Quinn closing prisons against lawmakers’ wishes

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Gov. Pat Quinn is going forward with his plan to close several adult and juvenile prisons, even though legislators put money in the new state budget to keep them open.

The Democratic governor’s office said Tuesday he will close prisons in Dwight and Tamms, along with some halfway houses and two youth camps.

Quinn’s office did not explain his decision or make an official announcement.

The Tamms prison is a “supermax” facility for the state’s most dangerous inmates. Dwight is a prison for women.

Closing them will mean squeezing more inmates into the remaining prisons, which are already seriously overcrowded.