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The Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury (FCI Danbury) is a low-security United States
federal prison A federal prison is operated under the jurisdiction of a federal government as opposed to a state or provincial body. Federal prisons are used for people who violated federal law (U.S., Mexico), people considered dangerous (Brazil), or those sen ...
for male and female inmates in
Danbury, Connecticut Danbury ( ) is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2020 was 86,518. It is the third-largest city in Western Connecticut, and the seventh-largest ...
. It is operated by the
Federal Bureau of Prisons The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Justice that is responsible for all List of United States federal prisons, federal prisons ...
, a division of the
United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...
. The facility also has an adjacent satellite prison camp that houses minimum-security female offenders.


History

FCI Danbury was opened in August 1940 with the purpose of housing male and female inmates. It housed several high-profile prisoners during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
Conscientious objectors A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or freedom of religion, religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for ...
, including poet
Robert Lowell Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV (; March 1, 1917 – September 12, 1977) was an American poet. He was born into a Boston Brahmin family that could trace its origins back to the ''Mayflower''. His family, past and present, were important subjects ...
and civil rights activist James Peck, were housed there for refusing to enter the
military draft Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...
in the early 1940s. Robert Henry Best served most of his life sentence at FCI Danbury after being convicted of
treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...
in 1948 for making
propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...
broadcasts for the
Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
during the war.
Screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...
Ring Lardner Jr., a member of the Hollywood 10, a group of filmmakers who were charged with contempt of Congress in 1947 for refusing to answer questions regarding their alleged connections with the
Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...
, served nine months there. Beginning in the 1970s,
Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...
began providing legal services for prisoners at FCI Danbury.Arons, et al., p. 2. As of the 2010s, Yale students and professors still regularly visit the facility.Arons, et al., p. 7. FCI Danbury became exclusively for female inmates in 1993. This was because there was a lack of space for women in the
Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States (also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. Located on the East Coast of the United States, ...
and due to the growth in the number of female prisoners.Arons, et al p. 8. In August 2013, the Federal Bureau of Prisons announced that FCI Danbury was going to be reverted to an all-male facility to alleviate overcrowding across the entire federal prison system. The female inmate population will be transferred to the Federal Correctional Institution, Aliceville in Alabama, which opened in 2013 and has over 1,500 low-security beds for female inmates. It was estimated that the change would be completed by December 2013. However, female inmates were not transferred to other facilities until April 2014. FCI Danbury and its camp were the only federal prisons in the Northeast which housed women, and the repurposing would further promote an imbalance of women's prisoner space within the BOP system. In August 2013, 11 senators from the Northeast sent a letter to the BOP director criticizing the move, since it would mean there would be no facility for female federal prisoners from the Northeast; the move would mean that all of the women would be far from their families and loved ones. In November of that year several senators announced that at FCI Danbury the BOP would install a new low security camp for women and convert an existing minimum security camp into a low security camp for women to remedy the issue. As of August 2014 there was no timeline for the installation of the new women's facilities, no new construction had yet occurred at FCI Danbury. U.S. citizens would be eligible for the camps, but non-U.S. citizens would still be incarcerated farther away. As of that time there were no federal women's prisons left in the Northeast. '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison'' writer Piper Kerman criticized the move in an
op-ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page," is a type of written prose commonly found in newspapers, magazines, and online publications. They usually represent a writer's strong and focused opinion on an issue of relevance to a targeted a ...
in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. A new $25 million women's facility was completed and began accepting female inmates in December 2016. In July 2024, former White House chief strategist
Steve Bannon Stephen Kevin Bannon (born November 27, 1953) is an American media executive, political strategist, and former investment banker. He served as the White House's chief strategist for the first seven months of president Donald Trump's first ...
began serving a four month prison sentence at the facility for a contempt of Congress conviction.


Location and facilities

FCI Danbury is located in southwestern Connecticut, approximately from New York City, from
Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
, and from
Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
. The facility is accessible to a MetroNorth station fewer than from the facility. Four
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
stations are within from the facility. The prison had at one point included athletic facilities such as a running track, a soccer field, handball courts, a baseball diamond, and a handball field, since there is a large amount of outdoor area in the FCI Danbury property.


Programs

Prior to the facility's conversion it offered General Education Development (GED) programs, paralegal classes, a group therapy program for people with
post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a Psychological trauma, traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster ...
called the "Bridge Program", and a residential drug abuse program. The prison chaplain, religious groups, and volunteer groups had offered educational and other programming. In addition, prior to 1999 the prison hosted a "children's day" so inmates could spend time with their children.


Notable incidents


Deadly 1977 fire

On July 7, 1977, at about 1:15 am, a fire began in an inmate's clothes hanging on wooden pegs in one of the prison washrooms, and before it was extinguished about 45 minutes later, five inmates had died of smoke inhalation. The most significant factors contributing to the deadly fire were the presence of fuels that promoted rapid flame and smoke development, the failure to evacuate occupants quickly and reliably (the two primary exits were blocked by the fire and a broken key in a lock, leaving a narrow catwalk as the only exit), and the fire not being extinguished in an incipient stage. An automatic sprinkler system would have been the most reliable fire defense; however, even without automatic detection and suppression equipment, the fire safety system, with little expenditure of money, could have been more effective by revisions to emergency procedures in the fire plan. The Danbury Fire Department was not called until about 15 minutes after the fire's discovery because of a fire plan that called for initial use of the institution's firefighting resources, but the inmate fire brigade was never released from housing units and the institution's fire apparatus was never used. The ensuing public outcry led to several investigations and reviews of the prison's fire safety systems and protocols. A comprehensive program of fuel control, additional fire detection and suppression equipment, and training and planning sessions have also been established, not only at FCI Danbury but throughout the rest of the federal prison system.


Correction officer Michael Rudkin

In 2008, supervisory staff at FCI Danbury discovered that correction officer Michael Rudkin had been engaging in sexual relations with a female inmate. When questioned, Rudkin, who was married at the time, admitted to the affair and stated that it had been going on for approximately one year. An
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
and
United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive dep ...
(OIG) investigation revealed that Rudkin had sexual encounters with other inmates as well. Since it is illegal for prison staff to have sexual relations with inmates under their care regardless of consent, Rudkin pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a ward and was sentenced to prison at the
United States Penitentiary, Coleman The United States Penitentiary, Coleman I and II (USP Coleman I and II) are high-security United States federal prisons for male inmates in Florida. It is part of the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex (FCC Coleman) and is operated by the Federa ...
, a high-security facility in Florida. Rudkin was subsequently convicted in 2010 of attempting to hire a
hitman Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...
to kill his former inmate paramour, his ex-wife, his ex-wife's new boyfriend, and an OIG special agent assigned to his case while at USP Coleman. He was sentenced to 90 years in federal prison. Rudkin was severely beaten at the United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute on August 23, 2021 and died the following day at the age of 56.


COVID-19 home confinement controversy and lawsuit

In 2020, during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, FCI Danbury faced criticism for its handling of home confinement under Attorney General William Barr’s directive to reduce prison populations. Inmates were initially told they would be released, only to have the decision reversed, while others were held in high-security areas for weeks awaiting paperwork. The allegations of mismanagement led to a
class-action lawsuit A class action is a form of lawsuit. Class Action may also refer to: * ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio * Class Action (band), a garage house band * "Class Action" (''Teenage Robot''), a 2002 e ...
against the prison’s warden and BOP Director Michael Carvajal, claiming inadequate COVID-19 protections for medically vulnerable inmates. U.S. District Judge Michael Shea ruled that officials’ actions may have violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment, ordering an expedited review of eligible inmates for release. A later settlement required the Bureau of Prisons to properly identify and release vulnerable prisoners. The lawsuit, backed by legal teams from
Quinnipiac The Quinnipiac were a historical Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. They lived in present-day New Haven County, Connecticut, along the Quinnipiac River. Their primary village, also called Quinnipiac, was where New Haven, Connect ...
and
Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...
law schools, highlighted ongoing failures in medical care, COVID-19 testing, and home confinement implementation at FCI Danbury.


In popular culture

The fictional Litchfield Prison in
Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...
in the Netflix original television series ''
Orange Is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Pr ...
'' is based in part on FCI Danbury, where Piper Kerman, who wrote the memoir on which the series is based, was incarcerated in 2004 and 2005 after her conviction for money laundering and drug trafficking. George Jung served a sentence at FCI Danbury. His incarceration was portrayed in the 2001 film '' Blow'' starring
Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for ...
. The ''
Weeds A weed is an unwanted plant of any species. Weed or weeds may also refer to: Places * Weed, Arkansas, an unincorporated community in the United States * Weed, California, a city in the United States * Weed, Kentucky, an unincorporated communit ...
'' character Nancy Botwin serves time at FCI Danbury. The '' Suits'' character Mike Ross begins Season 6 of the television show in FCI Danbury.Patrick J. Adams tells of character's journey in new 'Suits' season
''
The Columbus Dispatch ''The Columbus Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and it has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since ''The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' ceased publication in ...
''
Gina Zanetakos of ''
The Blacklist ''The Blacklist'' is an American crime thriller television series created by Jon Bokenkamp and developed by John Eisendrath. It stars James Spader as Raymond Reddington, an international criminal and one of the FBI's Most Wanted fugitives ...
'' was incarcerated at FCI Danbury before she escaped. In the 1995 movie ''
The American President ''The American President'' is a 1995 American political romantic comedy drama film directed and produced by Rob Reiner and written by Aaron Sorkin. The film stars Michael Douglas as President Andrew Shepherd, a widower who pursues a romanti ...
'', Presidential Assistant Lewis Rothschild (played by
Michael J. Fox Michael Andrew Fox (born June 9, 1961), known professionally as Michael J. Fox, is a Canadian and American actor and activist. Beginning his career as a child actor in the 1970s, he rose to prominence portraying Alex P. Keaton on the NBC sitcom ...
) says "Say what you want. It's always the guy in my job that ends up doing 18 months in Danbury minimum security prison." In season 6 of ''
The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...
'', the character John "Johnny Sacks" Sacramoni, the head of the New York mafia family (played by
Vincent Curatola Vincent Curatola (; born August 16, 1953) is an American actor. Curatola is best known for his portrayal of New York mafioso Johnny Sack from the HBO drama ''The Sopranos''. He is also a singer and has appeared onstage several times with the ban ...
), was incarcerated at FCI Danbury. In the 2023 series ''
White House Plumbers The White House Plumbers, sometimes simply called the Plumbers, the Room 16 Project, ODESSA or more officially, the White House Special Investigations Unit, was a covert White House Special Investigations Unit, established within a week of the pu ...
'', G. Gordon Liddy (played by Justin Theroux) is promised he’ll serve the prison sentence for his role in the Watergate break-ins at FCI Danbury.


Notable inmates


See also

* List of U.S. federal prisons *
Federal Bureau of Prisons The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Justice that is responsible for all List of United States federal prisons, federal prisons ...
*
Incarceration of women in the United States The incarceration of women in the United States refers to the imprisonment of women in both prisons and jails in the United States. There are approximately 219,000 incarcerated women in the US according to a November 2018 report by the Prison ...


References

* Arons, Anna, Katherine Culver, Emma Kaufman, Jennifer Yun, Hope Metcalf, Megan Quattlebaum, and Judith Resnik
"Dislocation and Relocation: Women in the Federal Prison System and Repurposing FCI Danbury for Men"
Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...
, Arthur Liman Public Interest Program. September 2014.


Notes


Further reading

*Rosepiler, Vicki
"Martha Just One of Us"
'' The Progressive Populist''. September 2004. - A letter to the editor from an FCI Danbury inmate


External links


FCI Danbury
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Danbury, Connecticut Danbury Danbury Women's prisons in Connecticut 1940 establishments in Connecticut