The Nation : Maryland Site Substitute for D.C. Prison

The federal Bureau of Prisons is moving ahead with construction of a long-planned prison in western Maryland, thereby eliminating the immediate need for the 700-bed Washington-area prison announced by national drug policy director William J. Bennett last week, officials said. The proposed new Washington area prison--the most costly feature in Bennett’s “emergency” plan to combat drug abuse in Washington--is being indefinitely shelved, Bennett spokesman Don Hamilton said. For the last four years, the Bureau of Prisons has been planning the construction of a 700-bed medium and minimum security facility at Cumberland in Alleghany County. Additional funding now will be provided for the prison, which is due to be completed in 1991, but it will not be specifically dedicated “for prisoners in the Washington area,” Hamilton said.