[Peace] action: call about Tamms Max Security Prison / to close or to stay open -- strong pressure to keep it open

Fri Aug 17 14:46:09 UTC 2012

Dear Peace,

Please consider calling Illinois Senator Mike Frerichs and ask him to
support the closing Tamms super-max Prison.

The prison was slated to close August 31, but the transfer of inmates
has been postponed due to political and legal pressure from the .

Tell your legislators to close Tamms.
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6220/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=11480

Quinn slated Tamms (and other facilities) to close.
The Illinois Senate included $25 million for 2013 to keep Tamms open.
Quinn vetoed.
There is now a push to overturn the veto.

-- contact information for Illinois State Senator Mike Frerichs, 52nd
Legislative District, representing Champaign and Vermilion Counties
--

online form: http://www.mikefrerichs.com/index.php/contact-us

Champaign Office
45 E. University Suite 206
Champaign, Il 61820
P. 217.355.5252

Danville Office
28 W. North Street, 1st Floor
Danville, Il 61832
P. 217.442.5252

Springfield Office
118 State House
Springfield, Il 62706
P. 217.782.2507
---
Tamms has 375 inmates in the minimum and maximum security units.
There are roughly 300 employees working at Tamms Correctional Center.

The prison has operated with prisoners filling about 50% of its cells.
The state said that the occupancy rate reflects the officials being
selective about who is imprisoned in Tamms. Critics of the facility
stated that it was built too large and that it is too costly

The guard's union AFSCME and downstate lawmakers have vowed to
override Governor Quinn's veto of the Tamms funding. Such a vote could
even take place in the special session this Friday, August 17th.

There is strong pressure on Illinois representatives to keep Tamms prison open.

The local prison workers union is part of the pressure to keep the
supermax facility open. On Wednesday, August 8, 2012, the prison
worker's union, AFSCME Council 31 Local 2758, convinced Illinois state
official to postpone further transfer of inmates from the prisons and
facilities slated to close. The union has also filed its lawsuit in
Alexander County, one of the poorest counties in Illinois and home to
the Tamms super max prison.

AFSCME has until August 17 to respond to the state's motion to dismiss
the lawsuit. The state then has an August 20 deadline to respond to
the union's arguments against dismissal.

At Tamms supermax prison, every man is held in permanent solitary
confinement. It was designed to impose the most extreme deprivation.
Men never leave their cells except to shower or to exercise alone in a
concrete pen. There are no communal activities, jobs or contact
visits. Many men have serious mental illness.

Tamms is the only state-owned supermaximum security prison.

Uptown People’s Law Center, which represents 7 Tamms inmates, states,
“The conditions to which these men at Tamms are subjected are
deplorable. Long-term isolated solitary confinement ruins prisoners
psychologically and makes it more difficult for these men to
re-integrate into society once they are released. There is empirical
evidence that supermax prisons, such as Tamms, do not affect the level
of violence within a prison system. On the contrary, once Mississippi
reduced their supermax population there was a dramatic reduction in
prison misconduct and violence.”

The prison has operated with prisoners filling about 50% of its cells.
The state said that the occupancy rate reflects the officials being
selective about who is imprisoned in Tamms. Critics of the facility
stated that it was built too large and that it is too costly.

Prison officials initially claimed that Tamms would hold inmates on a
short-term basis. However, many of the prisoners that were sent to
Tamms on opening day are still there -- in solitary confinement for 11
years.

Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg, has proposed what he considers a
compromise: convert the prison from a maximum-security prison to a
minimum-security prison, which he said would allow the prison to run
less expensively and could house three times as many inmates --
increasing the number of inmates to as many as 1,200.

"Legislators in the northern part of the state think it's inhumane to
keep them confined for so long," Phelps said. "Personally, I don't
really care if it remains a supermax or they make it a medium-security
prison. If they have to re-purpose it, that's fine by me because
sometimes you have to make concessions to make sure you can keep your
facility open."

Tamms prison has two sections, a 200-bed minimum security facility
opened in 1995, and a 500-bed supermax facility known as the Closed
Maximum Security Unit (CMAX) opened in 1998. The CMAX section of the
prison also housed the State of Illinois execution chamber.

---------- Forwarded message ----------

It would be very helpful if you could  call Senator Frierichs at his
Springfield office to say that you want the closing of Tamms to
proceed and not to be stopped with a veto at the special session
August 17.  You do not have to make an argument unless you wish to,
but simply register your wishes in the matter with whoever answers the
phone. The Senate session starts at 1:00.

(217) 782-2507

This is the basic scenario of what has happened
1) the governor announced he wanted to close Tamms
2) the legislature passed a budget with the money anyway
3) Quinn vetoed the funding
4) Some legislators now want to override that veto--and keep the
funding in place for Tamms

WE DON'T WANT THEM TO!!!

-- 
-- karen medina
"The really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." - Mark Twain
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