The General Assembly's proposed budget included enough money to convert the "super-max" prison at Tamms into a medium security facility. But Governor Pat Quinn isn't pursuing that option. And longtime critics of Tamms say he's making the right decision.
Legislators from deep Southern Illinois ... where Tamms Correctional Center is located ... say closing the prison will damage the already-weak local economy.
That's why, despite making steep cuts in other areas of government, they found enough money to keep Tamms open and convert it into a medium-security prison.
Longtime critics of the conditions at Tamms are applauding the governor for not going down that path.
Laurie Jo Reynolds is the organizer of the advocacy group Tamms Year Ten. She says the cells at Tamms ... designed for isolation and sensory-deprivation ... are ill-suited for ordinary inmates.
"A regular prison requires communal spaces, like a yard, cafeteria, classrooms, library, contact visitation area. Tamms currently has none of these."
Reynolds says the conversion would be too costly.
The administration expects to save more than 26-million dollars by closing Tamms. Reynolds says she hopes some of that money can be used to treat mental illness among the Tamms inmates and prisoners throughout Illinois.
Amnesty International's Debra Erenberg says the closing of Tamms is good news for people who care about human rights.
"Eliminating a prison with that was built with no other purpose in mind than to torture the men inside it is a major step in the right direction."
