# How does the US decide who goes to maximum security prisons? (Or SuperMax)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-us-decide-who-goes-to-maximum-security-prisons-or-supermax/961400>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [March 21, 2022, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-us-decide-who-goes-to-maximum-security-prisons-or-supermax/961400 "2022-03-21T00:37:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2022, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-us-decide-who-goes-to-maximum-security-prisons-or-supermax/961400/21 "2022-04-13T01:16:23Z")

</div>

> [@chappachula](#):
>
> It would be logical for the judge to decide in which type of prison the guilty person will spend his sentence.  
> There’s a huge difference between living the good life in a minimum security “club fed” , and suffering in a real prison. The judge should have the authority to designate which punishment the guilty person will have to endure.

Two issues: 1) a judge typically does not have a degree in prison management such that he or she could make a rational decision about what type of prison is needed to protect the inmate, other prisoners, guards, and society, and 2) incarceration, the loss of liberty IS the punishment that the judge gives, full stop. We don’t put people in “real prisons” to make them “suffer.” The fact that you are forced to stay at a location, away from friends and family, and that you cannot just go down to the local pizza joint is the full punishment the state can get from you from imprisonment. Anything additional than that is solely for running an efficient prison system.

Back to the OP and BTK, yes, it is almost certainly for his own protection as he would likely last about 11 minutes in general population. Look at what happened to Whitey Bulger and he was a frail old man.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2022, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-us-decide-who-goes-to-maximum-security-prisons-or-supermax/961400/22 "2022-04-13T01:18:32Z")

</div>

Good points.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-us-decide-who-goes-to-maximum-security-prisons-or-supermax/961400.md?page=1)