EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) — A federal judge says Illinois inmates have the right to challenge being transferred to the state's only supermax prison.
U.S. District Judge G. Patrick Murphy, in a ruling made public Tuesday, also says current inmates of the Tamms Correctional Center in southern Illinois' Alexander County can contest why they've been sent there.
Tamms has drawn scrutiny from human-rights advocates because its inmates spend most days in solitary confinement — treatment that critics consider too harsh.
A message left Wednesday with a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections was not immediately returned.
Murphy has presided over a string of lawsuits involving Tamms for nearly a decade.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
U.S. District Judge G. Patrick Murphy, in a ruling made public Tuesday, also says current inmates of the Tamms Correctional Center in southern Illinois' Alexander County can contest why they've been sent there.
Tamms has drawn scrutiny from human-rights advocates because its inmates spend most days in solitary confinement — treatment that critics consider too harsh.
A message left Wednesday with a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections was not immediately returned.
Murphy has presided over a string of lawsuits involving Tamms for nearly a decade.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
