| Death Row Moving |
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| Death Row Moving |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 21, 2002
Contact:
Perrin Damon, 503-945-0925, perrin.p.damon@state.or.us
Rita Chase, 503-378-2678,rita.chase@state.or.us
Death Row Moving - Media Opportunity to Film New Unit
Death row is moving. Not far - just around the block - but for the first time in many years, a sufficient number of cells for the state’s condemned population will be available under one roof.
The Department of Corrections is moving several small inmate populations to optimize the use of its limited space. These transfers have made cells available in the penitentiary’s Intensive Management Unit building to house condemned inmates together.
Other recent moves include transferring inmates in protective custody as well as a specialized medical population to Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla. Ninety-six beds in the 192-bed Intensive Management Unit at Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario are operational which helped to free-up space in the Salem unit for death row.
Death row inmates have long been housed on a tier in the penitentiary’s Disciplinary Segregation Unit building. The tier accommodates only 15 inmates, but the population of condemned inmates exceeded capacity. The overflow was housed in a partitioned section of a regular cell block called “Administrative Segregation.” Inmates in protective custody were housed there as well. That space will be converted back into housing for inmates in the penitentiary’s general population.
The new death row has 49 cells. The condemned population numbers 27. One of those inmates is housed in another prison so he can receive medical services that are not readily available in Salem.
The Intensive Management Unit (IMU) at Oregon State Penitentiary opened in 1991. Its 196 beds, as well as the 192 newer beds in Ontario, were designed to accommodate inmates who demonstrated a significant inability to obey prison rules and otherwise compromised the safety of the prison system. Through various behavior modification programs, inmates are encouraged to change their behavior to enable them to return to the general prison population.
Because the building was not originally designed to accommodate death row, several physical modifications have been made to the unit. An outside recreation area has been expanded, tables on the tiers have been added, and cells have been equipped to accommodate inmates’ personal property.
Once the inmates move into the new death row, media visits cannot be accommodated on the housing unit. The Department of Corrections is hosting a “media opportunity” on Wednesday, June 26, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. for credentialed members of the media who would like to tour and/or film the new accommodations. This is the only opportunity for filming B-roll and library photos for the foreseeable future.
RSVP’s, by Tuesday, June 25, are mandatory because of security checks that must be done 24-hours in advance. Please contact Rita Chase at rita.chase@state.or.us (503-378-2678) with the:
• full name
• date of birth
• Oregon drivers license number
• list of cities/states lived in the last five years
• Social Security number (optional)
• a phone number to reach each person who will tour.
You will be given instructions on permitted equipment, where to go and what to wear when cleared to enter.
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