Federal Correctional Institution, Ray Brook

The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee needed congressional approval for funding to build an Olympic Village for the 1980 Winter Olympics. Congress required an after-use contract for facilities, and it was agreed that the Olympic Village would be built in accordance with Federal Bureau of Prisons needs. Following the Olympic Games, it was repurposed for Federal Correctional Institution, Ray Brook. The prison became operational following the conclusion of the Olympics and accepted its first inmates that same year. Local activists and international participants had protested the dual-purpose building, and some athletes refused to be housed in the facility due to the cramped cells, barred windows, and barbed wire perimeter. A coalition of religious and civil rights activists formed the group Stop the Olympic Prison (STOP) to protest the prison. The Bureau of Prisons has received numerous complaints regarding conditions at FCI Ray Brook. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reinstated a previously dismissed lawsuit filed against the Bureau of Prisons on behalf of six inmates who were allegedly housed in an extremely hot and cramped single room without adequate ventilation and cleaning supplies. The Court found that the evidence justified a claim of cruel and unusual punishment. ==Notable inmates (current and former)==