California Department of Corrections

About the author: The California Department of Corrections operates all state prisons, oversees several community correctional facilities, and supervises all parolees during their re-entry into society.

Pelican Bay State Prison houses California's most secure prison facility —the Security Housing Unit (SHU), a "supermax" prison. This is where the most violent and dangerous prisoners are housed. In order to ensure the safety of inmates and staff, prisoners in the SHU experience solitary confinement, limited movement, little or no contact with others, and strictly controlled leisure time. This results in a successful program that punishes offenders and keeps violence to a minimum.

California's most secure prison facility—the high-tech Security Housing Unit (SHU)—is located within the maximum custody Pelican Bay State Prison. Its purpose: to protect...