Illinois prison officials have started inmate transfers from the high-security Tamms supermax prison in preparation for a Jan. 4 closing date.
Department of Corrections spokeswoman Stacey Solano says 25 inmates from Tamms are moving Thursday to Pontiac Correctional Center. That leaves just over 100 inmates in the single-cell isolation portion of Tamms. Just under 100 minimum security inmates must move too.
A judge in Alexander County -- where Tamms is located -- followed a Supreme Court order Wednesday and lifted an injunction on Governor Pat Quinn's closure plans. Those include closing Tamms, the women's prison in Dwight, three adult transition centers and including one in Carbondale, and two juvenile detention centers including the one in Murphysboro.
The American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees union had sued to stop the closures. The Governor's office has not announced a specific date for closing the Dwight correctional center.
