In the event of a modern full scale nuclear war (bolt out of the blue or a gradual buildup) between the US and Russia what would happen to the nearly two million prisoners incarcerated in the thousands of jails and prisons across the US?
How many would survive the initial exchange?
How many would end up trapped inside their cells compared to those who successfully escape?
How much of a problem would they prove to be in the ensuing wasteland?
Probably somewhat comparable to what happened to jail prisoners in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina:
My… God.
In a general breakdown of society there would be nowhere to evacuate prisoners to, and probably no means of evacuating them even if there were. Probable outcome, the prisoners stay locked where they are until either they die there or break out after the guards desert.
“Wandering survivors find an abandoned prison whose cells are full of the dead” is evidently a trope in apocalyptic fiction because I know I’ve come across it at least a couple of times (e.g. The Stand). I see no reason to doubt this.
Prisoners like most other people will die horrible deaths immediately or over a relatively short period of time from the effects of fallout and no food.
Yep, the prisons would go on lockdown as guards left work and never came back. Perhaps the last one to leave (or die) might let some out, but then it becomes a Lord of the Flies senario. Basically payback time.
“We’ll all fry together when we fry”
©Tom Lehrer
That is likely the case if no plans are made ahead of time. National emergency planning should mandate the prisoners be let out based on a high level decision at either the state or federal level. Perhaps moving prisoners to a military facility is possible, but the military would likely be very busy in an event like this. Even if the prisoners are just let loose the decision may come too late to make a difference, if it could make a difference at all.
Those plans would be in effect…right up to the time the first bomb hits.
Let me join the conversation with an informed opinion.
Prisoners would remain in prison as long as they could be kept there. If the prison authorities are no longer able to maintain basic services, they will release the prisoners.
Did you see the links @PastTense provided a few posts back?
If officials are of a mind to help people while hellfire rains down, they will be helped in this order:
That was jails. I’m talking about prisons.
I thinks that pets may rank higher. Probably a dead heat with the homeless. And you can eat pets when things get tougher.
Reminds me of the prisoner who was one of the few survivors of the 1902 eruption in Martinique.
Apparently he was in an underground cell when the pyroclastic flow from St Pierre obliterated the town.
In a situation like a nuclear war, it seems likely that that would be a meaningless distinction. If detainees in the New Orleans Jail (many of whom may have been innocent of a crime) were left locked up and abandoned during Katrina, actual convicted criminals in a prison would likely fare no better.
I could explain why the distinctions are important but I sense it would be a wasted effort. The prejudice against prison employees runs deep.
Are you trying to say that prison employees are going to be more responsible than jail employees?
Either way, if nuclear war occurs, society is likely to break down. I’m not saying that prison employees are irresponsible; I’m saying that the vast majority of all people are likely to be choosing to act to save themselves and their loved ones, and nothing more.
And prison employees, if they are aware of what is happening would definitely not want to fight for limited resources with organized prison gangs. They most likely live near the prison and would be putting their families at an increased risk.
Even the for-profit prisons? 