Illinois officials have moved eight of the state's most volatile criminals from the Tamms Supermax prison.
The move occurred Thursday, the same day AFSCME filed a lawsuit to stop such inmate transfers. The moves are part of Governor Pat Quinn's plan to close to two major prisons, including Tamms. Department of Corrections notifications reviewed by the Associated Press show one of the inmates transferred was John Spires. The serial rapist took a Dixon prison psychologist hostage in May 2006 and repeatedly raped her.Seven inmates went to the maximum-security prison at Pontiac. Another went to the Menard prison in Chester.
The American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees filed the lawsuit Thursday in Alexander County where the Tamms Prison is located. The union is seeking an injunction to halt the transfer of inmates from Tamms and Dwight prisons along with adult transition centers in Carbondale, Chicago, and Decatur and youth centers in Murphysboro and Joliet. AFSCME wants Quinn to ensure employee safety in what it says are understaffed prisons. The state corrections systems currently houses more than 48-thousand inmates in facilities designed for 33-thousand.
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AFSCME executive director Henry Bayer says the governor has refused to resolve grievances filed by the union over the threat to employee safety posed by the rushed transfer of inmates to other state facilities that Bayer says are ill equipped to handle the transfers. Bayer says the union wants the governor to resolve the grievances before any other prisoners are transferred. The lawsuit says Governor Quinn is moving forward with the closures despite bipartisan legislative support and sufficient money to keep the prisons open this fiscal year. Since March, as many as, 27 Tamms inmates have been moved from the supermax facility to other prisons.
Quinn spokeswoman Brooke Anderson says AFSCME is wrong.' She says closures are complying with employee contract agreements with the union and proceeding safely. She says the state can't afford the facilities because of a tight budget and declining adult and juvenile populations. Governor Quinn wants to close the Tamms Correctional Center and others by the end of August.
