THE NICHOLS CASE: Life in Supermax prison

Now that Fulton County courthouse killer Brian Nichols has been sentenced to life without parole, one remaining question is where the 37-year-old will serve time.

Superior Court Judge James Bodiford on Saturday suggested that Nichols should serve his time in the federal maximum security prison known as Supermax in Florence, Colo., which has the reputation as the nation’s toughest and most secure prison.

Bodiford said he was surprised to learn during the trial that Nichols, who is convicted of state crimes, could still serve his time in a federal prison.

“I thought maybe Supermax might be a good place for Mr. Nichols for what it is worth,” Bodiford said. “I don’t believe I can order it, and I am not going to order it, but that is my two cents’ worth.”

About the prison

> The Supermax unit at the Florence Federal Correctional Complex at Florence, Colo., primarily holds extremely dangerous or escape-risk federal inmates. There also are a few state prisoners there who need more security than those prisons can provide.

> The remote prison, which opened in 1994, almost disappears into the same-color desert around it.

> Cells are 8-by-12 feet, with concrete walls, ceilings and furnishings, including the bed. The toilets, sinks and showers are stainless steel.

> Cell windows are long and narrow, limiting the view to only the sky.

Some known inmates

> Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, shoe bomber Richard Reid, and Sept. 11, 2001, conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.

> Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, the 1960s militant once named H. Rap Brown, convicted in Georgia of the state crime of murdering a Fulton County deputy.

> Convicted of federal crimes in Georgia: Eric Robert Rudolph, who pleaded guilty to the Centennial Olympic Park bombings and other bombings in Atlanta; and Malachi Z. York, the Nuwaubian leader convicted of child molestation, racketeering and federal financial reporting charges.

Prison program

> A three-step program limits —- or perhaps deprives —- inmates of many things that would stimulate the senses —- smell, sight and touch. Olympic Park bomber Rudolph complained to a Colorado newspaper in 2006 that the prison’s design was driving him insane.

> In the first stage of the program, inmates spend 23 of every 24 hours double-locked behind a steel door and a barred grate. They are allowed one 15-minute telephone call a month. One hour each day is spent alone in a recreation area. Their behavior is reviewed every 90 days before they can be moved up to the next step.

> At the second and third steps, inmates are given more freedom, more time for exercise, longer and more frequent telephone calls and more social contact with other prisoners —- as long as they are free of violations.

Limited inmate privileges

> Inmates get a radio and a black-and-white, 13-inch TV made specially with clear backs that reveal all internal components. The TVs are hooked up to “basic cable.” Inmates participate in religious services that are broadcast on their televisions.

> Guards pass inmates’ meals, law books and other items through a slot in the door. There is limited direct human contact.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Prisons

AJC staff writer Steve Visser contributed to this story.