Ellis Unit

Ellis Unit
Ellis Unit

O. B. Ellis Unit (E1, previously Ellis I Unit[1]) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison located in unincorporated Walker County, Texas, 12 miles (19 km) north of Huntsville. The unit, with about 11,427 square feet (1,061.6 m2) of space, now houses up to 2,400 male prisoners.[2] Ellis is situated in a wooded area shared with the Estelle Unit, which is located 3 miles (4.8 km) away from Ellis.[3]

Contents

History

A topographic map of the Ellis Unit, July 1, 1983 - U.S. Geological Survey

The unit opened in July 1965.[2] It was named after Oscar B. Ellis, a former prison director of Texas.[4] From 1965 to 1999 the unit housed the male death row.[5]

After a prisoner named Rodney Hulin fatally injured himself at the Clemens Unit, he was transferred to the Hospital Galveston Unit and then the Ellis Unit. Hulin died in the Ellis Unit in 1997.[6]

In November 1998,[7] six condemned men were absent from their cells for several hours and then coordinated an escape attempt.[8] One of the men, Martin Gurule (TDCJ# 999063[9]),[7] successfully escaped and was later found dead in a location near the prison grounds.[10] TDCJ officials said that he drowned on the day of his escape.[11] According to the TDCJ, the prison escape attempt had hastened the agency's decision to move death row inmates to a new location.[10] Six months after the escape attempt, the TDCJ decided to move the death row.[8] In 1999 the male death row was relocated to the Polunsky Unit (originally known as the Terrell Unit) in West Livingston, Texas.[5][12] The death row transfer, which began in March 1999 and took ten months, was the largest transfer of condemned prisoners in history and was performed under heavy security.[7]

In 2011 the Ellis Unit furniture and wood plant was moved to the Lewis Unit.[13]

Death row

Aerial photograph of the Ellis and Estelle units, March 8, 1989, U.S. Geological Survey

When the unit housed the male death row, condemned inmates worked in a garment factory, played basketball, assisted each other with legal work, and worshiped together. The prison guards allowed other offenders to gather and say goodbye to a death row inmate on the night before his execution. According to death row offender Jonathan Bruce Reed (Texas Department of Criminal Justice Death Row #642[14]), the attitude of the death row was "We can afford you some sort of reasonable life—within security confines" and that death row inmates "lived as humans." Reed said that condemned inmates sometimes violated the rules by smoking, getting tattoos, making wine, and engaging in sexual intercourse with other inmates and officers. Privileges decreased as years passed.[15]

Steve Earle recorded "Ellis Unit One" for the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. The songs lyrics focus on the effect of the death penalty on the guards that carry it out. Earle has been a vocal critic against the death penalty.[citation needed]

Notable prisoners

Death row:

References

  1. ^ "Inmate escapes Ellis I prison." Associated Press/Austin American-Statesman. June 10, 1989. B6. Retrieved on August 22, 2010. "Authorities were searching for a state prison inmate serving time for burglary convictions who apparently escaped from the Ellis I Unit on..."
  2. ^ a b "Ellis Unit." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on May 10, 2010.
  3. ^ Ward, Mike. "Hunt is on for escaped killer." Austin American-Statesman. June 29, 1999. A1. Retrieved on November 27, 2010.
  4. ^ "1995 Annual Report." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on July 21, 2010.
  5. ^ a b "Death Tow Facts." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on May 7, 2010.
  6. ^ Berryhill, Michael. "What Really Happened To Rodeny Hulin?" [sic] Houston Press. August 7, 1997. 7. Retrieved on January 17, 2010.
  7. ^ a b c Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Turner Publishing Company, 2004. 103. ISBN 1563119641, 9781563119644.
  8. ^ a b "Prisoners at new Death Row unit face increased isolation Inmates caged 'like animals waiting for slaughter,'activist says." Fort Worth Star-Telegram. February 28, 2000. 1 News. Retrieved on May 7, 2010.
  9. ^ "Offenders No Longer on Death Row." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on August 22, 2010.
  10. ^ a b Staff and Wire Reports. "Death-row inmates take officer hostage Warden negotiates with prisoners." The Dallas Morning News. February 22, 2000. Retrieved on May 7, 2010. "He was later found dead near the prison, but his escape hastened the decision to house death-row inmates at Terrell Unit, prison officials have said."
  11. ^ Winingham, Ralph and Matt Flores. "Officials say Gurule died day of escape." San Antonio Express-News. December 5, 1998. 1A. Retrieved on May 9, 2010.
  12. ^ "West Livingston CDP, Texas." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on May 9, 2010.
  13. ^ Ward, Mike. "Prison industry programs a victim of economic recession." Austin American-Statesman. Sunday September 4, 2011. Retrieved on September 23, 2011.
  14. ^ "Jonathan Bruce Reed." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on July 21, 2010.
  15. ^ Perkinson, Robert. Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire. First Edition. Metropolitan Books, 2010. 38. ISBN 978-0-8050-8069-8.
  16. ^ "Peter Anthony Cantu." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on September 23, 2010.
  17. ^ "Last Statement - Peter Cantu." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on September 23, 2010.
  18. ^ "Ignacio Cuevas." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 4, 2010.
  19. ^ leal.jpg." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on September 22, 2011.
  20. ^ "Humberto Leal Garcia Last Statement." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on September 22, 2011.
  21. ^ "Jose Ernesto Medellin." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on September 23, 2010.
  22. ^ "Last Statement - Jose Ernesto Medellin." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on September 23, 2010.
  23. ^ "Sean Derrick O'Brien." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on September 23, 2010.
  24. ^ "Last Statement - Derrick O'Brien." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on September 23, 2010.
  25. ^ "Ronald Clark O'Bryan." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on September 23, 2010.
  26. ^ "Last Statement - Ronald Clark O'Bryan." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on September 23, 2010.
  27. ^ Hank Skinner. Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on November 18, 2010.
  28. ^ "Shannon Charles Thomas." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on September 29, 2010.
  29. ^ "Last Statement - Shannon Charles Thomas." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on September 29, 2010.
  30. ^ Grann, David. "Trial by Fire." The New Yorker. September 7, 2009. 1. Retrieved on July 23, 2010.
  31. ^ "Executed Offenders." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on July 23, 2010.

External links


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