The Attica Correctional Facility is one of the most well known prisons in the United States, second to possibly Alcatraz. It held many of the worst criminals of the time when it was created in the 1920s. It is the only prison in the country to control its inmates by using a tear gas system. This system runs throughout the entire facility and is used often to cease conflicts in the cafeteria. The prison now holds many people who are serving 25-to-life terms for murder.

Attica was the site of a prison riot (see: Attica Prison Riots)in 1972 which resulted in 31 inmate deaths as well as the deaths of 11 prison guards.