Jessup Correctional Institution

Jessup Correctional Institution (JCI) is a maximum security prison operated by the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services in Jessup, Maryland. It was formerly called the Maryland House of Correction-Annex.^[1][2]

Jessup Correctional Institution

Coordinates	39°8′40″N 76°46′40″W
Status	Operational
Security class	Maximum adult males
Population	1,396 (daily average) (as of 2010)
Opened	1991
Former name	Maryland House of Correction-Annex
Managed by	Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services
Warden	Robert Dean
Street address	7805 House of Correction Rd
City	Jessup
County	Howard County
State/province	Maryland
ZIP Code	20794
Country	United States

Prisoners

In 2013, inmates from JCI helped remove asbestos from contaminated buildings at the Maryland House of Correction.^[3] A lifer at JCI, Larry Bratt, wrote about dying in prison.^[4] Inmates at JCI participated in the Beyond Scared Straight program.^[5] Inmates at JCI participate in the Prison Puppy Raising Program.^[6] A 2010 phone call to a college class by Marshall Conway, a former black panther in Baltimore, from inside JCI inspired an award-winning documentary, Comrade Sunshine.^[7]

One prisoner, Wes Moore, is one of the subjects of the 2010 book The Other Wes Moore by Westley "Wes" Moore, who shares a similar name.^[8]

Education

Inmates have a library that they use for legal research and writing, writing letters, and other purposes.^[9]

JCI has a college program, called the Prison Scholars Program, run by Joshua Miller.^[10] Many of the courses in the JCI Prison Scholars Program are on philosophy.^[11] A chapter in "The Beautiful Prison" discusses a philosophy course run by Loyola University Professor Drew Leder and the scholars at JCI. The chapter is titled: "The Enlightened Prison: Drew Leder and the Jessup Correctional Institution Scholars."^[12]

Starting in August 2016, the University of Baltimore has begun offering bachelor's degrees JCI prisoners in Community Studies and Civic Engagement.^[13] This program is a part of the US Department of Education's Second Chance Pell Experiment,^[14] which involves 66 other universities. However, University of Baltimore is the first to implement the program.

Notable incidents

In 2008, Kelvin Poke, a man who was serving a life sentence at JCI, escaped from a local hospital and was killed by police.^[15]

In 2012, a man killed his cellmate and eventually pleaded guilty to the crime.^[16]

In 2015, three correctional officers were placed on administrative leave after an inmate was found dead inside a cell full of steam.^[17] Visits were halted after an outbreak of an illness.^[18] A former JCI guard was suspected of shootings in Maryland.^[19]

In August 2016, an inmate was stabbed to death by other inmates in the F building. Officers responded to the call of a fight around 10 AM and found the victim, John A. O'Sullivan lying on the floor with multiple stab and puncture wounds.^[20]

In May 2023, Nicholas Joseph Delfosse, an inmate at JCI, was found in his cell with multiple injuries. An autopsy revealed Delfosse was stabbed to death and his death was ruled a homicide.^[21]

Notable inmates

Inmate Name	Register Number	Status	Details
Willie Horton	1019284 / 189182	Serving a life sentence.	Convicted murderer who is best known for his crimes being noted in an ad during the George H. W. Bush 1988 presidential campaign.[22][23][24]
Sean Urbanski	4511249 / 00481576	Serving a life sentence.	Perpetrator of the 2017 Murder of Richard Collins III in which he was stabbed to death by Urbanski on the University of Maryland, College Park campus.[25][26][27][28][29]