End Nears for Union Fight To Maintain Unneeded IL Prisons

It's a jobs program, isn't it?

SPRINGFIELD — The state's largest public employee union has run out of courtrooms to argue against Gov. Pat Quinn's plan to close four state correctional facilities.

But the union, and some lawmakers, aren't giving up.

The Illinois Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared a path for Quinn to close the Tamms Correctional Center, the Dwight Correctional Center, and juvenile justice camps in Joliet and downstate Murphysboro by ordering an end to the legal wrangling between the governor's office and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees union. AFSCME, which represents 75,000 current and retired state workers, said closing the prions was unsafe for the prison guards, as the inmates would be moved to other facilities, increasing the respective populations.