Wende Correctional Facility

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State prison in Alden, New York, USA

title: "Wende Correctional Facility" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1923-establishments-in-new-york-(state)", "buildings-and-structures-in-erie-county,-new-york", "prisons-in-new-york-(state)"] description: "State prison in Alden, New York, USA" topic_path: "general/1923-establishments-in-new-york-state" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wende_Correctional_Facility" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary State prison in Alden, New York, USA ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox Prison"]

FieldValue
prison_nameWende Correctional Facility
location3040 Wende Road
Alden, New York
coordinates
statusOperational
classificationMaximum/Supermax
capacity961
opened1923 (as county jail)
1983 (as state prison)
managed_byNew York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision
::

| prison_name = Wende Correctional Facility | image = | location = 3040 Wende Road Alden, New York | coordinates = | status = Operational | classification = Maximum/Supermax | capacity = 961 | opened = 1923 (as county jail) 1983 (as state prison) | closed = | managed_by = New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision | director =

Wende Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison located in the town of Alden in Erie County, New York, east of Buffalo. The prison is named for this region of Alden. The prison was formerly the site of an Erie County jail and was sold to the state to fulfill the need for a maximum security state prison. The Erie County Correctional Facility was built adjacent to Wende.

History

The state of New York announced its $48 million purchase of the prison on March 24, 1983. At the time of the sale, the facility housed 592 prisoners.

COVID-19

Like other prisons, Wende was a vector in the COVID-19 pandemic. As of November 6, 2020, 31 prisoners had tested positive for COVID-19; one of the first confirmed infections was that of recently sentenced movie executive Harvey Weinstein. According to a March 31, 2020, statement by the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, 135 correctional officers at Wende were in quarantine, and 6 had tested positive for the virus.

Controversies

David McClary, convicted of murdering police officer Edward Byrne, spent three years in solitary confinement while at Wende. In 1999, a federal jury granted him $660,000 in damages. In 2000, U.S. Magistrate Jonathan Feldman reduced the award to $237,500. In 2002, Judge Alan Winick, of Nassau County Supreme Court, ruled that the settlement would be awarded to Byrne's family.

In 2003, Wende officers ordered that Muslim prisoner Darryl Holland produce a urine sample in a three-hour window for a drug test. Holland, who was fasting for Ramadan, refused to drink water for the sample and was placed in solitary confinement for 77 days. While Judge Michael Anthony Telesca of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York granted the prison summary judgement in 2013, a panel of judges from the Second Circuit ruled that Holland could still sue on First Amendment grounds.

Notable inmates

References

References

  1. (May 25, 1983). "State will buy Erie County Penitentiary". [[Democrat and Chronicle]].
  2. (November 6, 2020). "NYS DOCCS INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS COVID-19 REPORT BY REPORTED FACILITY". [[New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision]].
  3. (March 23, 2020). "Harvey Weinstein Tests Positive for the Coronavirus". [[The New York Times]].
  4. (March 31, 2020). "Union: Number of quarantined corrections officers from Wende climbs to 135". [[WGRZ]].
  5. (February 27, 1999). "Officer's Killer Wins Lawsuit For Time Spent In Solitary Cell". [[The New York Times]].
  6. Soltis, Andy. (2000-03-16). "JUDGE SLASHES AWARD TO COP KILLER".
  7. Dunleavy, Steve. (2002-02-17). "COP-KILLER GETS BEAT AT HIS OWN NASTY GAME".
  8. (July 6, 2016). "Ramadan for Muslim Inmates: Mixing Religious Duty With Prison's Limits". [[The New York Times]].
  9. (July 14, 2014). "Muslim's Urine Test Refusal May Support Suit".
  10. (2011-07-13). "Boy's dismembered body found; man charged".
  11. Secret, Mosi. (2012-08-09). "Man Pleads Guilty to Killing Brooklyn Boy Last Summer". The New York Times.
  12. (2012-08-29). "Levi Aron gets 40 years to life in prison for murder, dismemberment of Leiby Kletzky - CBS News".
  13. (February 11, 2002). "Jailhouse Author Helped by Mailer Is Found Dead". [[The New York Times]].
  14. (January 25, 2025). "Parole nix for ‘headless’ slay". [[New York Post]].
  15. "Incarcerated Lookup".

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