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| Supermax Review Plan Left to Prison Officials |
| By courthousenews.com - JOE CELENTINO |
| Published: 06/14/2012 |
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CHICAGO (CN) - A federal judge overstepped his authority by creating review procedures of Illinois supermax prison transfers, the 7th Circuit ruled, finding that the Illinois Department of Corrections can conceive its own system. Robert Westefer, representing a class of inmates incarcerated in the Closed Maximum Security Unit at the Tamms Correctional Center, challenged the procedures by which the Illinois Department of Corrections assigns inmates to the prison in a 2000 lawsuit. Westefer claimed that transfer procedures violated prisoners' due process rights. Though a federal judge with the Southern District of Illinois dismissed the initial claims, the 7th Circuit reversed and certified the class. As the parties readied for a bench trial, the corrections department drafted a "Ten-Point Plan for Tamms" that established a detailed transfer-review process. The department had received the governor's approval but had not yet implemented the plan before submitting it to the court. The Ten-Point Plan aimed to create a Transfer Review Committee whose proceedings would be digitally recorded and documented, automatic review of all transfer decisions within 30 days of entering Tamms, review of past decisions, written notice of the reasons for transfer, a right of appeal to the corrections department's chief legal counsel, and routine reviews of all inmates. U.S. District Judge Patrick Murphy later issued a lengthy decision that said conditions at Tamms "impose an atypical and significant hardship on inmates," requiring prison officials to provide constitutionally sufficient due process review of transfer decisions. Murphy's order adopted the Ten-Point Plan, plus six extra requirements of his own. Read More. |
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