W. J. "Jim" Estelle Unit"Estelle Unit ." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on September 29, 2011. (E2, originally the Ellis II Unit) also known as the Estelle Supermax Penitentiary, is a prison located on Farm to Market Road 3478 in unincorporated Walker County, Texas, United States, north of central Huntsville. The prison, with about of space, is operated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The unit, which opened in June 1984, was named after Ward James "Jim" Estelle, a former prison director of Texas."1995 Annual Report." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on July 21, 2010. The Estelle Unit has a geriatric facility, a program for physically handicapped inmates, a program for substance abuse, a high security unit, and a regional medical facility.de la Luz Martínez, María. "Taking a hard look at prisons." Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. Northern Hemisphere Spring of 2006. Retrieved on May 7, 2010. The Estelle High Security Unit is a supermax facility.Ward, Mike. "Hunt is on for escaped killer ." Austin American-Statesman. June 29, 1999. A1. Retrieved on November 27, 2010. "Clifford Dwayne Jones' escape from the Estelle High-Security Unit on Sunday afternoon was the first from a Texas prison this year and the first from the "super max" lockup, as the unit is called."

History The unit opened in 1984. The Estelle High Security Unit was designed in response to an increase in prison violence in the Texas prison system.McVicker, Steve. "Unnecessary Roughness." Houston Press. Thursday October 12, 2000. 1. Retrieved on October 2, 2010.

Around 1991 TDCJ planned to build a separate facility for elderly inmates."BC-TX--WEEKENDTOPIC:ELDE Texas prison programs address special needs of elderly inmates." Associated Press at the San Antonio Express-News. August 16, 1991. Retrieved on August 22, 2010. In 1995 the unit received its current name.Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Turner Publishing Company, 2004. 74. , . In 1999, a prisoner named Clifford Dwayne Jones escaped by slipping one of his hands out of a pair of handcuffs and then scaling several walls. The inmate left behind his clothes and shoes, possibly to foil tracking dogs. The inmate was captured about 48 hours after his escape. Jones's escape was the first escape from the high security unit.

On May 12, 2010 Thord "Catfish" Dockray, a blind prisoner with a history of mental illness, threw urine on correctional officers. Officers ordered him to exit his cell, but he refused. The officers utilized chemical agents to try to subdue Dockray, but he continued his assault. After Dockray was subdued, medics attended to Dockray, who refused medical care. On May 13 the prisoner was found face down in his cell. The prisoner was taken to Huntsville Memorial Hospital, where he died.O'Hare, Peggy. "TDCJ inmate dead after fight with officers." Houston Chronicle. May 20, 2010. Retrieved on May 21, 2010.

As of 2010 a study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics stated that the percentage of prisoners who were sexually abused within the preceding year was 15.7% at Estelle.Kaiser, David and Lovisa Stannow. "The Way to Stop Prison Rape." The New York Review of Books. February 25, 2010. Retrieved on October 26, 2012. The BJS surveyed inmates in hundreds of state and federal prisons and county jails. Nationwide, the rate of inmates reporting sexual victimization within a prior 12-month period was 4.5 percent. The Estelle rate was the highest in the U.S.Simons, Meredith and Robert Gavin. "Texas leads nation in prison sex abuse." Houston Chronicle. Monday April 5, 2010. Retrieved on October 26, 2012.

Two correctional officers secretly allowed three inmates to fight each other on April 29, 2015 and attempted to cover up the act. They later confessed and were given prison sentences.

Operations

The Estelle Unit is a part of a large compound, sharing space with the Ellis Unit, which is away from Estelle. The area housing the Ellis and Estelle units is wooded.

The Estelle High Security Unit is a self-contained facility north of the main Estelle prison facility. The high security unit was the first of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's "super seg" units, which have many administrative segregation cells. The security unit houses many of the most violent male prisoners in the State of Texas. The security unit also houses prisoners who purposefully cause problems in order to escape from the general population for fear of victimization.

Notable inmates Current: Inmate nameRegister numberStatusDetails David Ray Conley III 04138107 / 02370867 Serving a life sentence without parole. Perpetrator of the 2015 Harris County shooting in which he murdered his ex-girlfriend, Valerie Jackson, and 7 other members of her family. Bradley Chance Cadenhead 02449471 Serving an 80 year sentence. Founder of transnational Telegram and Discord-based sextortion network 764, sentenced for distributing child pornography. Bernie Tiede 05931666 / 00864378 Scheduled for release in 2098. Eligible for parole in 2029. Murdered Marjorie "Marge" Nugent in 1999. Miguel Alvarez-Flores 16731684 / 02337494 Scheduled for release in 2057. Eligible for parole in 2037. One of 2 perpetrators of the 2017 Murder of Genesis Cornejo-Alvarado, and the kidnapping of other girls, the case is known for the unusual involvement of Satanism. James Kevin Pope 4,060 years in prison; Scheduled for release in 6068. Sexual assault of three teenaged girls over two years.

Former: Cesar Fierro Steven Jay RussellMcVicker, Steve. "King Con." Houston Press. Thursday February 6, 1997. Yaser Said

References

External links

Estelle Unit - Texas Department of Criminal Justice Estelle Unit at INPM - International Network of Prison Ministries Estelle Unit Does It All—And Then Some - National Commission on Correctional Health Care List of prisoners in the Estelle Unit - The Texas Observer