The State Correctional Institution – Greene (SCI Greene) is a maximum security

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

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

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

, 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 thoroughfar ...

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 P ...

. Retrieved on May 23, 2010.

operates the prison, which houses 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 state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

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

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

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

History

SCI Greene opened in late 1993.Yates, Riley. "Life on Death Row." ''

McCall McCall is a Gaelic surname, of Irish and Scottish origin. Notable people with this surname include: * Andy McCall (footballer, born 1911) (1911–1979), Scottish footballer and manager *Andy McCall (footballer, born 1925) (1925–2014), Scottish f ...

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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 During the early stages of the Iraq War, members of the United States Army and the CIA committed a series of human rights violations and war crimes against detainees in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, including physical and sexual abuse, tort ...

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 Between July 5 and July 7, 2017, four young men were reported missing in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. All were subsequently found murdered. The victims were Dean A. Finocchiaro, age 19; Thomas C. Meo, age 21; Jimi T. Patrick, age 19 ...

, convicted of four murders in Bucks County in 2017. * Ben Birdwell, one of the murderers of the Freeman family. *

Russell Maroon Shoatz Russell Shoatz (August 23, 1943 – December 17, 2021), also known as Maroon, was an American political activist and writer who was a founding member of the Black Unity Council, as well as a member of the Black Panther Party, and a soldier in t ...

, 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 (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Cali ...

and the

Black Liberation Army The Black Liberation Army (BLA) was a far-left, black nationalist, underground Black Power revolutionary paramilitary organization that operated in the United States from 1970 to 1981. Composed of former Black Panthers (BPP) and Republic of ...

. 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 or Philly PD) is the police agency responsible for law enforcement and investigations within the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The PPD is one of the oldest municipal police agencies, fourth largest ...

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, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, with a Collegeville postal address, History The SCI Phoenix buildings were built on the SCI Graterford land area, and the P ...

in 2018. * Ricky Smyrnes, one of the murderers of Jennifer Daugherty, 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
* http://articles.mcall.com/2012-08-04/news/mc-pennsylvania-death-row-tour-20120804_1_solitary-confinement-junius-burno-death-row {{DEFAULTSORT:State Correctional Institution - Greene Greene Greene Buildings and structures in Greene County, Pennsylvania 1993 establishments in Pennsylvania