Prison Closure Suit Moving Through Legal Process

The American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees union  was back in court Wednesday for an evidentiary hearing on a preliminary injunction the union is seeking to stop the governor's plan to close several correctional and juvenile detention facilities.
AFSCME Regional Director Eddie Caumiant says the union feels they made their case. He says the union feels its case is  compelling enough to ask the judge to help resolve the issues and force the state to abide by the contract before it proceeds with closing the facilities.  Before a judge could rule on AFSCME's original suit to halt the transfer of inmates from Tamms and the other facilities targeted for closure, the state voluntarily agreed to put the closures on hold at the end of August. That's also when an arbitrator ruled the state departments of Corrections and Juvenile Justice did not properly negotiate with workers over the impact of closing the Tamms Supermax Prison, the Dwight women's lockup, the Illinois Youth Center in Murphysboro and several other facilities. He ordered the agency and AFSCME to continue negotiating and reach an agreement on the closure process and its effects within a month.