The "Silverstein Suite" built just for him is located at the end of the Special Housing Unit (SHU), a building isolated from the main prison. Silverstein was moved here in 1989 from his basement dungeon, that is described in The Hot House. The SHU is a "prison inside a prison" and is commonly call "the hole." It's where convicts are sent for punishment. Silverstein is kept in his cell twenty-three hours per day. At certain times, an electronic door is opened for one hour, so he can step into the outside recreation area or into an indoor recreation cage. He is NOT allowed into the hallway in this drawing. That is used by officers when they need to microwave his meals or check on him face-to-face. There is a visiting room attached to the indoor recreation cage, but since the Bureau of Prisons doesn't allow him visitors, it has not been used. These three rooms -- his cell and the two recreation cages -- are his entire world. Because he is under constant surveillance, the only time that he sees other humans is when food is brought to his cell. He has been kept under "no human contact" conditions since 1983. |










