Tamms Correctional Center

The Tamms Correctional Center is a closed Illinois Department of Corrections prison located in Tamms, Illinois."[http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/MapItDrawServlet?geo_id=16000US1774457&_bucket_id=50&tree_id=420&context=saff&_lang=en&_sse=on Tamms village, Illinois] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608213830/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/MapItDrawServlet?geo_id=16000US1774457&_bucket_id=50&tree_id=420&context=saff&_lang=en&_sse=on |date=2011-06-08 }}." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on August 15, 2010. Prior to its 2013 closure, the prison housed people in two sections: (1) a 200-bed minimum security facility, opened in 1995, and (2) a 500-bed supermax facility known as the Closed Maximum Security Unit ("CMAX"), opened in 1998, that housed people defined by the prison leadership as most disruptive and dangerous.

Prior to the March 9, 2011 abolition of the death penalty in Illinois,Smith, Matt."[http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/03/09/illinois.death.penalty/index.html?hpt=T2 Illinois abolishes death penalty]." CNN. March 9, 2011. the State of Illinois conducted executions by lethal injection in an execution chamber located within the CMAX section of Tamms Correctional Center."[http://www.idoc.state.il.us/subsections/reports/other/Tamms%20CMAX%20Overview%20and%20Ten%20Point%20Plan.pdf Tamms Closed Maximum Security Unit: Ten-Point Plan Brief]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20100821124533/http://www.idoc.state.il.us/subsections/reports/other/Tamms%20CMAX%20Overview%20and%20Ten%20Point%20Plan.pdf Archive]) Illinois Department of Corrections. 3 (9/51). September 3, 2009. Retrieved on September 1, 2010.[http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003/01/06/030106fa_fact?currentPage=5 TO KILL OR NOT TO KILL] The New Yorker Andrew Kokoraleis, the last person to be executed in the state before Illinois suspended capital punishment, was executed at Tamms in 1999. He was the only inmate executed in Tamms death chamber.{{cite web |url=http://www.soci.niu.edu/~critcrim/dp/dpill/Exec/12koko.html |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2008-03-26 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901071843/http://www.soci.niu.edu/~critcrim/dp/dpill/Exec/12koko.html |archivedate=2006-09-01 }}

Prior to Illinois Governor George Ryan's January 11, 2003, commutation of death row sentences, male death row inmates were housed in Tamms, Pontiac, and Menard correctional centers. After the commutations, only Pontiac continued to hold death row prisoners."[http://www.idoc.state.il.us/subsections/news/doc_report/archive/doc_report_online_03_07_03.shtml DOC Report Online]." Illinois Department of Corrections. Retrieved on September 1, 2010.

History

The State of Illinois bought the land for the prison from soybean farmers. Much of the money used to fund the purchase of the prison land, came from donations made by area residents hoping to have a prison built, so the area's economic fortunes could improve. The donated money was over $225,000.{{cite web|last=Parker|first=Molly|url=https://thesouthern.com:443/news/local/tamms-two-years/tamms-forgotten/article_17f0430c-3011-5d07-8dbb-5ab09e6e55cb.html|title=Tamms: Forgotten|newspaper=The Southern|date=2015-05-17|access-date=2024-12-10}}

As with other supermax prisons, prison reformers advocated for its closing. The Tamms Year Ten campaign was established in 2008 to push for reforms and closure of the prison.{{cite news|last=Fincher|first=Megan|title=Photographs connect inmates in solitary confinement to outside world|url=http://ncronline.org//news/peace-justice/photographs-connect-inmates-solitary-confinement-outside-world|accessdate=13 January 2014|newspaper=National Catholic Reporter|date=Jan 11, 2014}} Brutal conditions were reported by several Illinois newspapers, the American Civil Liberties Union, and reform advocates. A report by Illinois Department of Corrections validated the claims. In 2010, U.S. District Judge G. Patrick Murphy ruled that inmates must be allowed to challenge their transfer to Tamms at a formal hearing and wrote in his decision that "Tamms imposes drastic limitation on human contact, so much so as to inflict lasting psychological and emotional harm on inmates confined there for long periods."

During its operation Tamms operated at about 50% capacity. According to the state, this relatively low occupancy percentage reflected officials being selective about who was imprisoned there. Critics of the facility argued that it was built too large and that it was too costly."[https://web.archive.org/web/20090301175318/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-090223-tamms-photogallery,0,1614579.photogallery Inside the Tamms super-max prison Image 4 of 21]." Chicago Tribune. Retrieved on October 12, 2010.

During late February 2012 Illinois Governor Pat Quinn announced the planned closing of the Tamms Correctional Center due to budget cuts, triggering a political debate in the state about its future. Shortly thereafter The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees filed suit in Alexander County Circuit Court; this was temporarily effective in blocking the closure of the prison. On September 4, 2012, the judge in that matter, Charles Cavaness, granted a 30-day injunctive order preventing transfers outside of the prison.{{cite news|last=Rehana|first=Joe|title=state-commission-holds-hearing-on-tamms-closure|url=http://theviennatimes.com/2012/04/state-commission-holds-hearing-on-tamms-closure/|accessdate=September 23, 2012|newspaper=theviennatimes.com|date=April 3, 2012}} On September 6, 2012, the state appealed to{{cite news|last=Rehana|first=Joe|title=judge-grants-union-request|url=http://theviennatimes.com/2012/09/judge-grants-union-request/|accessdate=23 September 2012|newspaper=theviennatimes.com|date=5 September 2012}} the Illinois Fifth District Appellate Court. Justice Melissa A. Chapman delivered the opinion for the court, with Justices Thomas M. Welch and Stephen L. Spomer in concurrence, denying the state's appeal.{{cite news|last=Fitton|first=Mark|title=appeals-court-upholds-restraining-order|url=http://thesouthern.com/news/local/appeals-court-upholds-restraining-order/article_3f910d82-0075-11e2-8023-001a4bcf887a.html|accessdate=23 September 2012|newspaper=thesouthern.com|date=17 September 2012}}

On January 4, 2013 the prison officially closed.{{cite web|url=https://www.aclu.org/blog/prisoners-rights/tamms-supermax-prison-its-inhumane-and-ridiculously-expensive-solitary|title=Tamms "Supermax" Prison, with its Inhumane and Ridiculously Expensive Solitary Confinement Practices, is Officially a Thing of the Past!|work=American Civil Liberties Union}}

References

[http://www.idoc.state.il.us/subsections/facilities/information.asp?instchoice=tam Tamms Correctional Center] Illinois Department of Corrections

External links

[https://web.archive.org/*/http://www.idoc.state.il.us/subsections/facilities/information.asp?instchoice=tam Tamms Correctional Center] - Illinois Department of Corrections (Archive)
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080216060231/https://www.chicagotribune.com/media/thumbnails/photogallery/2003-04/7231562.jpg Illinois execution chamber photo]

Category:Buildings and structures in Alexander County, Illinois

Category:Defunct prisons in Illinois

Category:Capital punishment in Illinois

Category:Execution sites in the United States

Category:1995 establishments in Illinois

Category:2013 disestablishments in Illinois