Utah State Prison

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Entrance to the Wasatch Block of the Utah State Prison

The Utah State Prison ( USP ; German State Prison Utah ) is the central detention center in the US state of Utah and the only one in this state where executions are carried out. It is located in Draper , about 20 miles southwest of Salt Lake City .

General

The USP opened in 1951 because of the overcrowding of the Sugar House Prison near Salt Lake City and took over all inmates of this detention center; the Sugar House Prison closed that same year. The USP consists of the north and the south complex, which is a few hundred meters away. The Promontory, Lone Peak, Timpanogos and Olympus building blocks are in the north complex, and the Uinta, Wasatch and Oquirrh blocks are in the south complex. All seven blocks together offer space for around 4,500 prisoners of both sexes and all security levels. In addition to educational and vocational training programs, the USP also offers therapies for sex offenders and drug addicts. The prison is operated by the Division of Institutional Operations of the Utah Department of Corrections (UDC).

In 1986 and 1987 a series of tests on volunteers on the subject of subliminal cassettes and their effects was carried out in the prison under the direction of Eldon Taylor .

Accommodation

A prisoner who arrives at the USP must first go to the so-called R&O department (Receiving & Orientation) for two to eight weeks, where he records (taking photos, giving fingerprints, issuing a convict number, etc.), mentally and physically examined, classified in a security level, and then assigned to an adhesive block.

The most dangerous level 1 and 2 criminals are housed in the high security block Uinta. Level 1 prisoners stay in their cells for 23 hours a day, and Level 2 prisoners for 21 hours. During the short time that they spend outside of the cell, they are constantly accompanied and closely monitored by guards. The execution chamber is also located here.

Intermediate security detainees (Levels 3 and 4), who make up the majority of the inmates, are housed in Oquirrh and Wasatch. Levels 3 and 4 inmates can move freely within a certain perimeter of the blocks; Level 4 inmates are also allowed to carry out supervised work within the prison.

The inmates of the lowest security level (level 5) are accommodated in the adjacent blocks Lone Peak and Promontory, and possibly also in Oquirrh and Wasatch. Inmates of this level enjoy the most privileges and, with approval, are also allowed to go on free walks and work outside the prison.

In Olympus prisoners with mental health problems are quartered, in Timpanogos all female inmates are.

Known inmates

Known inmates were or are:

Executions

From the establishment of the prison in 1951 to the abolition of the death penalty in 1967, executions at the USP were carried out either by hanging or shooting . The first execution was carried out by shooting on September 10, 1951, of Eliseo J. Mares, who had been convicted of murder. The last execution by hanging was on June 7, 1958, when the double killer Barton Kay Kirkham was executed in this way.

Not only was the USP carried out the first execution since the death penalty was reinstated in the United States in 1976, but it is also the only detention facility to have carried out gunnings since then. Utah is one of 35 states in the United States where the death penalty can be carried out. Executions in the USP are now carried out exclusively by lethal injection , until 2004 those sentenced to death could also choose to be executed by shooting. However, since the execution by shooting has not been retroactively abolished, prisoners sentenced to death prior to 2004 can still choose that type of execution. In April 2010, Ronnie Lee Gardner made use of it for the first time and was executed on June 18, 2010 by a firing squad consisting of volunteers.

Executed since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976

Firing squad
  • January 17, 1977: Gary Gilmore , two-time robbery and first person in the United States to be executed since the death penalty was reinstated.
  • January 26, 1996: John Albert Taylor, sex killer.
  • June 18, 2010: Ronnie Gardner , two-time murderer and escapee.
Lethal injection

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Article in the BBC

Coordinates: 40 ° 29 ′ 30 ″  N , 111 ° 54 ′ 0 ″  W.