The Michael Unit opened in September 1987.[2] Texas officials referred to the facility as "model for the future."[5] Robert Perkinson, author of Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire, described Michael as "one of the meanest lockups" in Texas.[6]
Operations
Michael was one of the first prisons to no longer use the "telephone-pole" layout,[7] which has central pickets with dead-end cell blocks extending from them.[8] The telephone-pole layout, while inexpensive to build, is difficult to police without building tenders, convicts paid to police other convicts. Instead Michael uses a modular pod design, which allows for riot control and visual surveillance. Most pods have double-bunk, reinforced concrete cells with security features such as slit windows and bolted-down metal toilets. Some pods have dormitories.[7] Michael was one of several new prisons to have the ability to have many prisoners in extended lockdowns.[3] State officials said that Michael's features allowing for extended lockdowns of prisoners were modeled on the
United States Penitentiary, Marion.[7]
^
abRhor, Monica. "
Serial killer wrestles with his crimes." Fox News. Sunday June 8, 2008. Retrieved on December 12, 2010. "Henley, who turned 52 in May, sits behind a glass divider in the visiting room at the Michael Unit, a Texas prison set amid cow pastures and sprawling ranches about an hour south of Dallas."