The Tamms Correctional Center is a closed

Illinois Department of Corrections The Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) is the code department of the Illinois state government that operates the adult state prison system. The IDOC is led by a director appointed by the Governor of Illinois, and its headquarters are in S ...

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

located in Tamms, Illinois. Prior to its 2013 closure, the prison housed people in two sections: (1) a 200-bed

minimum security A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...

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, the State of Illinois conducted executions by

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...

in an

execution chamber An execution chamber, or death chamber, is a room or chamber in which capital punishment is carried out. Execution chambers are almost always inside the walls of a maximum-security prison, although not always at the same prison where the death ro ...

located within the CMAX section of Tamms Correctional Center. Andrew Kokoraleis, the last person to be executed in the state before Illinois suspended its death penalty, was executed at Tamms in 1999. He was the only inmate executed in Tamms death chamber. Prior to Illinois Governor

George Ryan George Homer Ryan (born February 24, 1934) is an American former politician and member of the Republican Party who served as the 39th governor of Illinois from 1999 to 2003. Elected in 1998, Ryan received national attention for his 1999 morat ...

's January 11, 2003 commutation of death row sentences, male death row inmates were housed in Tamms,

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada *Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality **Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic Di ...

, and

Menard Menard may refer to: Places Canada * Menard River, a tributary of the Wawagosic River in Quebec, Canada United States * Menard County, Illinois ** Menard, Illinois * Menard County, Texas ** Menard, Texas * Menard–Hodges site, archaeologic ...

correctional centers. After the commutations, only Pontiac continued to hold death row prisoners. 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. Brutal conditions were reported by several Illinois newspapers, the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". ...

, and reform advocates. A report by

validated the claims. In 2010,

U.S. District Judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cour ...

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. 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 The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is the largest trade union of public employees in the United States. It represents 1.3 million public sector employees and retirees, including health care workers, correct ...

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. On September 6, 2012, the state appealed to 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. On January 4, 2013 the prison officially closed.

References

Tamms Correctional Center
Illinois Department of Corrections

External links

Tamms Correctional Center
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(Archive)
Illinois execution chamber photo
{{Coord, 37.250, -89.282, scale:10000, display=title Buildings and structures in Alexander County, Illinois Defunct prisons in Illinois Capital punishment in Illinois Execution sites in the United States 1995 establishments in Illinois 2013 disestablishments in Illinois