Jessup Correctional Institution (JCI) is a maximum security prison operated by the

Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) is a government agency of the State of Maryland that performs a number of functions, including the operation of state prisons. It has its headquarters in Towson, Maryland, ...

Jessup, Maryland Jessup ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Howard and Anne Arundel counties, about southwest of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 10,535. Geography Jessup is located at ( ...

. It was formerly called the Maryland House of Correction-Annex.

Prisoners

In 2013, inmates from JCI helped remove asbestos from contaminated buildings at the

Maryland House of Correction The Maryland House of Correction, nicknamed "The Cut" or "The House", was a Maryland Department of Corrections state maximum security prison in an unincorporated area in Maryland. The prison opened in 1879 and became infamous for the high levels ...

. A lifer at JCI, Larry Bratt, wrote about dying in prison. Inmates at JCI participated in the

Beyond Scared Straight Beyond Scared Straight is a reality television series that aired on A&E from 2011 to 2015. The series follows troubled teenagers who spend one to three days in prison to learn from the inmates about the realities of being incarcerated. The seri ...

program. Inmates at JCI participate in the Prison Puppy Raising Program. A 2010 phone call to a college class by Marshall Conway, a former black panther in Baltimore, from inside JCI inspired an award-winning documentary, Comrade Sunshine. One prisoner, Wes Moore, is one of the subjects of the 2010 book ''

The Other Wes Moore ''The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates'' is a 2010 nonfiction book by Wes Moore. Published by Spiegel & Grau, it describes two men of the same name who had very different life histories. Tavis Smiley wrote the afterword. The author stated " ...

'' by Westley "Wes" Moore, who shares a similar name.

Education

Inmates have a library that they use for legal research and writing, writing letters, and other purposes. JCI has a college program, called the Prison Scholars Program, run by Joshua Miller. Many of the courses in the JCI Prison Scholars Program are on philosophy. A chapter in "The Beautiful Prison" discusses a philosophy course run by Loyola University Professor Drew Leder and the scholars at JCI. The chapter is entitled: "The Enlightened Prison: Drew Leder and the Jessup Correctional Institution Scholars." Starting in August 2016, the University of Baltimore has begun offering bachelor's degrees JCI prisoners in Community Studies and Civic Engagement. This program is a part of the US Department of Education's Second Chance Pell Experiment, which involves 66 other universities. However, University of Baltimore is the first to implement the program.

Notable incidents

In 2008, Kelvin Poke, a man who was serving a life sentence at JCI, escaped from a local hospital and was killed by police. In 2012, a man killed his cellmate and eventually pleaded guilty to the crime. In 2015, three correctional officers were placed on administrative leave after an inmate was found dead inside a cell full of steam. Visits were halted after an outbreak of an illness. A former JCI guard was suspected of shootings in Maryland. In August 2016, an inmate was stabbed to death by other inmates in the F building. Officers responded to the call of a fight around 10 AM and found the victim, John A. O'Sullivan lying on the floor with multiple stab and puncture wounds.

References

External links

Jessup Correctional Institution
{{Authority control Prisons in Maryland Government buildings completed in 1991 Men's prisons Government buildings in Maryland Jessup, Maryland 1991 establishments in Maryland