Aerial view of the prison in 2024 The State Correctional Institution – Greene (SCI Greene) is a maximum security

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

, classified as a Supermax,America's Supermax Prisons Do Torture
Retrieved 2011-01-25. located in Franklin Township, Greene County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, near Waynesburg, off

Interstate 79 Interstate 79 (I-79) is an Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States, designated from I-77 in Charleston, West Virginia, north to Pennsylvania Route 5 (PA 5) and PA 290 in Erie, Pennsylvania. It is a primary thoroughfare t ...

and Pennsylvania Route 21.SCI Greene
"

Pennsylvania Department of Corrections The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PADOC) is the Pennsylvania state agency that is responsible for the confinement, care, and rehabilitation of approximately 37,000 inmates at state correctional facilities funded by the Commonwealth of ...

. Retrieved on May 23, 2010.

operates the prison, which previously housed most of Pennsylvania's capital case inmates. It is in the far southwest of the state, near the border with

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, in a rural area.Lieberman, Paul and Dan Morain. "Unveiling the Face of the Prison Scandal." ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

''. June 19, 2004. Retrieved on July 9, 2016. p
3

History

SCI Greene opened in late 1993.Yates, Riley. "Life on Death Row." '' McCall''. August 4, 2012. p
1
Around 1996, some prisoners stated that some guards used more force than necessary to control them, and a video camera had captured evidence related to the complaint. Charles Graner, a prison guard who began working at SCI Greene in 1996, was the defendant in two lawsuits, each by a different prisoner; both lawsuits were dismissed as one disappeared after finishing his sentence and the other had submitted his lawsuit after a deadline. Graner later became known for the Abu Ghraib scandal. At some point all of the death penalty prisoners at Greene were moved to SCI Phoenix.

Facility and operations

The prison had 11 cell blocks. 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. Greene was built with the newest features at the time, including central air conditioning. The prison had cable television installed at the time of its opening.

Demographics

, SCI Greene had 157 death row prisoners, about 75% of the prisoners under Pennsylvania state death sentences.

Notable inmates

Life imprisonment: * Cosmo DiNardo, convicted of four murders in Bucks County in 2017. * Ben Birdwell, one of the murderers of the Freeman family. * Russell Maroon Shoatz, convicted in the murder of Police sergeant Francis Von Colln. Founder of Black United Movement in Philadelphia; former member of the

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newto ...

and the Black Liberation Army *

Danilo Cavalcante Danilo Souza Cavalcante (; born July 3, 1989) is a Brazilian national accused of murder in the Brazilian state of Tocantins and a convicted murderer in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. After originally being wanted by Brazilian authorities for hi ...

Convicted of murder after killing his ex-girlfriend. Mostly known for his escape from Chester County Prison Other imprisonment * Jerry Sandusky * Robert Loren Masters, Jr, one of the murderers of Jennifer Daugherty. Death row: * Christopher Roney (alias Cool C), hip hop artist, convicted in the murder of

Philadelphia Police Department The Philadelphia Police Department (PPD, Philly PD, or Philly Police) is the police agency responsible for law enforcement and investigations within the County and City of Philadelphia. The PPD is one of the oldest municipal police agencies, f ...

officer Lauretha Vaird in a bank robbery. * Harvey Miguel Robinson, serial killer moved to

State Correctional Institution – Phoenix The State Correctional Institution – Phoenix is a state prison in Skippack Township, Pennsylvania, Skippack Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, with a Collegeville, Pennsylvania, Collegeville postal addres ...

in 2018. * Richard Baumhammers, spree killer. Moved to State Correctional Institution - Somerset. * Ricky Smyrnes, one of the murderers of Jennifer Daugherty, since moved to Correctional Institution – Phoenix. * Raghunandan Yandamuri, murderer and kidnapper, since moved to Correctional Institution – Phoenix.

Notable staff

* Charles Graner (began in 1996, later became an Abu Ghraib military prison guard)

References

External links

SCI Greene
"

.
Abuses at SCI Greene SuperMax

The Morning Call
{{DEFAULTSORT:State Correctional Institution - Greene Greene Greene Buildings and structures in Greene County, Pennsylvania 1993 establishments in Pennsylvania Prisons completed in the 1990s