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Clinton Correctional Facility




Built in 1845 , the site originally served as a site where prisoners were used to work in local mines in both Dannemora and nearby Lyon Mountain . This enterprise would not be profitable, and by 1877 , mining was ended, and the prisoners were put to work on other trades. With this change, the prison experienced growth, and it was given new, on average 60 feet tall, concrete walls that still stand in 1887 . In 1895 , the first prisoner was executed in the Electric Chair at the prison, beginning the use of Capital Punishment at Clinton Correctional. This period also saw many prisoners cured of Tuberculosis due in part to the clean air in the Adirondacks, leading to the importation of prisoners with this disease from other prisons.

In 1929 , Clinton Correctional witnessed a riot, which coupled with riots in other prisons in that year led to prison reform in New York State. This led to the building of schools in the prison, and the renovation or rebuilding of most of the structures within prison walls, making the facility more modern. The church of St. Dismas was built in 1941 . In the later half of the 20th Century , the prison's mental institutions closed and were converted into an annex to house more prisoners.


NOTABLE INMATES


  • Christopher Dimeo - Serving a life sentence after being convicted of murder and two counts of robbery in connection with a jewelry store crime spree in 2004 and 2005.

  • Hell Rell - Served nearly 28 months on a criminal sale of a controlled substance conviction from 2002 to 2004 .

  • Jesse Friedman - Long Island man who served a controversial conviction on sodomy and sexual abuse charges related to child molestation from February 1989 to December 2001 .

  • John Taylor - Sentenced to death in 2003 after killing five employees of a Wendy's hamburger restauraunt in Queens. The New York Court Of Appeals declared the death penalty unconstitutional in June 2004 .


  • Marlon Legere - Serving life without parole in connection with the brutal shooting deaths of NYPD detectives Robert Parker and Patrick Rafferty in Brooklyn.


  • Ol' Dirty Bastard - Served nearly 17 months on a criminal possession of a controlled substance conviction in 2001 and 2002.

  • Robert Chambers - the "preppy murderer," who served much of his sentence for the killing of Jennifer Levin here, as well as a later sentence for drug possession after Heroin was found in his cell and new criminal charges were brought.

  • Shyne - Since 2001, serving a sentence of 8 to 10 years on convictions of assault, criminal weapons possession, and reckless endangerment. He is eligible for parole in August 2009 .

  • Tupac Shakur - Served nearly 8 months on a "sexual" assault conviction in 1995 .

  • Michael Alig - 10 year sentence due to the murder of his drug dealer in the later 90's.



TRIVIA

Tupac Shakur 's hit song "Picture Me Rollin", off the album '' All Eyez On Me '', makes reference to Clinton Correctional Facility:

"You know there's some muh'fuckers out there I just could not forget about /
I wanna make sure they can see me /
Number one on my list: Clinton Correctional Facilities /
All you bitch ass C.O. 's /
Can you see me from there? /
Ballin on y'all punk ass, ahhaahahah! /
Picture me rollin, baby /
Yeah, all them niggaz up in them cell blocks /
I told y'all niggaz when I come home it's on"



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