HUNGER STRIKERS AT TAMMS PRISON HAVE LEARNED A LESSON: THEY ARE BEING PUNISHED, NOT CODDLED

A hunger strike by more than half of the prisoners at the new Tamms, Ill., maximum-security prison has finally ended with the final three prisoners giving in to a liquid diet 36 days after the protest began.

Although a group in Chicago called the Uptown People's Law Center, which represented the prisoners, claims the three inmates believe their strike had an effect, there was no evidence of it at the prison. Nothing has changed, and prison officials said nothing will.

While it goes without saying that abuse cannot be tolerated at any prison, the list of prisoner complaints was minuscule. Among the numerous complaints: Ill-fitting shoes and having to eat a "demoralizing and degrading" mix of ground-up meat, vegetables and fruits baked into a loaf as punishment.

The prison at Tamms is for the worst of the bad criminals, and Illinois Department of Corrections officials know that when prisoners don't behave they must be dealt with harshly. The protesting prisoners were only kidding themselves if they thought starving would bring them better things.