Clinton Correctional Facility
Maximum-security state prison for men in New York, US From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maximum-security state prison for men in New York, US From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clinton Correctional Facility is a New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision maximum security state prison for men located in the Village of Dannemora, New York.[1][2] The prison is sometimes colloquially referred to as Dannemora (having once served as a massive insane asylum named Dannemora State Hospital for the Criminally Insane), although its name is derived from its location in Clinton County, New York. The southern perimeter wall of the prison borders New York State Route 374. Church of St. Dismas, the Good Thief, a church built by inmates, is located within the walls. The prison is sometimes referred to as New York's Little Siberia, due to the cold winters in Dannemora and the isolation of the upstate area. It is the largest maximum-security prison and the third-oldest prison in New York. The staff includes about 1,000 officers and supervisors.[3][4]
| |
 | |
| Location | Dannemora, New York |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 44.7236°N 73.7208°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Security class | Maximum |
| Capacity | 2,959 |
| Population | 2,865 (as of December 2003) |
| Opened | 1845 |
| Managed by | New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision |
In the post-Furman v. Georgia period and prior to the 2007 repeal of the death penalty, it housed New York State's death row for men.[5][6]
Built in 1844, the prison originally served as a site where prisoners were used to supply labor to local mines in both Dannemora and nearby Lyon Mountain. This enterprise was not profitable, and by 1877, mining had ended with the prisoners being put to work on other trades.
As the population grew and more prisoners were housed there, in 1887, authorities had new 60-foot-high walls built, which still stand. In 1892, the first prisoner was executed in the electric chair at the prison. Twenty-six men were executed between 1892 and 1913. This period also had many prisoners cured of tuberculosis, due in part to the clean air in the Adirondacks. As at the time antibiotics were not available to treat the frequently fatal disease, prisoners diagnosed with it were frequently transferred from other prisons.
In 1899, a mental health facility, the Dannemora State Hospital, was built on the grounds to house prisoners who became insane while serving their sentences. Such prisoners were retained in the facility if they remained insane following the completion of their sentences.[7]
In 1929, Clinton Correctional was the site of a riot. Coupled with riots in other prisons in that year, it led to prison reform in New York. Included was the construction of schools in the prison and the renovation or rebuilding of most of the structures within the prison walls to update the facilities to modern standards.
The Church of St. Dismas, the Good Thief was built from 1939 to 1941. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 as a significant structure.[8] In the later half of the 20th century, the prison's mental institutions closed and were converted into an annex to house more prisoners.
On June 6, 2015, inmates Richard Matt and David Sweat, both serving sentences for murder, escaped from the facility. Two prison employees, Joyce Mitchell and Gene Palmer, were charged with aiding the escape. During the search, on June 26, Matt was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent in the town of Malone, New York. Two days later, Sweat was shot by New York state trooper Jay Cook, and subsequently captured. In the days after the escape, some prisoners reported having been beaten by guards in an attempt to obtain information as to the whereabouts and plans of the escaped inmates.[9]
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2017) |
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