Federal Judge Rejects Bid to Halt Transfer of Commuted Death Row Inmates to ‘Supermax’ Prison

A federal judge has temporarily rejected a legal bid to stop the transfer of former death row inmates, whose sentences were commuted by President Joe Biden, to the “Supermax” facility in Colorado, the country’s highest-security federal prison. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled against a preliminary injunction sought by 21 of the 37 plaintiffs, all of whom saw their death sentences changed to life without parole last December. Judge Kelly stated that the plaintiffs must first exhaust their administrative appeals regarding the transfer within the Bureau of Prisons (BOP).

The decision is particularly relevant as the BOP has indicated that it would not transfer any of the plaintiffs to the Supermax until at least the end of May. Judge Kelly emphasized that the court lacked the authority to intervene until the inmates had completed the necessary administrative processes regarding their transfer. Most of the former federal death row inmates are currently housed at the Terre Haute penitentiary in Indiana, which also serves as the federal government’s death chamber.

The Biden administration has halted federal executions, in stark contrast to President Donald Trump’s administration, during which a series of federal executions took place. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), representing the plaintiffs, remains convinced that the inmates can be safely housed elsewhere within the federal system. They argue that moves to the Supermax would be unconstitutional and detrimental to the inmates’ well-being.

The lawsuit claims the process leading to potential transfers to the Supermax was flawed, alleging that inmates were preclassified as security threats without adequate hearings to assess their individual circumstances. The federal government asserts that the BOP has the statutory authority to designate inmate housing and that those slated for the Supermax have undergone extensive review. The BOP maintains that it has historically avoided transferring inmates to Supermax until any appeal processes are exhausted, but it raised concerns about the potential for a breach of this standard.