Title: The Murders That Built a Prison: How Two Brutal Killings Created America’s Only Supermax
The U.S. Penitentiary Administrative Maximum, better known as ADX Florence, is the most secure federal prison in the United States. It’s where the most dangerous criminals—terrorists, gang leaders, and those who have killed behind bars—are sent to disappear into a world of near-total isolation.
But what drove the U.S. to create a prison so extreme that inmates have compared it to living in a tomb? The answer lies in two brutal murders that changed the course of American incarceration forever.
A Deadly Wake-Up Call
It was 1983 when two convicts, Thomas Silverstein and Clayton Fountain, committed a pair of cold-blooded murders inside the federal penitentiary in Marion, Illinois. Both men, affiliated with the Aryan Brotherhood, had already built reputations for extreme violence. Fountain was serving time for the murder of his commanding officer in the Marine Corps and had killed three other inmates while incarcerated. Silverstein, originally imprisoned for bank robbery, had also killed multiple prisoners.
Then, in separate but equally gruesome attacks, they murdered two correctional officers in the same cellblock. The killings were so vicious that they sent shockwaves through the federal prison system, exposing how little control officials had over their most dangerous inmates.
The Government’s Harsh Response
The Federal Bureau of Prisons wasted no time. Silverstein and Fountain were immediately placed under extreme isolation—an unprecedented form of punishment at the time. For the first nine months, they were stripped down to their boxer shorts and locked in sterile, white cells with nothing but a mattress and a toilet. The lights stayed on 24/7, and they were denied books, television, and even letters from loved ones. The only people they saw were guards who refused to speak to them.
Prison officials soon realized, however, that stripping everything away didn’t give them control—it created an unpredictable situation. Silverstein, for instance, refused to return his meal trays, leaving officers with the choice of either letting him starve or confronting him in his cell. Over time, officials introduced a system of rewards—small privileges like art supplies or letters—to maintain order. But the lesson was clear: The U.S. prison system had no true way of handling criminals like Silverstein and Fountain.
The Birth of the Supermax
The solution? A prison designed solely for society’s most dangerous inmates—a place where violence was impossible because inmates would never interact. This led to the creation of ADX Florence, the nation’s first and only true supermax prison. The facility, which opened in 1994, was built to house criminals deemed too dangerous for the regular prison system.
At ADX, prisoners spend 23 hours a day in solitary confinement, in cells designed to limit all human contact. They receive meals through a slot in the door and exercise alone in a concrete pen resembling a deep well, where they can see the sky but never touch another person.
Life in Isolation: Survival or Despair?
For Silverstein, survival meant finding purpose. He taught himself to read with a Bible, practiced Buddhism, and spent hours drawing. Fountain took a different path—he earned a degree, embraced Catholicism, and was even considered for acceptance into the Trappist monks before his death.
But the legacy of their crimes went far beyond their own lives. Their actions reshaped the way America punishes its worst offenders. The supermax model has since been criticized for its effects on inmates’ mental health, with experts arguing that prolonged isolation can drive prisoners to insanity. Some believe it’s a necessary evil, while others call it inhumane.
A System Without Easy Answers
The murders of 1983 forced the American prison system into a new era—one defined by fear, control, and the belief that some criminals are simply beyond redemption. But nearly four decades later, the question remains: Does isolating the worst of the worst truly make society safer, or does it create something even more dangerous?
As long as the supermax exists, that debate will never end.
