United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute (USP Terre Haute): Established in 2005, it is a high-security facility which holds federal death row for men and also has a prison camp for minimum-security male offenders.[3][4]
Special Confinement Unit
United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute uses a Special Confinement Unit to separate federal male death sentenced inmates. Male inmates are transferred from other facilities, like state and federal prisons, for engagement in the Special Confinement Unit. USP Terre Haute opened the Special Confinement Unit on July 13, 1999.[5]
Segregated housing
Inmates considered high risk are immediately placed in a secure wing with more rules and supervision. These prisons are restricted segregation, which involves a twenty-three hour cell lock in, usually in solitary confinement. Inmates are allowed a thirty minute lunch and thirty minutes of yard time.[6]
Because of the great prevalence of gonorrhea and its importance in the production of noneffective [sic] man-days both in the armed forces and civilian population, I believe that the human inoculation experiments proposed by Doctor Carpenter are justifiable if the human subjects are selected on a voluntary basis.
In 1943, a decision was made to use prisoners as volunteers, as soldiers could not be guaranteed sexual abstinence for six months, and the mentally ill were not considered appropriate research subjects. Due to legal issues, the Army Medical Corps preferred federal prisons to state run institutions, and Terre Haute had the best medical facilities. Prisoners participated with consent, receiving $100 for their involvement. A 2011 US Bioethics report states:
In total, 241 prisoners participated in the experiments, which ended in 1944. The first stage of the experiment required the investigators to develop a consistent technique for producing gonorrhea in subjects. Dr. Mahoney, Dr. Cutler, and their staff began efforts to infect subjects through artificial exposure in October 1943, a year after Dr. Carpenter first proposed the work to Dr. Moore. All subjects were inoculated with bacteria deposited into the end of the penis. The researchers tried a variety of strains and concentrations of gonorrhea. At least some of the strains were gathered from local commercial sex workers who were examined by Dr. Blum after they had been arrested in Terre Haute by local police.
On September 15, 2010, prisoner Daniel L. Delaney (09416-112) murdered his cellmate while both were in the Special Housing Unit (SHU). Delaney was convicted of first degree murder for the act.[11] He was transferred to ADX Florence.[citation needed]
