Most Luxurious Prisons

by Roberta Murphy

The Bernie Madoff, who is headed for several lifetimes in prison–and which leads us to wonder:

Where are the cushiest prisons?

And wouldn’t you know, Forbes.com provides a timely list of the top-rated federal prisons. They looked for such amenities as email, proximity to major airports, weather and internal substance-abuse programs, a sentence-reducing ploy used by non-addicted white collar criminals. Other qualifiers for the luxury prison list include pleasant guards, air-conditioned off-site employment, vocational training and weekend family visits.

Madoff’s first choice (though not at the top of Forbes’ list), was the Federal Correctional Institution at Otisville, N.Y, which serves Kosher food and is closest to his family.

That was not to be the case, though.

Madoff was instead sentenced to Butner Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina, which ranks 9th on Forbes’ list.

Top rated? The Alderson, West Virginia Federal Prison Camp where Martha Stewart served her sentence. Others include:

• Federal Prison Camp, Pensacola, Florida

• Federal Prison Camp, Yankton, South Dakota

• Federal Correctional Institution, Sheridan, Oregon

• Federal Correctional Institution, Memphis, Tennessee

• Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin, CA (women’s facility)

• Federal Correctional Institution, Ashland, Kentucky

• Federal Correctional Institution, Buttner, North Carolina

• Federal Correctional Institution, Otisville, New York

And for what it’s worth, there are a total of 115 federal prisons in the United States.