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Local Lawmaker Reacts to Prison Closures
A local lawmaker is concerned on several fronts now that Governor Pat Quinn has decided to close several prisons and other similar facilities, even though lawmakers made sure enough money was put in the state budget to keep them open.

State Representative Don Moffitt says he knows it was a decision Quinn didn't come to lightly -- closing the Dwight prison as well as the state Supermax facility in Tamms, along with juvenile facilities in Joliet and Murphysboro -- but it's one that troubles him nonetheless.

Moffitt tells WGIL the first reason is one that's been brought up time and time again.

"The closing of Tamms creates a problem not only because the inmates that have been housed there in the past will have to be spread out into an already overcrowded system, but because also because it's a facility that would not be used for disciplinary purposes," Moffit said.

Moffitt says he's also concerned because the money set aside for the prisons in the budget really can't be used for anything else.

He says lawmakers could at the very least discuss the prison closures when they're called back to Springfield later this summer for work on pension reform, or during the fall veto session.
06 21 12 by Newsroom
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