On July 13, the United States Penitentiary (USP) Terre Haute, Indiana, opened a Special Confinement Unit to provide humane, safe, and secure confinement of male offenders who have been sentenced to death by the Federal courts. As a result of this action, this week, inmates with Federal death sentences have been transferred from other Federal and State correctional facilities to USP Terre Haute for placement in this Special Confinement Unit.

Based on the increasing number of Federal death penalty cases throughout the country, opening the Special Confinement Unit at USP Terre Haute has become necessary to implement Federal death sentences under applicable Federal statutes and regulations. This unit will be managed in a manner consistent with Bureau of Prisons' policies and procedures. The staff who work in this unit have received specialized training for managing this type of special offender.

The physical design of this two-story renovated housing unit includes 50 single-cells, upper tier and lower tier corridors, an industrial work shop, indoor and outdoor recreation areas, a property room, a food preparation area, attorney and family visiting rooms, and a video-teleconferencing area that is used to facilitate inmate access to the courts and their attorneys.

The Special Confinement Unit operations ensure inmates are afforded routine institution services and programs such as work programs, visitation, commissary privileges, telephone access, and law library services.

On July 19, 1993, USP Terre Haute was designated as the site by the Bureau of Prisons where implementation of the Federal death penalty would occur, including the establishment of a Special Confinement Unit for Federal death penalty cases. In 1995-96, the facility was modified to accommodate this responsibility. Prior to housing special confinement cases, this unit was used to house Cuban detainees.

USP Terre Haute was constructed in 1940. The grounds of USP Terre Haute cover 33 acres enclosed by a secure perimeter double fence. Today, USP Terre Haute is one of nine Federal high-security prisons which confine the Bureau's most dangerous offenders. Adjacent to the USP Terre Haute is a minimum-security camp for male offenders. USP Terre Haute's inmate population is currently 1,070; it has a rated capacity of 741. The minimum-security facility inmate population is 307; it has a rated capacity of 340.