The way I see it, we should have just one place for all the lifers (or those with sentences more than like 5 years). Build some huge facility in the middle of no-where - it could be in the dessert, in the Arctic, or in the middle of a desserted island (Bikini Island, anyone?). The only way on/off is a very secure facility where the "guards" live - with redundant backups until next week so they don't have to worry about the prisoners getting in, and with so many fail-safes it's not funny. When a new prisoner arrives, s/he's dropped off by long-range helicopter (i.e. they can't swim ashore to easily). Access to the area by land/sea is prohibited - and you only get one warning before they start shooting to kill. The only way off is when your sentence is up or if you die. Everything would be taken care of in the facility (food, clothes, hospital), with no access to the outside except mail and PBS/CSPAN. No porn, no 80 channel cable service, and no visitors (except maybe by video conferencing). If the prisoners want to riot, they can - the guards/staff will be safe, and the prisonsers can go on for as long as they can last without food/supplies. Yes, it would be expensive, but if you think about it... the cost of maintaining one very large, but low needs (staffing wise) facility would outweigh the cost of maintaining all the other facilities combined. You could even take all the guards that would be out of work and let them work at the new super-prison in month long shifts (since they'd have to live on the island during their shifts). Vote for me and I'll try to make it happen - I promise! :)