The Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island (FCI Terminal Island) 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 inmates in

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California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. 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 ...

. FCI Terminal Island is located at the entrance to Los Angeles Harbor, between San Pedro and

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History

The prison was opened at the southern end of Terminal Island, adjacent to a

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

base, on June 1, 1938, with 610 male, and 40 female prisoners. It consisted of a central quadrangle surrounded by three cell blocks and cost $2 million to construct. In 1942, the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

took control of the prison for use as a receiving station and later as a barracks for court-martialed prisoners. The facility was deactivated by the Navy in 1950 and later turned over to the state of California for use as a medical and psychiatric institution. The state returned control to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons in 1955 for conversion into a low-to-medium security federal prison. The prison was mixed-sex, with female prisoners housed separately, until 1977, when overcrowding led to the transfer of the women to the federal prison in Dublin, California. The prison was given increased barbed wire and armed guards in the early 1980s in an effort to dispel the facility's "

Club Fed "Club Fed" is a derisive term used in North America to refer to a prison whose accommodations are seen as less severe than many other prisons. ''Club Fed'' is a pun on the "Club Med" chain of all-inclusive resorts. The 1999 movie ''Office Space'' ...

" image. A corruption scandal rocked the prison in the early 1980s, resulting in the indictment of six employees on charges of bribes, cover-ups, marijuana sales to inmates, and other corruption. Those indicted included Charles DeSordi, the prison's chief investigator of crimes, the highest-ranking federal prison official ever to be indicted.

Notable inmates (prior to 1982)

† Inmates released prior to 1982 are not listed on the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.

Notable inmates (since 1982)

Facility and services

All inmates are expected to maintain a regular job assignment, unless medically exempted. Many job assignments are controlled through a performance pay system, which provides monetary payment for work. UNICOR has a separate pay scale. Institutional maintenance jobs are usually the first assignment for new inmates. These might include assignments to Food Service, as a unit orderly, or in a maintenance shop. However, a significant number of inmate jobs are available in the Federal Prison Industries. There is a waiting list for factory employment. UNICOR employs and trains inmates through the operation of, and earnings from, the metal factory that produces high-quality metal products for the Federal government. Inmates must obtain a

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for grade advancement and must participate in the Financial Responsibility Program (if required) to be employed in UNICOR.

Federal Prison Industries Federal Prison Industries, Inc. (FPI), doing business as UNICOR (stylized as unicor) since 1977, is a corporation wholly owned by the United States government. It was created in 1934 as a prison labor program within the Federal Bureau of Priso ...

, a U.S. government employment program, has a shop at FCI Terminal Island that specializes in repairing, refurbishing, and reconditioning furniture, office equipment, tires, and other government property.

Education

College courses are offered through Coastline Community College.

References

External links

FCI Terminal Island
{{Federal Bureau of Prisons Federal Correctional Institutions in the United States Prisons in Los Angeles County, California Government buildings in Los Angeles Terminal Island 1938 establishments in California Buildings and structures in Los Angeles Charles Manson Prison islands of the United States