The American Spectator

The Spectacle Blog

Jed, James: There are lots of implications to this verdict that defy easy analysis. Does giving Moussaoui life show that we're better than our enemies, or weaker than our enemies? Do enemies in the War on Terror belong in the civilian court system? How would Moussaoui have faired before, say, a military tribunal?

These are hard and interesting questions, worth chewing over. The question of whether Moussaoui will ever be let out of solitary to become a prison preacher, however, is pretty easy: No, not a chance. No advocate for Moussaoui's rights would even try to get him moved into a general population, where he'd be murdered in a wink. Instead, he'll spend the rest of his life here:

Since opening in 1994, Florence ADMAX has become the new, state-of-the-art Alcatraz for the most violent and escape-prone prisoners.

There are 399 inmates in the prison, which has a capacity of 490 and is run by a staff of 298, said Krista Rear, Florence ADMAX spokeswoman.

Despite the roster, most prisoners lead lonely lives.

Most are confined to 7-by-12-foot cells for 23 hours a day. In their one-hour recreation period they remain isolated in chains.

"Inmates at the ADMAX right now do not have any physical contact with each other whatsoever," Rear said.

Their cells are their lives. Each inmate has a cement stool, desk, bed and television stand. They get educational and religious programming on a 12-inch TV. They eat alone in their cells, their meals slipped to them on a tray through a slot in the door.

Terry Nichols, Eric Rudolph, and the '93 World Trade Center bombers are also at ADMAX.

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Education, Trade, Television, Military