TAMMS TREATS WORST CRIMINALS LIKE BAD GUYS

The new maximum-security prison at Tamms, Ill., attempts to address some of the major problems among America's growing prison population. In many instances, prisons are unable to attempt any sort of rehabilitation because of a few hardened inmates who are so disruptive and dangerous that most resources are spent dealing with them, not the prison population as a whole.

The Tamms facility addresses that situation. Instead of using the new facility to house the newest convicts or to handle overflow from other Illinois prisons, it will be used to remove troublemakers -- the worst cases among the criminal population -- and confine them in a setting that will either induce change or, at a minimum, keep them away from other inmates.

Just a few years ago, this concept would have been considered so politically incorrect that no prison official, much less legislators or governors, would have been willing to discuss it openly. But the new warden at Tamms, George Welborn, doesn't mince words: "If we do our job right, Tamms will not be a nice place to do time."

This effort to treat really bad criminals like -- well, really bad criminals -- is a welcome shift in attitude.