TAMMS, Ill. (AP) — The new chief of Illinois' prison system says there's a place for the super maximum-security prison in deep southern Illinois' Alexander County.
But Mike Randle says there's a reform effort under way at the Tamms Correctional Center, where critics say inmates being forced to spend 23 hours in isolation is inhumane.
Randle offered reporters a tightly controlled tour of the 11-year-old prison said to house the state's most-dangerous inmates.
He says inmates now can earn a transfer out of Tamms with good behavior. He says 48 prisoners have been deemed eligible for that, and 10 already have been shipped out.
Inmates also will get stepped-up mental health evaluations, can take the GED and get increased incentives for good behavior, like telephone or out-of-cell privileges.
But Mike Randle says there's a reform effort under way at the Tamms Correctional Center, where critics say inmates being forced to spend 23 hours in isolation is inhumane.
Randle offered reporters a tightly controlled tour of the 11-year-old prison said to house the state's most-dangerous inmates.
He says inmates now can earn a transfer out of Tamms with good behavior. He says 48 prisoners have been deemed eligible for that, and 10 already have been shipped out.
Inmates also will get stepped-up mental health evaluations, can take the GED and get increased incentives for good behavior, like telephone or out-of-cell privileges.
