Pinckneyville Will Get Some Tamms Inmates
Illinois prison inmates who for more than a decade have been called ''the worst of the worst'' began leaving the high-security Tamms prison Thursday in anticipation of shutting the doors on the ''supermax'' for good Jan. 4.
About 25 Tamms inmates moved to their new home in segregation units at Pontiac Correctional Center, 300 miles to the north, Illinois Department of Corrections spokeswoman Stacey Solano said.
That leaves 106 inmates in the single-cell isolation portion of Tamms. The prison also has a minimum-security unit that holds just fewer than 100, but none of those were moving Thursday, Solano said.
Corrections personnel tell the newspaper that the Pinckneyville Correctional Center will likely receive some of the less dangerous inmates and that room is being made for them now.
Tamms, which opened to much ballyhoo in 1998 as a ''supermax'' to segregate gang leaders and inmates who caused trouble in general-population prisons, had been criticized for years for its harsh treatment - particularly the way it isolated prisoners from one another and kept them in their cells 23 hours a day.
The Tamms transfers actually are a resumption of moves after a 4 1/2 month break. Corrections shipped eight of Tamms' most volatile inmates Aug. 2, a day after Corrections Director S.A. ''Tony'' Godinez jettisoned a policy for gradually returning the isolated Tamms residents to general population lockups, according to a confidential memo obtained by The Associated Press.
Dumping the policy meant abandoning the tough Tamms rules that Godinez had promised lawmakers would follow the prisoners to Pontiac. Remaining guidelines required fewer guards and fewer chains on inmates when they were moved out of their cells.
Among other things, the union fears shutdowns will endanger inmates, correctional employees, and the public because the statewide system has more than 49,000 inmates in facilities designed for 33,700.
The three adult transition centers scheduled to close in Carbondale, Chicago and Decatur hold 159 inmates. Solano said 40 people from Westside Adult Transition Center in Chicago moved about two miles to Crossroads ATC on Thursday.
The transition centers, like Tamms, will close Jan. 4, but an end date for Dwight has not been determined. Closing Dwight means moving men and women inmates among three different prisons.
The Illinois Youth Center at Murphysboro, opened in 1997, has been empty since its last resident was moved July 9, said Jennifer Florent, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice.
Joliet, the other youth center slated for shutdown, will close after its 138 residents - most of which are considered maximum-security detainees - are moved to youth centers in Harrisburg, St. Charles and possibly Kewanee, Florent said.