Killer inmates on America's harshest death row get rare privileges and incredible new perk

Daily Mirror

17-07-2025

The program allows the selected prisoners to spend several hours a day outside their cells and allows them to enjoy communal meals, TV time, prayer circles and - for the first time in decades - direct human contact
Some of America's death row inmates are getting a rare set of privileges which inmates say have "given guys hope".
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Death row in Texas is considered one of the harshest in the nation. For decades inmates were subject to extreme isolation with many spending up to 22-hours a day in their cramped cells. But day-to-day life looks very differrent for some lucky inmates.
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A prison program is granting some of Texas' most hardened criminals 'recreational time' for limited time periods each day. However, the rare set of privileges is only being offered to a select group of well-behaved prisoners on death row.
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The program allows the selected prisoners to spend several hours a day outside their cells. The allowances include communal meals, TV time, prayer circles and - for the first time in decades - direct human contact.
Rodolfo 'Rudy' Alvarez Medrano, 45, is a death row inmate at Allan B. Polunsky Unit in West Livingston who has been chosen for the new program. He has been allowd out of solitary confinement and for the first time in two decades, he was allowed out of his death row cell without handcuffs.
He told the Houston Chronicle: "All of these changes have given guys hope." He explained how before the 'life-altering' new program, he was in isolation at least 22 hours a day.
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Death row was in the Huntsville Unit from 1928 to 1999 but since a daring death row escape in 1998 prompted prison officials to move death row to a newer prison in Livingston in 1999.
The Polunsky Unit houses death row inmates separately in single-person cells, with each cell having a window. Death row inmates are also recreated individually. Inmates on death row receive a regular diet, and have access to reading, writing, and legal materials.
Depending upon their custody level, some death row inmates may have a radio. Inmates on death row do not have regular TDCJ-ID numbers; they have special death row numbers.
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Following the attempted escape, restraints were tightened and inmates were thrown into solitary, lost their prison jobs and their access to rehabilitative programs was eliminated, reports MailOnline.
The pilot recreation program was launched under former warden Daniel Dickerson, as he believed offering basic privileges to well-behaved inmates would improve conditions for both prisoners and staff working there.
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He said: "It's definitely helped give them something to look forward to. All it takes is one bad event, and that could shut it down for a long time. And they understand that because they've been behind those doors for so long - they know what they have to lose probably more than anybody else."
It seems the program is a huge success so far as in the 18 months since it began, officials say there have been no fights, no drug seizures, and no incidents requiring disciplinary action. Elsewhere across America many prisons are struggling with contraband and violence.
It has also had a huge impact on staff, who have reported fewer mental health breakdowns and better working conditions.