The Associated Press
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Supermax prisons were trendy when Ohio cut the ribbon on its angular, steel-bedecked penitentiary in April 1998.
One decade later, the winds favoring ultrasecure incarceration have shifted.
Virginia and Wisconsin downgraded supermax prisons to maximum security in 2002.
Virginia made the change at its notorious Wallens Ridge State Prison just four years after it was built.
Supermax prisons were built to house inmates convicted of serious crimes who caused trouble in prison, including gang activity, subversive behavior or violence against staff.
Virginia’s Wallens Ridge is now nearly full. It houses 1,150 maximum-security inmates in 1,200 available beds. By contrast, officials say 795 of the 1,200 beds available at the state’s remaining Supermax, Red Onion, are in use.