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Eastern State was briefly used to house city inmates in 1971 after a riot at Holmesburg Prison. Al Capone's cell The remains of the barber shop. The prison was one of the largest public-works projects of the early republic, and was a tourist destination in the 19th century.
Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death.The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution ("being on death row"), even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists.
Pennsylvania's last execution was carried out in July 1999. The execution complex for Pennsylvania is on the grounds of the State Correctional Institution – Rockview. [5] Many male death row inmates are housed at the State Correctional Institution – Somerset, [6] while some are housed at the State Correctional Institution – Phoenix. [7]
The prison, located on Graterford Road off of Pennsylvania Route 29, [3] was about 31 miles (50 km) northwest of Philadelphia. [2] The prison, described by Joseph Stefano of The Philadelphia Inquirer as the primary state prison serving the Philadelphia metropolitan area, [4] once housed a small number of male death row inmates. [5]
An execution chamber, or death chamber, is a room or chamber in which capital punishment is carried out. Execution chambers are almost always inside the walls of a maximum-security prison, although not always at the same prison where the death row population is housed. Inside the chamber is the device used to carry out the death sentence.
The prison had 11 cell blocks. As of 2012 SCI Greene had 1,750 prisoners and 720 employees. The death row prisoners are in blocks G and L; they normally stay in their cells but may go to a recreational area and the library. [6] Greene was built with the newest features at the time, including central air conditioning. [5]
Pennsylvania's execution chamber is located on the grounds of Rockview; however, there is no "death row" there. Condemned prisoners are transported to Rockview from death rows in maximum security prisons across the state several days before their scheduled execution. [4] SCI – Benner Township was constructed adjacent to SCI Rockview in 2010. [5]
Although the prison maintained the high wall method, it added new modern technology such as surveillance and electronically monitored perimeters, and changed the way prisons are operated. The change of prison operating system has led to branching prisons off into multiple factors to meet the needs of the incarcerated population.