The initial purpose of Tamms was to serve as a short-term "extra-punishment" for prisoners who behave badly or act as jailhouse lawyers. The Illinois Department of Corrections assured the public that men sent to Tamms would remain for one to two years and then return to the general population, but most of the 270 men have been there for several years - many for a decade.
Year Ten comprises ex-prisoners, families of prisoners, artists, lawyers, poets and concerned citizens, all determined to end the practice of solitary confinement and sensory deprivation in prisons.
"The means of reaching our goal are multiple: first create awareness and second motivate the public to get active," says Stephen Eisenman, a Northwestern art history professor and author of "The Abu Ghraib Effect."
Eisenman, the campaign spokesman, also wants to bring attention to the exorbitant public costs of housing prisoners in what he calls a "modern-day dungeon." Lodging a prisoner in the $73 million facility costs nearly twice as much as at any other adult prison in Illinois, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections Web site. The average annual cost per prisoner at Tamms is more than $58,000 per year.
Former inmate Reginald Akeem Berry says Year Ten is an opportunity to speak on behalf of the voiceless men in Tamms.
"Unless an individual has experienced visiting a loved one (at Tamms), they really couldn't begin to understand the element of torture," Berry says.
Laurie Jo Reynolds, the "linch pin of it all" to her colleagues, got involved with the original Tamms Committee in 2001 when she visited the facility and began corresponding with an inmate. Impressed with the complex and expressive letters she received and compelled to do something more, Reynolds connected with artists and poets to form the Tamms Poetry Committee. The group members sent one letter and one poem to each prisoner every month and promised to respond to each letter they received. Berry recalls anticipating the letters. "There (were) very few things to look forward to," he says. "Food and mail are the only things that break the monotony and take your mind off your environment."
2008 Woodie Awards
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Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
kilgore
posted 3/06/08 @ 3:32 PM CST
Great coverage Northwestern! Thank you for bringing attention to such an important issue. To get involved in the campaign, check out yearten.org.
donna a.
posted 3/06/08 @ 6:45 PM CST
This is unbelievable. Why would they have a place like this?
Rosa Maria Lopez
posted 7/25/08 @ 12:35 PM CST
My name is Rosa and my daughters father Roy Maldonado is at Tamms and has been there for 4 years , i have a questions i just found out about your commitee and would like to know what i can do abouta serious medical problem he is having , he is not able to hear and is losing his hearing a little at a time he has had over 26 ear infections, i feel it is inhumane that he cannot hear a loud speaker in case of in emergency, when we visit we have a very hard time ,most of the 4hour visit is spent saying what, he has only one visit per month and it can be so hard to even communicate , i just wanted to see what advise someone can give me . (Continued…)
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