A conversation with a fellow employee who was a vet, brought up story about an army Sgt. being convicted of a major felony. This person was sent to “Leavenworth”. I looked it up on the WWW and couldn’t really find anything of interest other than the official name “US Disciplinary Barracks”.
I wonder if any one out there knows what happens at the “USDB” relative to a civilian equivalent. For example, I heard “hard-labor” applies in some cases. What would that entail? Is it a lot of screaming guards? Screaming, angry prisoners? I’m assuming for the most part that it’s a max. security prison and would have the same problems as a regular civilian prison. So, Dopers, do any one of you know the inside scoop?
Well, user_hostile, please start asking these folks who’re telling you bunk to start backing up their stories. Thank you, by the way, for coming to the Straight Dope Message Board to get, well, to get the Straight Dope!
The United States Army Disciplinary Barracks is reserved for military personnel convicted at courts-martial and sentenced to such confinement. The term “major felonies” is not a part of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. On the other hand, offenses as defined in that code’s punitive articles are what’s tried at court-martial.
IIRC, there’s a federal penitentiary in the vicinity (Norton?) If the Servicemember concerned had been convicted in a civilian court and sentenced to confinement, then he would be incarcerated in the facilities under the direction of the government (county, state, federal) which had tried him. If he had been tried by a court-martial and sentenced to confinement, then the USADB might very well be the place of confinement, or he could be confined at a regional facility.
The USADB is a maximum security facility.
Could you do this PN1, USN (Retired), a minor favor? Ask the veteran who told you the story the following questions:
[ul][li]Who…[/li][li]What…[/li][li]When…[/li][li]Where…[/li][li]…did you pull that story from?[/ul][/li]
Just as in any other field, military stories follow the “exceptional claims require exceptional proof” test.
There are essentially five prisons in Leavenworth County Kansas:
U.S.P. Leavenworth (aka The Hot House). It is one of the highest security-- if not the highest security-- federal penitentiaries with an open population in the nation.
In addition to the penitentiary, the Leavenworth campus contains a federal honor camp. A federal honor camp has the lowest security rating within the federal system. Both the penitentiary and the honor camp are in the city of Leavenworth.
CCA (Correctional Corportation of America) is a private prison which houses mostly federal detainees who are awaiting some type of court hearing, typically a trial or sentencing. CCA in the city of Leavenworth.
There is the U.S. Military Barracks in Ft. Leavenworth, which may also be technically in the city of Leavenworth, I’m not sure.
Lansing Correctional Facility, is a state prison in Leavenworth city’s sister city of Lansing.
And although not a prison, there is the Leavenworth County Jail.
If you get in too much trouble at the Military Barracks, they send you to U.S.P Leavenworth (not the honor camp).
I am certainly no expert, but I toured the USDB once.
FOrt Leavenworth (located at Leavenworth, Kansas) is home to both the USDB and the Staff College. (BTW Leavenworth has no less than four major prisons located in the area.)
It seems like a well-run place. It was built during a time when single-cells were the rule, so the rooms are small but one to each. They have some nice vocational training facilities, a prison farm an auto body shop.
The body shop paints the dumpsters around the base. You have never seen such nice dumpsters. One of the guards had an old Buick (or something) restored by the prsioners. It is plaid. (I would pay a dollar just to see the title on the thing.) The prisoners man the barber shops on post and sell fresh veggies from the farm.
The prison has a death row, but nobody have been executed in donkey ears.
I’m with all of the your posting except the last sentence. The link I posted above has this to say:
As the USDB is already a maximum security prison, what’s the rationale for transferring someone to another max facility? I’m not saying, nor even asserting, you’re wrong–I’m now curious.
At any rate, the military installations aren’t considered part of the cities in which they’re located–they’re considered federal reservations.
Thanks, I think, Duckster–long article. I’m still curious as to why someone would be transferred from a military max facility to a civilian max facility.
My wife typed the previous answer because she’s a lawyer that often has clients at USP Leavenworth. She answers as follows:
Within the Federal Bureau of Prisons there are low, minimum, medium, and maximum designations given to the prisons. Within in each range, there are subcategories, so that some max facilities are more secure than other max facilities. The main distinction between the various max facilities is staff to inmate ratio. Leavenworth is one of the few maximum security facilities within the BOP that is the highest maximum security while maintaining an open popultion (the inmates are not confined to their cells all day). To get higher than Leavenworth, would be the super max or ADX at Florence, CO where there is the highest staff ratio and the inmates are locked in the cells 23 hours a day.
Although I am not absolutely certain, as I don’t work with military inmates, it is my understanding that the USDB at Ft. Leavenworth is a lower, max facility than USP Leavenworth.
Sometimes inmates are transfered between prisons with the same security levels when a particular inmate has a conflict with either the population or the staff. For example, if you attack a guard at the USDB you will most likely be transferred. The concern is the inmates ability to function in that prison and the guards sometimes wanting revenge. Likewise, conflicts can develop between inmates due to gang affiliations, or if another inmate rats out a fellow inmate – a snitche’s life is short if the other inmates know he’s a snitch.
The facility at Ft. Leavenworth is small compared to USP Leavenworth. USP Leavenworth has the ability to house around 2200 inmates (and possibly more when they use all the older buildings). Of those cells, they have a larger percentage of segregation units. Seg units are 24 hour lock down in very grim conditions – smaller cell and less amenities. If the seg units at USDB are full, they will transfer the worst of the worst to USP Leavenworth.