Southern Illinois State Senator Gary Forby says closing the Tamms Supermax prison will not solve the state’s budget problems.The Benton Democrat says 293 people work at the Tamms facility and closing it down will devastate the community. Forby says Tamms is the only super-maximum security prison in the state. He says he wants to know where the governor plans to house those inmates considered to be the worst murders, rapists, and cop killers if Tamms closes.
Forby says he knows the state needs a balanced budget, but he says firing people and closing prisons is not the answer, especially with the already over-crowded condition within the state prison system. Forby says he’s tired of trying to balance the state’s budget on what he calls the backs of the people who don’t live in Cook County.
