Pelican Bay State Prison, California

California's highest-security modern prison opened in 1989, to move the state's worst offenders out of antiquated facilities such as Folsom and San Quentin (which are now medium and minimum security). Pelican Bay, located near the Oregon border, has two areas, the maximum security prison, and the more notorious supermaximum security housing unit (SHU), whose 1,056 cells were designed to house the inmates who had proved troublesome in other prisons, minimizing the risk by reducing their contact with other people. It is fully automated, operated by guards in control centers who can open doors remotely and who communicate with the inmates through intercoms. The windowless 8 x 10 foot cells where prisoners spend 22.5 hours a day have been called as sterile and aseptic as a hospital. Pelican Bay was designed for 2,380 prisoners and currently (2015) houses around 2,730.