New book paints a picture of two men who spent decades in solitary confinement

May 22, 2023
The United States Penitentiary's maximum security prison in Florence. Oct. 27, 2021.The United States Penitentiary's maximum security prison in Florence. Oct. 27, 2021.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
The federal supermax facility in Florence, Colorado was built in response to two men, Tommy Silverstein and Clayton Fountain. Each murdered a prison guard -- and people who were also incarcerated. Both were considered too dangerous to be housed in the general prison population.

The book "No Human Contact" examines what to do with people in prison who are deemed dangerous, and whether isolation is cruel and unusual punishment. Author Pete Earley profiles two men who spent years in solitary confinement with virtually no direct contact with the outside world. Their crimes were by all accounts heinous: Each man killed a prison guard and other men incarcerated with them. The book traces their childhoods, their crimes and their punishment and explains why their actions led to the construction of the federal Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado.