State PrisonLocation: Folsom, California
Capacity: 1,813 inmates
Opening in 1880, Folsom is California's second-oldest prison and was the first in the nation to have electricity. It remains one of the most infamous maximum-security facilities, recognized globally thanks to Johnny Cash's live prison performances.
Notable inmates: Death Row Records co-founder Suge Knight, cult leader Charles Manson, and musician Rick James.
5. Attica Correctional FacilityLocation: Attica, New York
Capacity: 2,150 inmates
Attica, a supermax prison, gained infamy during a 1971 riot that left 39 people dead, including hostages and correctional officers. This tragic event led to significant changes in prison security measures, including the installation of tear gas systems. Attica remains a facility for high-risk individuals with prior disciplinary issues.
Notable inmates: Rapper Tupac Shakur, John Lennon's assassin Mark David Chapman, and David 'Son of Sam' Berkowitz.
4. United States Penitentiary, AtlantaLocation: Atlanta, Georgia
Capacity: 2,000 inmates
A medium-security transfer facility, USP Atlanta houses inmates awaiting relocation. It has been a holding site for Cuban refugees and other prominent figures. The prison drew attention in the 1980s due to overcrowding in its isolation cells.
Notable inmates: Financial fraudster Bernard Madoff, Black Mafia Family Leader Big Meech, and NFL quarterback Michael Vick.
3. Sing SingLocation: Ossining, New York
Capacity: 1,700 inmates
The historic Sing Sing prison is one of the oldest in New York, famously built using stone from a nearby quarry. It served as the site of over 600 executions in its heyday. Today, there are plans to transform parts of the facility into a museum to honor its place in criminal justice history.
Notable inmates: Organized crime figure Charles 'Lucky' Luciano.
2. San Quentin State PrisonLocation: Marin County, California
Capacity: 3,302 inmates
California's oldest prison, opening in 1852, San Quentin houses the largest male death row population in the U.S. Executions, initially via gas chamber and now by lethal injection, make the facility infamous. Known for its active role in rehabilitation programs, it also has a media team called San Quentin News.
Notable inmates: Activist Stanley 'Tookie' Williams, founder of the Crips gang.
1. ADX FlorenceLocation: Florence, Colorado
Capacity: 490 inmates
Dubbed 'The Alcatraz of the Rockies,' ADX Florence is the U.S.'s only federal SuperMax prison, reserved for the most dangerous criminals. It provides almost complete isolation for its inmates, with minimal human interaction. Each prisoner spends the majority of the day in solitary confinement, a practice heavily debated for its mental health implications.
Notable inmates: Domestic terrorist Ted Kaczynski, Chicago gangster Larry Hoover, and Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.
RELATED: Trump Commutes Sentence Of Larry Hoover, Social Media Reacts In Side Eye
These prisons serve as stark reminders of the complexities of justice in America. Their histories, coupled with noted inmates, reveal stories of both tragedy and reform, underscoring the ongoing debate about incarceration and its impact on society.
SEE ALSO
Top 10 Most Notorious Prisons In The U.S. was originally published on woldcnews.com
Black America Web Featured Video
CLOSE
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Anti-Trump DA Alvin Bragg sure acts like he has something to hide — we're suing to find out
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg holds potentially hundreds of communications appearing to link his office to senior Biden administration officials and other political actors in connection with his unprecedented criminal prosecution of then-former President Donald Trump. We've asked for those records, and he's not turning them loose. So we're taking him to court. Last September, America First Policy Institute launched a formal investigation into the people and motivations behind Bragg's decision to prosecute Trump. Advertisement Our effort had a simple goal: figuring out whether Bragg's case was a routine legal probe — or lawfare, a politically engineered hit job orchestrated to influence the 2024 election. The charges brought against Trump were extraordinary. Never before has a question of federal campaign-finance law — which the FEC declined to pursue, no less — been morphed into a state-level misdemeanor, already time-barred under New York law, then Frankensteined into a felony by alleging it was committed to conceal some other crime never defined by the prosecution, nor unanimously agreed upon by jury. Advertisement Confusing? That's the point. Bragg's office thrives on obfuscation. Public records should be accessible. Criminal prosecutions should be transparent. This case was neither — and still isn't. We were drawn to investigate because we saw just too many coincidences to ignore. Michael Colangelo, a top DOJ official with a focus on white-collar crime, left his Biden administration post to join Bragg's office just months before Trump was indicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Advertisement Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over Bragg's prosecution, had a history of political donations to Biden and to political groups opposed to Trump, the defendant before him. He was officially 'cautioned' on that by the state ethics board. Merchan's daughter Loren worked on Kamala Harris' 2020 campaign and during Trump's trial served as president of Authentic Campaigns, a progressive political consulting firm hired by the Biden-Harris ticket. It all paints a curious picture: A DA who campaigned on a promise to take down Trump, aided by a Biden DOJ veteran, bringing legally contorted charges before a judge with clear partisan connections. Advertisement If this wasn't coordinated, it's one lucky political pile-up. The American people deserve answers. In pursuit of those answers, and in defense of the public's right to know, AFPI submitted a request to Bragg's office under New York's Freedom of Information Law in September 2024. We sought any records that could shed light on whether political influence or coordination played a role in Bragg's decision-making. Our request was specific, lawfully submitted and directly tied to one of the most consequential legal proceedings in modern American history. Ten months later, no records have been produced. None. Though they apparently exist. Instead of providing transparency, the DA's office has engaged in delay, double-talk and silence. We've asked for a list of responsive documents. They won't give one. Advertisement We've asked which of our specific requests the withheld documents pertain to. They won't say. We know, based on our investigation and his office's limited correspondence with us, that the DA possesses hundreds of records of communications with or about political agents who should have had no influence in a 'routine' prosecution, like Lauren Merchan's Authentic Campaigns. Bragg refuses to explain why the public isn't entitled to see them. There is no legal justification for this blackout. No privilege excuses total stonewalling. Advertisement There is only evasion. It's been nearly a year. The records exist, and the DA cannot explain why they remain secret. That alone should raise alarms. AFPI has now turned to the courts to compel compliance. The law does not permit selective transparency by the Manhattan DA. It does not allow politically sensitive cases to be shielded from scrutiny. Advertisement As the New York Legislature declared when it passed the state's open-records law in 1977, 'The people's right to know the process of governmental decision-making and to review the documents leading to determinations is basic to our society.' We agree. Advertisement That's why on July 17, AFPI filed its petition in New York County Superior Court requesting that Bragg's records, whatever they may reveal, be released to the public. The law demands openness, and we intend to see it enforced. Jessica Steinmann is executive general counsel and Jack Casali is an attorney at the Center for Litigation at the America First Policy Institute
Time Magazine
2 hours ago
- Time Magazine
Breaking Down the Ending of Netflix K-Drama 'Trigger'
If Trigger were a U.S. production, the action thriller that follows a police force as they deal with an influx of guns into their city wouldn't have a very novel premise. In the U.S., where gun violence was declared a public health crisis last year, there are more guns than there are people, with an estimated 120.5 guns per every 100 people. But in South Korea, where Trigger is set, there are only 0.2 guns per every 100 people. Korean gun control laws are strict, and the weapons are practically a non-issue when it comes to public safety. While gun violence does occur, as was the case last week when a father shot his adult son using a homemade gun, it is a rarity in Korea, where private gun ownership is uncommon. According to a 2022 article in the Korea Herald, private guns are intended for shooting athletes, manufacturers and sellers of firearms, and for those who need them for construction or as props in film or TV production. Licensed hunters may apply for gun ownership, but they must go through a rigorous qualification process and are only allowed to keep their guns at home during hunting season. Other times of the year, the firearms must be stored at the local police department. Otherwise, only authorized personnel in security-related fields can be in possession of firearms, and often, police officers choose not to carry them. Trigger envisions a world where gun control laws in Korea are ignored Trigger, a Netflix K-drama from writer-director Kwon Oh-seung (Midnight), imagines what would happen if all of these regulations were ignored, and unregistered, highly deadly firearms started streaming mysteriously and rapidly into the country. Across 10 anxiety-inducing episodes, we follow police protagonist Lee Do (Island's Kim Nam-gil) as he tries to keep Korean society from falling into a panic-induced frenzy, and succumbing to a status quo where gun violence is the norm. The thriller is simultaneously a parable for Korean viewers and a mirror for American viewers, who already live in a society where buying a gun can take as few as five clicks. Who is behind the gun plot in Trigger? The guns in Trigger are being funneled into the country by the fictional International Rifle Union (IRU), a black market arms dealer with immense political and economic power globally. The person behind the plan is Moon Baek (Evilive's Kim Young-kwang). Baek stumbles upon the IRU when as a kid, looking for revenge after being trafficked from Korea to the United States for his organs. Jake, one of the organization's higher-ups, sees something valuable in the desperate, vengeful kid. He raises Baek to be a part of the organization. The IRU's entrance into Korea is facilitated by Baek, who has been diagnosed with six months to live due to cancer. While Baek presumably presents the plan to Jake as a business opportunity, he is really looking for retribution against the country that failed him. Upon his arrival in Korea, Baek murders the man who made his childhood a living hell. He hides bullets in the ceiling of the man's apartment, a signal to officials that everything in Korea is about to change. Baek uses some local gangsters, posing as regular mail couriers, to distribute the guns. He targets individuals who are marginalized for some reason or another. Many of them are physically and mentally bullied by the people in their lives. 'Everyone carries a trigger in their heart,' a psychologist says early in the show's run. Trigger implies that everyone is capable of violence, and it is the job of a functional society not to give its citizens access to a weapon that can so easily lead to violent self-destruction. Lee Do's backstory explained Lee Do serves as a counterpoint to Baek's nihilistic ruthlessness. While Do's childhood may not have been quite as horrific, he didn't have it easy. His parents and brother were killed during a home robbery when he was just a child. Immediately following the incident, Do takes a gun off of Captain Jo's (Kim Won-hae) desk and aims it at the man who killed his family, intending to pull the trigger. The captain talks him out of it, but the moment is a formative one for Do. Jo raises Do as his own, alongside his daughter. Decades later, Lee Do is the Platonic ideal of a policeman, protecting the vulnerable and preferring de-escalation to violence. Until guns start appearing amongst the civilian population, Do chooses not to use a gun himself, still haunted by the lives he took during his years as a soldier. When gun violence starts ramping up, he decides to pick up a gun once again—but only when it is necessary to take someone down. Moon Baek kills Captain Jo While Trigger has a complex cast of characters, Lee Do and Moon Baek are the protagonist and antagonist at its center. Both suffered tragedy as children. One was given the support they needed to become a happy, healthy adult. The other was not, and has grown into a ruthless killer as a result. While Lee Do wants to protect the innocent (and even the guilty) around him, Moon Baek wants to see people suffer like he has. Gun violence is his method. When Lee Do starts getting in Moon Baek's way, the criminal mastermind becomes intrigued by the stalwart cop. To get closer to him, he poses as just another recipient of one of the illegal weapons, and offers his 'help' in trying to stop various shootings. Do almost immediately identifies Baek as one of the people behind the organized influx of guns. However, when the police go to arrest Baek, he uses his immense resources to slip between their fingers and continue to wreak havoc. Captain Jo, Do's surrogate dad, becomes one of Baek's desperate targets when a jeonse fraud drives his daughter to suicide. Jo finds the men who scammed his daughter, confronting them at a karaoke room. When they show no remorse, he starts firing. Lee Do arrives on the scene once Captain Jo has followed one of the men outside. He convinces Jo to put the gun down, asking him not to let the feeling that killing the man will help fool him in this moment. 'How did you bear this pain at such a young age?' Jo asks Do. 'It was all thanks to you, Captain,' Do tells him, embracing his distraught father figure. Baek, who has orchestrated the entire scenario to drive up public anxiety around shootings and to break Do's resolve, doesn't like how the scenario ends. He comes out of the shadows to shoot both Captain Jo and Lee Do. 'Just wait and see,' Baek tells Do as he loses consciousness. 'You'll wake up to a whole new world.' The ending of Trigger explained As intended by Baek, Do is out of the action for at least a few days following the incident. When he wakes back up, he is devastated to learn that Captain Jo has died. He grieves Jo and her daughter, acting as the chief mourner at their funeral. Meanwhile, Baek has announced to the public that anyone who wants a gun in Korea can get one. Public fear is at an all-time high as thousands of weapons are delivered to the populace, and incidents of gun violence become more common as a result. On the news, political pundits begin to debate whether gun ownership should be legalized in Korea. The president is considering martial law. A 'Free Guns' rally is organized by Baek to pit the two sides of the argument against one another. Lee Do leaves the funeral in order to attend. Baek has a truck filled with boxes of weapons driven into the middle of the rally. Chaos breaks out as people frantically grab the weapons, thinking they need them to protect themselves. Baek sets off smoke bombs to further confuse the crowd. As Lee Do makes his way to Baek, he remembers a philosophical argument they had over dinner, before Do realized Baek's villainy. 'Wouldn't pulling a 5-milimeter trigger in pursuit of revenge spread fear in the minds of many?' Do told Baek. 'Out of fear that they might die without a gun, everyone will rush to get one. And a society like that will soon be destroyed.' Baek wants to create that society, and he is well on his way. 'It was this world that made the people angry,' he tells Do, making the bad faith argument. 'All I did was hand them a gun. It's up to them whether they pull the trigger.' In the smoky plaza, as scared people point guns at one another, Baek taunts Do. 'What I want is a single gun shot … that will make these people start shooting at each other' He wants Lee Do to be the one to pull the trigger. Baek disappears into the smoke and Do follows, gun drawn. Before he can find the man, a gun shot rings out. Baek has been shot, perhaps by his own hand. The plaza erupts into gunfire. In the chaos, Do sees a boy alone, crying for his mother, a gun in his hands. It is an echo of the boy he once was. Rather than defend himself, Do drops his gun and rushes to him. He embraces the child as the gunfire continues. 'It's okay. You're safe,' he tells him. The image is captured by a livestreamer on the scene. It stops nurse So-hyeon, whom we have been following throughout the series, from using a gun to kill the co-workers who bully her. Once the dust has settled, and scores of people are dead, the image of Lee Do embracing the scared child becomes a symbol of choosing empathy over violence. Later, we see the image at a memorial for the victims of the shooting. Another message at the memorial states: 'We will remember the innocent lives lost and work to create a safer world.' Does Moon Baek die at the end of Trigger? Baek is in a coma following the events of the firefight. The doctor tells Do, who visits Baek in the hospital, that he is unlikely to recover, due to his cancer and the blood loss sustained from the gunshot wound. Later, we see an English-speaking cabal of IRU members, including Jake, vaguely discussing their next business move. A woman walks into the wards where Baek is unconscious, presumably to kill him. Does Trigger have a happy ending? The ending of Trigger isn't happy, but it is hopeful. Across the country, the police hold illegal firearm drop-off drives to collect as many of the weapons as possible. One of the people who drops off a fun is nurse So-hyeon. "It took too long," she tells Officer Jang, who collects her signature. "You did the right thing,' he tells her. Lee Do survives to de-escalate another day. In an echo of what Captain Jo did for him, Do adopts the child he saved in the firefight. He picks the boy up from school, and holds his hand as he walks him home. Do is doing what he can.
The Hill
2 hours ago
- The Hill
Rogan hits Patel over Epstein claims: ‘Doesn't make any sense'
Podcaster Joe Rogan attacked FBI Director Kash Patel in a new episode of his podcast Friday, charging that Patel's claims on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were inconsistent. 'The guy's saying there's no tapes, there's no video. That doesn't make any sense. Everyone knows it doesn't make any sense,' Rogan said in his most recent episode with former CIA officer Mike Baker. Patel appeared on Rogan's podcast in June, weeks prior to the release of the memo that ignited the firestorm. He then said repeatedly that the administration would be forthcoming in its review of documents related to Epstein. 'I've said it, Dan Bongino has said it. We've reviewed all the information and the American public is going to get as much as we can release,' Patel told Rogan. 'We're going to give you every single thing we have and can,' he later added. The FBI director has taken considerable heat over a memo from the FBI and the Department of Justice released in early July stating that Epstein had died by suicide, and that there was no evidence that the disgraced financier had blackmailed powerful figures — a disappointment to many supporters of President Trump who had hoped his administration would unearth new revelations about the case. The Trump administration has since moved, unsuccessfully, to unseal grand jury transcripts related to Epstein, but has held off on releasing hundreds of hours of videos and photos it has reviewed, saying they contained child photography. In his appearance on Rogan's podcast in June, Patel at one point hedged on a question from Rogan about whether the government had video from Epstein's island, alleged to be a hub for sex trafficking. 'Is there video from the island?' Rogan asked. 'Not of what you want,' Patel replied. In his episode released Friday, Rogan said the issue remained 'crazy' to him. 'The Epstein stuff is so crazy because when Kash Patel was on here and he was like, there's no — there's nothing, and I was like, what are you talking about? Yeah, I didn't even know what to say,' Rogan said. Trump has been the subject of several media reports in recent days of his social ties to Epstein in the early 2000s, most of which he has vehemently denied. On Friday, the Justice Department interviewed Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's longtime associate who is serving a 20-year prison sentence.
