At the women’s prison will notice a new blue building. This is the future: The state is expanding its prison capacity by infilling existing compounds with these permanent structures instead of building new prisons.

Now we backtrack to I-75 and go north to US 90 at Lake City. We drive west on 90 through Lake City and past the airport. On our right we find two prisons: Columbia CI and Lakeland CI, built in 1992 and 1997 respectively. A few miles down the road on the right is Baker CI, built in 1981

The questions to ask here is which prison is the private for profit prison and which is the prison designated to hold male youthful offenders?

At Baker turn around and head back a mile to the last light. Then turn south on SR 231. Go through Lake Butler until you arrive at the Reception and Medical Center on the right. Here you have a prison medical center and in-processing complex employing over 900 people and handling over 2,000 inmates.

Do a U turn and head north till you get to the stoplight, which is SR 121, and turn right (East). Go till you hit SR 16. Take a right and you will soon come up on Union CI.

Here are about 1,549 inmates, including those on Death Row. Death Row housing was built in 1992 and is full; the overflow is held at Florida State Prison. The death row cell is a 9 x 6 x 9.5 foot cage with a steel bunk, commode and sink. A lot of men have spent 20 or more years in such a cage.

Frank Smith spent the last ten years of his life as an innocent man on death row and died there of cancer. He was exonerated a year after his death through the efforts of his sister.

Florida State Prison is the next stop to the South. It not only holds the state’s execution chamber but also is the central prison for inmates with serious psychological problems. Here you will also see a new feature associated with maximum-security units: In front of the prison are individual cages similar to dog runs, not much bigger than a cell, where inmates get fresh air and exercise.