MACARTHUR JUSTICE CENTER SPEAKS OUT ABOUT SUPERMAX PRISONS
(April 2001)
MJC Testimony Says Conditions at Tamms Increase Recidivism
MacArthur Justice Center attorneys warned the Illinois legislature that the environment at Tamms Correctional Center, Illinois' supermaximum prison in southern Illinois, has devastating effects on the prisoners who are housed there. Testifying at the Illinois House Prison Management and Reform Legislation Committee's April 2001 hearings on recidivism, the lawyers complained that inmates who live in the harsh, isolating conditions at Tamms will have difficulty becoming law-abiding citizens when they are released from prison.
Download testimony (pdf)
UN Committee Condemns "Excessively Harsh Regime" at Supermax Prisons Following MJC Statement
In a statement delivered to the United Nations Committee Against Torture, the MacArthur Justice Center called for a new U.S. policy condemning as torture the housing of mentally ill inmates in supermaximum prisons. The Justice Center said that the practice violates both the Torture Convention's prohibition against punishment by the intentional infliction of severe mental pain and suffering and its prohibition against cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. In May 2000, in response to concerns raised by the MacArthur Justice Center and others, the UN Committee condemned "the excessively harsh regime" of U.S. supermax prisons such as the one at Tamms in southern Illinois.
Download MacArthur Justice Center statement (pdf)
Download UN Committee Report (pdf)
Download MacArthur Justice Center Op-Ed (pdf)
