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Colorado Supermax Prison - Zero Media Access Since 9/11

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posted on Sep, 4 2007 @ 11:56 PM
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Colorado Supermax Prison - Zero Media Access Since 9/11


www.westword.com

High-security prisoners are locked away in the Florence supermax, out of sight and mind — and reporters can't get in to see them, no matter how hard they try.
(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 4-9-2007 by WyrdeOne]



posted on Sep, 4 2007 @ 11:56 PM
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This is amazing.

What could be going on in there, that they need a media blackout?

I'm just stunned - I'm trying to figure out how many requests they have denied in the time period given. (Edit: 100/100 requests denied since 2002!)

www.westword.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 4-9-2007 by WyrdeOne]



posted on Sep, 5 2007 @ 12:20 AM
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Isnt this where Mcveigh was held?

If so it don't suprise me in the slightest.



posted on Sep, 5 2007 @ 12:40 AM
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There are a lot of high-profile prisoners there...

That doesn't explain the media blackout, does it?



posted on Sep, 5 2007 @ 12:53 AM
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Here is one possible reason. If there is a crack down on this in the prison it could be violating prisoners' rights of habeus corpus or their religious rights and they just don't want the media around squawking about it.



reply to post by WyrdeOne
 



posted on Sep, 5 2007 @ 12:54 AM
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Originally posted by WyrdeOne
There are a lot of high-profile prisoners there...

That doesn't explain the media blackout, does it?


What exactly do you want to know about these prisoners?

Should there be a weekly media report on the conditions at this prison?

I must be missing the point of your post.

Explain it to me please.



posted on Sep, 5 2007 @ 12:54 AM
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in.rediff.com.../news/2004/may/05ny.htm

Sorry, meant to post this link above.



posted on Sep, 5 2007 @ 01:32 AM
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JacKatMtn
Well, the notion that this prison has been closed to the media since 2002 is pretty remarkable, since it's never happened before (to my knowledge), and nobody has made much fuss about it while it was happening.

Do the math, if there have indeed been 100 requests since 2002, that's not much media interest, and it's certainly not weekly.



I wonder if this trend exists elsewhere, at other federal facilities? We have programs like FOIA just for this reason. Beware a government that seeks to conceal

As to what I want to know about the prisoners?! I'm not a reporter doing a story that involves one of these guys, I'm not a journalist seeking to expose prison brutality, or improper use of funds, or any other aspect of prison management, personally I don't need to know anything about one particular prisoner or another, that's not the point. The point is that the media is the entity that's supposed to keep we the people appraised of what the government is doing, amongst their other duties.

The media can't very well do their job if prisons start denying all interview requests.

Now do you understand my point? If reporters have no access, then citizens have no access. I, for one, don't want to live in a country where citizens have no sight into their corrections system, and no say in how it will be run.

kosmicjack
I considered that, it's certainly possible - sort of a domestic Abu Ghraib.

Another possibility, a lot less likely, is that the facility is being used to house secret prisoners, people that the outside world isn't supposed to know about, for one reason or another.

The prison administrators and the people giving them cues from Washington should have known, this is how conspiracy theories get started.



posted on Sep, 5 2007 @ 01:58 AM
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Another example of poor accountability.

You can argue what level of independent access is appropriate all day long, but it's hard to justify NO access.

I think we are finally being crushed by the shear weight of our bureaucratic institutions. They are so unwieldy...so unrestrained in power...so incapable of accountability...they jeopardize the very future of our free Republic.

No NWO necessary... the danger comes from within.

It appears we have lost the art of governance...if we indeed ever had it at all to begin with.









[edit on 5-9-2007 by loam]



posted on Sep, 5 2007 @ 02:00 AM
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Greta Van Sustern toured the place not long ago, I remember seeing it on "On the Record," although she didn't interview any prisoners.

Anyway, I don't really see the problem with this, people don't have a constitutional right to see a reporter while in prison. They do have a right to see their lawyers and I'm sure all the ACLU lawyers working to free these people would be screaming bloody murder if there was anything nefarious going on there.

edit:

Plus, immediate family members and boyfriend/girlfriends are able to visit the prisoners.

More about it:

www.foxnews.com...


[edit on 9/5/2007 by djohnsto77]



posted on Sep, 5 2007 @ 02:08 AM
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Originally posted by djohnsto77
Greta Van Sustern toured the place not long ago, I remember seeing it on "On the Record," although she didn't interview any prisoners.


Then the article is wrong?


Originally posted by djohnsto77
Anyway, I don't really see the problem with this, people don't have a constitutional right to see a reporter while in prison.


I agree.


Originally posted by djohnsto77
They do have a right to see their lawyers and I'm sure all the ACLU lawyers working to free these people would be screaming bloody murder if there was anything nefarious going on there.


This is not always so clear. It's not like we haven't had enough examples in our country where lawyers complained of poor access to their clients.

I'm not as willing to 'trust' as you are.

I always liked Ronald Reagan's "trust, but verify" policy during the cold war. In fact, I think it's a rather brilliant philosophy when applied to life in general.


[edit on 5-9-2007 by loam]



posted on Sep, 5 2007 @ 02:40 AM
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Originally posted by loam

Originally posted by djohnsto77
Greta Van Sustern toured the place not long ago, I remember seeing it on "On the Record," although she didn't interview any prisoners.


Then the article is wrong?


Well I think she did, I can't seem to find any proof though on the web. It's possible I'm mistaken.



posted on Sep, 5 2007 @ 03:36 AM
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loam
I couldn't agree more - it's the same old story of a creation exceeding the control of its creator.

djohnsto77
Well, I found one source that claims 'human rights groups' have access, but no specifics anywheres, I think their access is limited at best. I came across one very old article, from 2001, that claimed Amnesty International had no access to at least one supermax prison.

Here's a different bit of info to read, more current, if you're interested.

Testimony

Here's another bit that almost reads like psyops.



www.msnbc.msn.com...
Bernard V. Kleinman, a New York lawyer who represents Yousef, said he is the only person allowed to visit his client. He said Yousef often spends days at a time without leaving his cell, declining an hour of solitary exercise time because of body-cavity searches performed before and after each session.


We're seeing the place piped through a New York Lawyer. Let's call it the NYL filter. Is that an accurate enough picture of the situation? I don't think so.

Besides, the high profile ones aren't the ones with anything to say. All the really bad guys see is their walls, and maybe the sunshine. The ones in general population would have a lot more information about what's going on there.

Does a prisoner have access to a lawyer even if they've exhausted their appeals?


[edit on 5-9-2007 by WyrdeOne]



posted on Sep, 5 2007 @ 03:57 AM
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Originally posted by WyrdeOne
Does a prisoner have access to a lawyer even if they've exhausted their appeals?


I imagine at some point a public defender would no longer be involved, thinking that everything has been exhausted, but, as long as they can pay for one or find one willing to represent them for free, they can continue to meet with one.



posted on Sep, 5 2007 @ 05:45 AM
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The prison has been toured a few times that I know of in recent years. Either FOX or CNN toured the prison when they were doing a show about staffing trouble in the Federal Bureau of Prisons and how they dident have enough guards at their prisons and security was suffering.

Oh and for what its worth; Timmy McVeigh was held at the Federal Penitentiary in Terre Haute, IN. They have 4 kinds of prisons in the federal system:

- United States Prisons (ex. ADX Florence, Alcatraz, Fort Leavenworth, McNeil Island, etc)
- Federal Correctional Centers
- Federal Detention Centers
+
the Federal Medical Center for Prisoners in Springfield, MO.



posted on Sep, 5 2007 @ 09:37 AM
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reply to post by ChrisF231
 

Just so you know McNeil Island isn't a federal pen anymore it belongs to Washington State DOC.

For the record Washington State limits media access into our facilities for legitimate security reasons. If however, they have a legitimate reason for their request they are allowed to visit as long as they follow strict guidelines. For instance they are not allowed to photograph inmates without that inmates permission (of course I'm talking about individual photos not group). Personally I would prefer they stay out as they tend to forget that they are in a pen.



posted on Sep, 5 2007 @ 09:51 AM
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I e-mailed the On the Record show at FOX and asked if they had ever had access to that prison for a story.

With any luck I'll get a response.



posted on Sep, 15 2007 @ 07:11 PM
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UPDATE:

www.cnn.com...

Apparently we're not the only ones with questions. This article talks about a recent visit to the Supermax facility by press agents trying to uncover the truth about the media blackout.

The article ends by making a very good point - a 2 hour visit by a handful of reporters is not going to dispel the rumors...



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