Belleville, IL Trapped in Tamms special section, Belleville News-Democrat

Trapped in Tamms

Tamms' future is on the line: Will panel recommend closing supermax prison?

Deep inside the most secure prison in the state, a lockup staffed by more guards per inmate than any other in Illinois, basketball was considered a threat.

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Archive by category ''Trapped in Tamms

TRAPPED IN TAMMS

Is it worth it? It costs at least $16 million a year to operate Tamms

For almost 12 years, Illinois taxpayers have paid one of the highest per-inmate costs in the country to house what the Department of Corrections says are the 250 worst inmates in the state.

95 days ago
TRAPPED IN TAMMS

Tamms Correctional Center: Should we treat humans this way?

Imagine spending 23 hours of every day alone in a 7-by-12-foot cell. Your meals are pushed through a slot in a steel door.

95 days ago
TRAPPED IN TAMMS

Supporters of Tamms inmate: Solitary should not be dumping ground for mentally ill

Anthony Gay, an inmate included in a 2009 Belleville News-Democrat series on the effects of long-term solitary confinement, is the focus of a legal appeal challenging the state's practice of holding mentally ill inmates in isolation at Illinois' Tamms supermax prison.

216 days ago
TRAPPED IN TAMMS

Inmate wants out of Tamms; attorney says years of solitary confinement have harmed his mental health

Tamms Correctional Center inmate Anthony Gay won't be eligible for parole until he is 120, unless his lawyer's interpretation of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling leads to an earlier chance at release.

272 days ago