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USA - Prisoners off death row protest transfer to supermax lockup
November 7, 2025: November 7, 2025 - USA. Prisoners off death row protest transfer to supermax lockup
At the end of his term as president, Joseph Biden commuted the death sentences hanging over 37 of the 40 prisoners on federal death row. Donald Trump’s Justice Department transferred eight of the 37 to a facility notorious for its horrific conditions Sept. 23. The U.S. Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility, also known as ADX, in Florence, Colorado, is the country’s only federal “supermax” prison.
“We have begun transferring the monsters Biden commuted,” Attorney General Pam Bondi declared Sept. 25. “They will spend the rest of their lives in conditions that match their egregious crimes.” The Department of Justice intends to transfer all 37.
21 of the prisoners have filed a lawsuit stating that their transfers would violate the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment prohibition against “cruel and unusual punishments.” The government has moved to have the case dismissed. Most of the 37 have been evaluated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and assigned to be housed in mainline high-security prisons after leaving death row.
Prisoners at ADX “spend 22 to 24 hours a day locked alone in small cells built expressly for severe sensory deprivation and to minimize any human contact, including contact with prison staff,” their lawyers told the New York Times.
They’re confined to soundproofed 7-by-12-foot darkened concrete cells with poured concrete beds and one 4-inch slit window. In ADX’s most restrictive wing, meals are delivered without physical contact and cell doors opened remotely. Prisoners are only given one hour of telephone calls each month. Suicide attempts are common and at least nine have succeeded as of June 2024.
“All of our plaintiffs have been slated for ADX, not because of a security risk but to inflict maximum suffering,” said David Fathi, director of the National Prison Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the prisoners. The lawsuit says the inmates include men who have psychiatric problems, who have tried to kill themselves, as well as others who have medical problems requiring facilities with sufficient accommodations.
Inmate Rejon Taylor, the lead plaintiff, told Newsweek that in a transfer to Florence, “I won’t have the privilege to connect with the outside world as I do now. And that alone will kill me. There’s no hope for me if I end up there.”
Gov’t seeks 2nd death sentence
The Justice Department will also attempt to try, convict and again sentence to death as many of the 37 prisoners as possible in state courts, prioritizing those whose crimes were committed in states that have the death penalty.
The Double Jeopardy Clause of the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment states that no person shall “be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.” However, the Supreme Court has ruled that federal courts and state courts are 2 different “sovereigns,” and the Constitution’s prohibition doesn’t apply.
https://themilitant.com/2025/11/07/prisoners-off-death-row-protest-transfer-to-supermax-lockup/ (Source: themilitant.com, 07/11/2025)
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