Elections, Grassroots Efforts Reignite Tamms Debate

ALEXANDER COUNTY, Ill. — Several Illinois residents are actively working to reopen the shuttered Tamms Correctional Center, also referred to as Tamms Supermax, in Alexander County. The super maximum-security facility was closed in January 2013 by then Gov. Pat Quinn (D-Chicago) in an effort to trim costs.

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Women Outpace Men Nationally in Incarceration Rates

WASHINGTON — Though men still make up a vast majority of both state and federal prison populations, the percentage of female inmates nationwide is steadily increasing. According to a study by The Sentencing Project, a nonprofit criminal justice research and advocacy group, between 2000 to 2009 the number of women incarcerated in state or federal prisons rose by 21.6 percent, compared to a 15.6 percent increase for men.

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