Background
The civilian USP Leavenworth is the oldest of three major prisons built on the grounds of Fort Leavenworth. The United States Disciplinary Barracks (USDB) is four miles (6 km) north and is the sole maximum-security penal facility of the United States Military. The original USDB opened in 1874 with the current facility opening in 2002. Prisoners from the original USDB were used to build the civilian prison. In addition, the military's medium security Midwest Joint Regional Correctional Facility, located southwest of the new USDB, opened in 2010. The three prisons operate independently of each other.
The prison was extensively described by Pete Earley, the only writer at that time who had ever been granted unlimited access to the prison, in his book, The Hot House. The prison's history has also been covered extensively in the pictorial history titled U.S. Penitentiary Leavenworth by Kenneth M. LaMaster. Mr. LaMaster is the retired Institution Historian.
USP Leavenworth was the largest maximum security federal prison in the United States from 1903 until 2005 when it was downgraded to a medium-security facility.
Read more about this topic: United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth
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