PRISONER EXPRESS

Tamms is one of only a handful of Supermax prisons located in the United States. In Tamms Supermax, extreme isolation is enforced to the max. The maximum capacity of Tamms is 540 prisoners. However, per a federal lawsuit filed against Tamms in Westsfer vs. Snyder case # 3:00-cv-00162 GPM-DGW Tamms has never been filled to capacity. Tamms has never held more than 290 prisoners at any one time.

Tamms is comprised of 9 pods. Each pod is identified by a letter of the alphabet, i.e. A-pod, B-pod, C-pod, etc… Each pod holds 6 wings, numbering from A1 through A6, B1 through B6, C1 through C6 etc… Tamms cells are single man 6’x9’ tombs with a perforated steel door.

Everything in Tamms is electronic and controlled from a circular tower located in the center of each pod allowing the tower guards a 360 degree view of the entire pod, which enables the tower guard to see several wings simultaneously. Whenever a prisoner moves off his wing he has to be escorted, handcuffed, and shackled by two guards. This movement is only to the medical unit or for a visit. While on their prospective wings a prisoner is required to govern his own movement to the shower or to the yard. Either trip is a maximum of 10 feet from the farthest cell.

The yard is a concrete bunker about 15’x20’ with a corrugated tin roof which gives the impression the yard is under ground. There aren’t any flowers or grass. Everything in Tamms including the yard is comprised of concrete and steel.

Human contact is strictly prohibited by the rules. A prisoner leaving his cell for any reason cannot stop at another cell. There are rules strictly prohibiting sharing anything amongst the prisoners. Guards are suspended from work if found passing any items amongst the prisoners. Visits with family or friends is behind thick bulletproof glass where you’re required to talk to each other through a telephone receiver. Each visit has to be approved by the warden on a case by case basis, where the visitor is required to mail a form to the prison (after filling the form out) and the prisoner is required to fill out a separate form which will be evaluated by the warden. Then whether approved or disapproved both the aspiring visitor and the prisoner will be notified by mail of the visit or non-visit.

There aren’t any telephones in Tamms. Currently there are civil liberty organizations lobbying the Illinois legislature to allow prisoners in Tamms phone calls on Holidays. Specifically, Uptown People’s Law Center located in Chicago, Illinois, has been the biggest supporter of helping Tamms prisoners receive phone calls. Ironically even the lone federal Supermax, located in Colorado, where some of the worlds most dangerous men reside, have telephones and allow their prisoners phone calls.

Every activity allowed for a prisoner in Tamms is designed for one prisoner at a time. This includes yard, shower, law library, and while in your own cell.

Because Tamms is a Supermax prison, prisoners are allowed only a fraction of the property allowed to a prisoner in a general population prison.

In order to regulate the strict prohibition of prisoners stopping in front of other prisoner’s cells while moving to and from the shower or yard and to prevent prisoners from sharing food, cosmetics, or stationary items (the only human contact possible in Tamms) Tamms employs some rather effective disciplinary measures, two of which are:

 
 
1.)Meal Loaf �" this is where the prison restricts your food and you’re only allowed to eat meal loaf three times per day.  Meal loaf consists of beans, spinach, breadcrumbs, and tomato paste blended together and molded into the form of a loaf.  This concoction is odorless and tasteless with only a slight taste of squash. 
 
2.) Strip-Out �" this is where prison officials strip your cell bare, taking everything out of your cell including your prison jumpsuit, leaving you only in a pair of underwear (no t-shirt, no socks).  You’re required to sleep on bare concrete in only your underwear.  This may not be so bad if it wasn’t always extremely cold in Tamms.  The temperature in Tamms always seems to be 50 degrees or thereabouts.  This is done in 3 day stretches.

All of these conditions in Tamms are set up to make inhabitants of Tamms feel as if they are being punished. When Tamms was originally designed and opened it was designated as a punishment facility by the Illinois legislature and Illinois Department of Correction Officials.

Any prisoner that had punitive or administrative segregation time, and was deemed a security threat to any other prisoner and/or staff in another prison could be sent to Tamms where they would be required to complete their segregation time. After segregation time was completed a prisoner could only be held in Tamms for a year because of the extreme conditions.

Illinois Department of Correction Officials quickly realized the advantages of having a Supermax prison at their disposal. Word spread quickly throughout the state that Tamms was not a place a prisoner wanted to do his time. Corollary to the caution and fear being spread throughout the Illinois state prison system, certain prison officials began to threaten prisoners in other prisons throughout Illinois with the possibility of sending them to Tamms if they did not inform on other prisoners or questionable staff known to fraternize with prisoners. Other states also began to send prisoners to Illinois to be housed in Tamms.

However, due to the original rule that a prisoner could only be housed in Tamms up to one year after they’ve completely their segregation time, Illinois Department of Correction Officials, including the Officers Union, knew the practicality of keeping enough prisoners in Tamms to keep it operational wasn’t a reality with this rule in play. So despite the extreme conditions and the psychological effect these extreme conditions place on a prisoner, Illinois Department of Correction Officials has decided to abandon the safeguards instilled to ensure the health of Illinois prisoners in order to maintain Tamms Supermax prison at an operational level.

Amendments to Illinois House Bill 6651, proposed by Representative Julie Hamos, seeks to enforce the transfer of prisoners from Tamms Supermax after one year barring segregation issues.

Being housed in Tamms Supermax prison is the equivalent of being kept in a Mausoleum. Tamms is literally a tomb for the living dead. The extreme isolation of Tamms routinely induces psychosis in its inhabitants.

Imagine being entombed in a concrete box for 12 hours. The deprivation of any stimulation to the five senses will cause erratic behavior abnormal to what’s usual for a persons character. Now imagine being entombed in this concrete box for days instead of 12 hours. Then from days, to weeks, to months, to years. Human beings weren’t designed to endure sensory deprivation to this extreme degree for such extended periods of time. The resulting effect of leaving a prisoner in such a state of insanity: even after he’s transferred, no amount of post-traumatic stress disorder counseling or psychotropic drugs can redeem his sanity.

Being in such extremely isolated conditions naturally causes stress and frustration. Prisoners in these conditions have an extremely distorted view of reality and a skewed perception. Because there is so little to do to occupy and stimulate the brain everything is magnified times 20. What’s petty and insignificant to an average prisoner in a regular prison, or even in society, is always a major issue for Tamms prisoners.

For example; yesterday two guys that had previously been friendly until about a month ago started throwing urine and feces at one another. This is a regular occurrence in Tamms. However, these two guys were considered sane before this happened. It started about a month ago. Two guys were having a conversation. They were talking about everything, politics religion, etc… Then the conversation turned to what we’d previously had for lunch. The two guys disagreed on what type of pudding was served on the lunch tray. One guy thought it was tapioca pudding and the other guy thought it was rice pudding. They disagreed for about thirty minutes on the flavor of the pudding. (In the real world, they would’ve walked away from each other or turned the conversation to something else.) I guess it’s due to the natural stress and frustration of being in a place like this, but the conversation went from mild disagreement to vehemently accusing each other of past perceived slights. Naturally now the disagreement had evolved into a full blown argument which descended into character assassinations the like of which you’re never heard. Every other day these two individuals gave each other the silent treatment until one walked past the other’s cell and looked at him. Suddenly like a spark from a flint on dry brown grass it ignited an argument, character assassinations, and verbal assaults until one guy felt he’d had enough and when the other guy walked past his cell he threw feces and urine on him. The amazing part about this is neither guy saw anything wrong with their actions. This is a common perception in Tamms. Because guys can’t inflict physical harm on each other they have mastered verbal assaults and inflicting as much mental and emotional stress on each other as possible.

An average citizen from the free society wouldn’t last a week in this atmosphere. Sanity is a slippery slope under there conditions. The most dangerous part about this type of isolation is that sanity is slipping away from under you when you think your feet are planted on firm, rational behavior.

My personal remedy to battling the psychosis induced by such extreme isolation is to read as much as possible about mental disease in order to allow me to recognize abnormal flaws in my own character. Then after self-diagnosis or confronting my problem I make a concerted effort to change. Going by the ever wise philosophy “you can’t change what you don’t confront.”

Therefore an individual in Tamms Supermax or any facility akin to Tamms can do themselves a world of good by standing steadfast at the gate of sanity to ensure the many faces of insanity don’t slip past his watch.