[1] Prior to its 2013 closure, the prison housed people in two sections: (1) a 200-bed minimum security facility, opened in 1995, and (2) a 500-bed supermax facility known as the Closed Maximum Security Unit ("CMAX"), opened in 1998, that housed people defined by the prison leadership as most disruptive and dangerous.
[8] Brutal conditions were reported by several Illinois newspapers, the American Civil Liberties Union, and reform advocates.
[8] In 2010, U.S. District Judge G. Patrick Murphy ruled that inmates must be allowed to challenge their transfer to Tamms at a formal hearing and wrote in his decision that "Tamms imposes drastic limitation on human contact, so much so as to inflict lasting psychological and emotional harm on inmates confined there for long periods.
[9] During late February 2012 Illinois Governor Pat Quinn announced the planned closing of the Tamms Correctional Center due to budget cuts, triggering a political debate in the state about its future.
On September 4, 2012, the judge in that matter, Charles Cavaness, granted a 30-day injunctive order preventing transfers outside of the prison.