TOUGH LIFE IN TAMMS PRISON

Inmates at Illinois' new super-maximum security prison in Tamms don't like the living conditions. Tough luck. Perhaps these convicted felons will mind their manners enough to be shipped back to a regular prison sometime in the future.

Tamms was designed to be a disagreeable home for the state's most troublesome prisoners, and the concept seems to be working.

Tamms super-max is reserved for the state's very worst criminals. Most were involved in assaults, uprisings and similar troubles at other state prisons.

Tamms has accepted 230 prisoners since it opened in March. Most of these prisoners will spend a year here, then return to conventional prisons -- if they behave. The prison is already getting quite a reputation among unhappy prisoners.

Convicts spend 23 hours a day locked in their cells. During their single hour outside their cells, the inmates can shower or spend time in the yard. Visits are strictly limited. Most aren't allowed television sets, and each time inmates are moved, they are strip-searched and shackled.

But the number of assaults on guards in prisons around the state has been reduced by half since 1996, in part due to Tamms. Many of the real troublemakers have been shipped to Tamms or have cleaned up their acts in fear of being transferred there.

As you might expect, the lawsuits have already started. Prisoners are disputing the conditions at Tamms.

Again, tough luck. Jail shouldn't be a picnic. The Constitution doesn't guarantee television, entertainment or tasty food in jail.

The strict codes at Tamms may be just the ticket for putting Illinois' prison population back on the straight and narrow. Too many states have no place to put their burgeoning prison population. Prison should be punishment, and a deterrent for committing crime. Tamms super-max may be well on its way to becoming a model for the rest of the nation.