22 October 1983

Two correctional officers are killed by inmates at the United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois. The incident inspires the Supermax model of prisons.

On October 22, 1983, two correctional officers were killed in separate incidents by inmates at the United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois. These tragic events, involving Officers Merle E. Clutts and Robert L. Hoffman Sr., were significant in shaping the future of the U.S. prison system.

Officer Clutts was fatally stabbed in the morning while escorting Thomas Silverstein, a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, back to his cell. Later that evening, Officer Hoffman was also attacked and killed in a similar manner by another Aryan Brotherhood inmate, Clayton Fountain. Both murders occurred within the prison’s high-security H Unit.

These killings shocked the prison community and resulted in drastic changes. USP Marion went into a “permanent lockdown” for over two decades, and this incident was the catalyst for the creation of the “Supermax” prison model. This model emphasizes maximum security and long-term solitary confinement for the most dangerous inmates. Marion’s Supermax status eventually shifted to ADX Florence in Colorado, which is now the only Supermax facility in the federal prison system