Westefer v. Snyder (725 F. Supp. 2d 735, 2010)

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

MURPHY, District Judge:

I. Introduction

The named Plaintiffs in this case, Robert Westefer, Mark Von Perbandt, Alejandro Villazana, Armando Tinajero, Corey A. Taylor, Michael Sparling, Joe Sorrentino, Anibal Santiago, Tyshawn Ross, Vincente Rodriguez, Edward Rodriguez, Vincent Reyna, Alex Muller, William Lasley, Ted Knox, Michael Johnson, Eugene Horton, George Harper, Timothy Hall, John Gill, Larry Gambrell, Larry Foutch, Robert Felton, Kennard Combs, Maurice Coleman, Leverne Clayton, Gary Clark, Roosevelt Burrell, Finner Bryant, Larry Brown, Aryules Bivens, and Bennie Cunningham, are past and present inmates in the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections (“IDOC”) who, at the times relevant to this case, have been incarcerated in the closed maximum security prison (“supermax prison”) at the Tamms Correctional Center (“Tamms”) in Tamms, Illinois. Plaintiff Mary Chapman is the legal representative of Marcus Chapman, who formerly was a Plaintiff in this case until he committed suicide while in IDOC custody at Tamms on August 26, 2004. Defendants Donald Snyder, Odie Washington, Michael V. Neal, George DeTella, Michael O’Leary, Dwayne Clark, Jerry Gilmore, Rodney Ahitow, Roger Cowan, Thomas Page, Roger Walker, Salvador Godinez, Guy Pierce, Barbara Hurt, Rick Orr, Ronald Meek, Jason Garnett, Deirdre Battaglia, Eddie Jones, Don Hulick, and Roger Zimmerman are present and former officials and employees of the IDOC.

Plaintiffs seek relief in this case under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that Defendants have violated their right to procedural due process under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution by employing constitutionally inadequate procedures when assigning IDOC inmates to the supermax prison at Tamms. Additionally, Plaintiffs Westefer, Von Perbandt, Villazana, Tinajero, Sparling, Sorrentino, Santiago, Ross, V. Rodriguez, E. Rodriguez, Reyna, Muller, Lasley, Knox, Johnson, Horton, Harper, Hall, Gill, Gambrell, Foutch, Felton, Combs, Coleman, Clayton, Clark, Chapman, Burrell, Bryant, Brown, and Bivens represent a class defined as “[a]ll inmates who have been transferred to [Tamms] since January 1, 1998, and all prisoners who will be transferred to Tamms in the future.” Westefer v. Snyder, Civil Nos. 00-162-GPM, 00-708-GPM, 2006 WL 2639972, at *12 (S.D.Ill. Sept. 12, 2006). The class-wide claims in this case are solely for injunctive and declaratory relief, not damages. See id. at *9. Also, in previous orders in this case the Court has held that the doctrine of qualified immunity shields Defendants from liability in damages to the named Plaintiffs in this case as individuals for the due process violations alleged by the named Plaintiffs. See Westefer v. Snyder, Civil Nos. 00-162-GPM, 00-708-GPM, 2009 WL 2905548, at **9-11 (S.D.Ill. Sept. 4, 2009); Cunningham v. Snyder, 472 F.Supp.2d 1023, 1033 (S.D.Ill.2006). The class-wide procedural due process claims in this case now have been fully tried to the Court in the course of an eight-day bench trial. Pursuant to Rule 52(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Court enters this Order as its findings of fact and conclusions of law with respect to the class-wide procedural due process claims.

II. Analysis

A. Mootness

Before addressing the merits of the claims for violations of procedural due process in this case, the Court feels constrained to address the issue of whether the due process claims are moot in light of certain reforms that are being implemented by the IDOC in connection with confinement at the supermax prison at Tamms. The issue of mootness is one that implicates the Court’s subject matter jurisdiction, which extends, of course, only to “Cases” and “Controversies.” Summers v. Earth Island Inst., — U.S. -, 129 S.Ct. 1142, 1148, 173 L.Ed.2d 1 (2009) (quoting U.S. Const. art. 3, § 2, cl. 1). See also Wernsing v. Thompson, 423 F.3d 732, 745 (7th Cir.2005) (“Mootness ... is always a threshold jurisdictional question that we must address even when it is not raised by the parties.”); Ortiz v. John O. Butler Co., 94 F.3d 1121, 1125 (7th Cir.1996) (“A federal court’s subject matter jurisdiction extends only to actual cases and controversies.”). In light of the case or controversy requirement, a federal court has no jurisdiction to entertain moot controversies. See Church of Scientology of Cal. v. United States, 506 U.S. 9, 12, 113 S.Ct. 447, 121 L.Ed.2d 313 (1992) (quoting Mills v. Green, 159 U.S. 651, 653, 16 S.Ct. 132, 40 L.Ed. 293 (1895)) (“[A] federal court has no authority ‘to give opinions upon moot questions or abstract propositions, or to declare principles or rules of law which cannot affect the matter in issue in the case before it.’ ”); Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486, 496-97, 89 S.Ct. 1944, 23 L.Ed.2d 491 (1969) (a federal court can consider only cases and controversies and therefore cannot consider moot cases). Accordingly, the issue of mootness needs to be addressed by the Court as a threshold matter. See Leroy v. Great W. United Corp., 443 U.S. 173, 180, 99 S.Ct. 2710, 61 L.Ed.2d 464 (1979) (issues affecting a court’s subject matter jurisdiction are “fundamentally preliminary”); Walters v. Edgar, 163 F.3d 430, 432 (7th Cir.1998) (“[T]he existence of a case or controversy in the Article III sense, that is, a real dispute between parties with tangible stakes in the outcome, must be continuous from the beginning of the suit to the end. If a case becomes moot, the court loses jurisdiction, even though the case was not moot when filed.”) (citations omitted).

On September 3, 2009, IDOC Director Michael Randle submitted to Patrick Quinn, the Governor of Illinois, a “Ten-Point Plan” (hereinafter, “the Ten-Point Plan” or simply “the Plan”) aimed at ameliorating aspects of confinement at the supermax prison at Tamms. See Tamms Closed Maximum Security Unit: Overview and Ten-Point Plan (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 7). A number of the reforms proposed in the Ten-Point Plan are pertinent to the procedural due process claims in this case, including: allowing each IDOC inmate that is placed at the supermax prison at Tamms to have a transfer review hearing where the inmate can contest his placement at the supermax prison; furnishing each inmate, on arrival at Tamms, with an estimate of the probable length of his stay and explaining how, through good behavior, the inmate can earn transfer out of the super-max prison; ensuring that inmates assigned to Tamms receive a full mental health examination within thirty days of placement at the supermax prison and taking measures to identify and monitor inmates that may be suffering deteriorating mental health as a result of placement at Tamms; increasing inmate privileges such as telephone calls, out-of-cell time, and showers, as an incentive for good behavior; offering General Educational Development (“GED”) testing at Tamms; implementing congregate religious services at Tamms; lifting certain restrictions on the amount of printed material Tamms inmates are allowed to possess; developing a reassignment unit at Tamms to help inmates reassigned from the supermax prison to lower-security prisons to adjust to their reassignment; and reevaluating the eligibility for transfer of inmates who have been incarcerated long-term at Tamms. See id. at 14-26. As should become apparent presently from the Court’s discussion of whether IDOC inmates have a due process liberty interest in avoiding confinement at Tamms, IDOC Director Randle’s proposed reforms directly address a number of objections to Tamms raised by Plaintiffs and the class.

As Plaintiffs point out, the Ten-Point Plan, though it has been approved by Governor Quinn, has not yet been fully implemented by the IDOC through, for example, the promulgation of appropriate regulations. See Doe. 522 (Testimony of Michael Randle) at 41-42. Also, as the Court has had occasion to note at an earlier stage of this case, “it is well settled that a voluntary cessation of complained-of conduct generally does not moot a lawsuit.” Westefer, 2006 WL 2639972, at *10 (collecting cases). See also Federation of Adver. Indus. Representatives, Inc. v. City of Chicago, 326 F.3d 924, 929 (7th Cir.2003) (quoting United States v. W.T. Grant Co., 345 U.S. 629, 632, 73 S.Ct. 894, 97 L.Ed. 1303 (1953)) (noting “the general principle that a defendant’s voluntarily cessation of challenged conduct will not render a case moot because the defendant remains ‘free to return to his old ways.’ ”); Milwaukee Police Ass’n v. Jones, 192 F.3d 742, 747 (7th Cir.1999) (voluntary cessation of activity does not render a case moot unless the defendant can demonstrate that there is no reasonable expectation that the wrong will be repeated). In this instance the Court believes it is inappropriate to find mootness, given that, despite IDOC Director Randle’s proposed reforms, Defendants continue to insist that conditions at Tamms do not implicate due process concerns. Even more importantly, as will be discussed in more detail presently, the Ten-Point Plan as proposed by IDOC Director Randle and approved by Governor Quinn does not cure constitutional infirmities in the existing procedures whereby IDOC inmates are placed in the supermax prison at Tamms. Accordingly, notwithstanding any reforms the IDOC has implemented at Tamms or intends to implement there, the controversy before the Court remains live and is not moot.

B. Procedural Due Process

1. Existence of a Liberty Interest

In general, of course, the Fourteenth Amendment protects citizens from deprivations of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. See U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1; Doe v. City of Lafayette, Ind., 377 F.3d 757, 767-68 (7th Cir.2004). Thus, the Court turns to the question of whether Plaintiffs and the class have a due process liberty interest in avoiding assignment to the supermax prison at Tamms. See Kentucky Dep’t of Corr. v. Thompson, 490 U.S. 454, 460, 109 S.Ct. 1904, 104 L.Ed.2d 506 (1989) (prison inmates, to prevail on procedural due process claims, must show that they possess a Fourteenth Amendment liberty interest and have been deprived of that interest without due process); Williams v. Ramos, 71 F.3d 1246, 1248 (7th Cir.1995) (citing Zinermon v. Burch, 494 U.S. 113, 125, 110 S.Ct. 975, 108 L.Ed.2d 100 (1990)) (“When a plaintiff brings an action under [42 U.S.C.] § 1983 for procedural due process violations, he must show that the state deprived him of a constitutionally protected interest in ‘life, liberty, or property’ without due process of law.”); Colon v. Schneider, 899 F.2d 660, 666 (7th Cir.1990) (when analyzing a claim that a state has violated an individual’s right to procedural due process, the first inquiry is whether there exists a life, liberty, or property interest protectable under the Fourteenth Amendment with which the state has interfered; if the court determines that the state has deprived an individual of a protectable interest, the next step is to determine if the entity responsible for the alleged deprivation instituted constitutionally sufficient procedural protections). In the prison context, and more specifically in the context of assignments to segregated confinement, liberty interests “will be generally limited to freedom from restraint which ... imposes atypical and significant hardship on the inmate in relation to the ordinary incidents of prison life.” Sandin v. Conner, 515 U.S. 472, 484, 115 S.Ct. 2293, 132 L.Ed.2d 418 (1995). See also Lekas v. Briley, 405 F.3d 602, 607-08 (7th Cir.2005); Thomas v. Ramos, 130 F.3d 754, 760 (7th Cir.1997).

In order to determine whether conditions of confinement impose “an atypical and significant hardship within the correctional context,” those conditions must be measured against a baseline. Wilkinson v. Austin, 545 U.S. 209, 224, 125 S.Ct. 2384, 162 L.Ed.2d 174 (2005). In Wilkinson the Court acknowledged that the federal courts of appeals have not reached agreement on the appropriate baseline for determining whether conditions of confinement impose hardship such as to give rise to a liberty interest in avoiding those conditions. See id. at 223, 125 S.Ct. 2384. Without resolving the issue, the Wilkinson Court held that conditions of confinement at the Ohio State Penitentiary (“OSP”), which, like Tamms, is a supermax prison, imposed atypical and significant hardship on inmates there “under any plausible baseline.” Id. The Wilkinson Court examined the aggregate of conditions at the OSP in evaluating whether they imposed atypical and significant hardship on inmates such as to give rise to a liberty interest. The Court noted the “especially severe limitations on all human contact” at the OSP, and went on to discuss “two added components.” Id. at 224, 125 S.Ct. 2384. These were the indefinite duration of an inmate’s placement at the prison, and the disqualification of an otherwise eligible inmate for parole consideration. See id. The Court observed, “While any of these conditions standing alone might not be sufficient to create a liberty interest, taken together they impose an atypical and significant hardship within the correctional context. It follows that respondents have a liberty interest in avoiding assignment to OSP.” Id. (citing Sandin, 515 U.S. at 483, 115 S.Ct. 2293).

The precise baseline to use in ascertaining whether conditions in the super-max prison at Tamms create atypical and significant hardship in relation to the ordinary incidents of prison life has been the subject of considerable dispute among the parties to this case. Counsel for Plaintiffs and the class propose as the correct baseline conditions at the OSP or, alternatively, conditions in the general prison population at the Menard Correctional Center (“Menard”) and the Stateville Correctional Center (“Stateville”). Concerning inmates transferred to Tamms from prisons outside Illinois, Plaintiffs contend that the baseline is furnished by conditions at the institutions where such inmates were confined immediately before they were transferred to Tamms. For their part, Defendants argue that the correct baseline is supplied by conditions in disciplinary segregation at the Pontiac Correctional Center (“Pontiac”). To the extent Defendants seem to argue that the existence of a liberty interest in avoiding confinement of Tamms hinges on the language of IDOC regulations, their position obviously is incorrect. As the Wilkinson Court noted, “the touchstone of the inquiry into the existence of a protected, state-created liberty interest in avoiding restrictive conditions of confinement is not the language of regulations regarding those conditions but the nature of those conditions themselves ‘in relation to the ordinary incidents of prison life.’ ” 545 U.S. at 223, 125 S.Ct. 2384 (quoting Sandin, 515 U.S. at 484, 115 S.Ct. 2293). The basic question, then, is the sort of “expectation or interest” inmates have in light of normal conditions of confinement. Id. at 221, 125 S.Ct. 2384 (citing Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 556-58, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974)). In an earlier order in this ease the Court concluded that the correct test of whether confinement in the supermax prison at Tamms imposes atypical and significant hardship on inmates such as to give rise to a liberty interest in avoiding confinement there is whether confinement at Tamms imposes atypical and significant hardship “under any plausible baseline.” Westefer, 2009 WL 2905548, at *4 (quoting Wilkinson, 545 U.S. at 223, 125 S.Ct. 2384). Accordingly, in light of the three factors identified as relevant in Wilkinson (e.g., limitations on human contact, indefinite duration of placement, and the effect of supermax confinement on the length of an inmate’s sentence), the Court will examine first conditions at Tamms, then compare those conditions to conditions at the OSP, in segregation at Pontiac, and in the general population at Menard and State-ville, as well as in prisons outside Illinois from which inmates have been transferred to Tamms.

2. Conditions at the Supermax Prison at Tamms

a. Limitations on Human Contact

With respect to the matter of the limitations on human contact imposed by confinement at Tamms, it is clear from the record of this case that confinement at Tamms is an experience of very intense isolation for inmates. In fact, even before the supermax prison at Tamms was opened in 1998, the 1993 final report of the Illinois Task Force on Crime and Corrections, which recommended the construction of the supermax prison, cautioned,

Reputable human rights organizations ... have expressed legitimate and serious concerns about practices in existing super-maximum security facilities. The Task Force recommends that our Super-Max facility be required by statute to conform to certain requirements concerning constitutional and humanitarian safeguards. Since these highly restrictive environments, if misused, can create conditions tantamount to long-term isolation, the Department of Corrections will have to establish clearly defined rules and regulations to govern the admission and release of inmates from the Super-Max facility and to monitor its operation and administration closely.

Illinois Task Force on Crime and Corrections, Final Report, at 87-88 (1993) (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 19) (emphasis added). As the Court hopes will be apparent from its discussion of the evidence in this case, including the Court’s first-hand observation of conditions at Tamms during a tour of the facility in the company of IDOC officials and counsel for the parties to this case, the Task Force’s concerns about confinement in the supermax prison at Tamms becoming an experience of long-term isolation for IDOC inmates were and are well-founded.

Generally speaking, the Tamms super-max prison is small by the standards of the other prisons in the IDOC system, containing only 520 beds. See Deposition of George Welborn at 54, 56. By way of comparison, data on the website of the IDOC (http://www.idoc.state.il.us), which the Court can judicially notice, see Denius v. Dunlap, 330 F.3d 919, 926 (7th Cir.2003); Laborers’ Pension Fund v. Blackmore Sewer Constr., Inc., 298 F.3d 600, 607 (7th Cir.2002), reflects that: Menard has a capacity of 1,938 inmates and an average daily population of 3,466 inmates; Stateville has a capacity of 2,980 inmates and an average daily population of 3,357 inmates; and Pontiac has a capacity of 1,058 inmates and an average daily population of 1, 612 inmates. The reason that the supermax prison at Tamms is relatively small is that the prison is designed to house the worst, most problematic inmates in the IDOC system. See Doc. 144 (Second Amended Complaint) at 2 ¶ 2; Doc. 148 (Answer) at 1 ¶ 2; Doc. 267-3 (Transcript of Orientation Presentation for Tamms Correctional Personnel by George C. Welborn) at 4, 10. Inmates are placed at Tamms in one of two categories: disciplinary segregation or administrative detention. See Doc. 522 (Randle Testimony) at 10; Welborn Deposition at 37. Inmates placed at Tamms in disciplinary segregation are those who are deemed to be dangerous even in disciplinary segregation at other prisons. See Doc. 522 (Randle Testimony) at 19, 22, 27-28. Inmates assigned to Tamms in administrative detention are those who are deemed to be dangerous when housed at other prisons, such as validated members of prison gangs or “security threat groups” (“STGs”) as such gangs are referred to in correctional parlance. See id. at 19, 22.

It is undisputed among the parties to this case that the supermax prison at Tamms is the highest security prison in Illinois, featuring uniquely restrictive conditions of confinement designed both to control the most high-security inmates in the IDOC system and to encourage inmates at lower-security prisons to comply with IDOC rules to avoid being transferred to the supermax prison. See Doc. 144 (Complaint) at 4 ¶ 7, 4 ¶ 9; Doc. 148 (Answer) at 1 ¶2, 2 ¶7, 2 ¶ 9; Doc. 175 (Response to Plaintiffs’ Request for Admissions) at 6 ¶ 13. Consistent with the unique role that the supermax prison at Tamms is meant to play in the IDOC system, the prison was never intended to be full and has been approximately half-full since its opening in 1998. See Doc. 144 (Complaint) at 4 ¶ 8; Doc. 148 (Answer) at 2 ¶ 8; Welborn Deposition at 54-57. IDOC Director Randle testified that it is “a good thing” that Tamms operates at about half capacity “because it shows that our staff and inmates, for the most part, are doing the right things and our prisons are safe. If Tamms were full, I would be concerned about the 27 other prisons [in the IDOC system] because it would indicate that there is some bad things happening out there.” Doc. 522 (Randle Testimony) at 44. It appears that Tamms has succeeded in its purpose. According to IDOC Director Randle, “incidents of inmate-on-inmate assaults, inmate-on-staff assaults, gang related activities, the number of lock down days, all of those indicators that we look at in terms of providing a safe environment in the other 27 prisons have all gone down and that directly correlated with the opening and operation of Tamms.” Id. at 8. It is equally apparent to the Court from the testimony it heard from IDOC inmates, including present and past inmates of Tamms, that the inmates genuinely fear the supermax prison and do not want to be confined there.

The salient feature of confinement in the supermax prison at Tamms is the total absence of any congregate inmate activities, save with the exception of J-pod, a special treatment unit for inmates that have been diagnosed with serious mental illness where inmates are permitted to participate in congregate therapy sessions. See Doc. 433 (Transcript of Day 2 of Bench Trial) at 112-13. The supermax prison at Tamms consists of nine pods; eight pods have six wings, while J-pod has two wings. See Doc. 144 (Complaint) at 4 ¶ 11; Doc. 148 (Answer) at 3 ¶ 11. The wing of a typical pod at Tamms has two tiers, each containing five one-man cells and a shower cell where inmates bathe individually without privacy. See Doc. 433 (Day 2 Trial Transcript) at 108. Adjacent to each wing is an exercise yard. See id. at 108-09. Each pod also contains a multipurpose room to which inmates are brought individually for religious services (there are no congregate religious services at Tamms), mental health counseling, and, for inmates assigned to Tamms in administrative detention, annual transfer review hearings. See id. at 107. There is also a room styled a library where inmates are brought individually to review materials that they have ordered ahead of time from the central prison library. See id. Each pod contains a medical service area that is equipped with a separate shower where both emergency care and extended care can be provided, together with dental and optometry services. See id. at 109. With respect to the prison commissary, Tamms does not have a commissary of the traditional kind. Instead, inmates order items from a company outside the prison which are then brought to their cells; in general inmates may not spend more than $30 per month. See id. at 111. In sum, inmate life at Tamms is structured so that inmates spend the vast majority of their time alone in their cells and, barring a medical crisis severe enough to require a visit to the prison’s infirmary for long-term medical care, all of their time in their assigned pod. See id. at 109.

Each cell at Tamms is approximately nine feet by fifteen feet with walls that are approximately nine feet high. A typical cell at Tamms is of pre-cast concrete construction, containing a toilet and sink, a stainless steel mirror (for inmates who are authorized to have one), a small shelf high on the wall by the door, a concrete slab for use as a desk, a concrete bunk on which to sleep (with, perhaps, a mattress) at the far end of the cell opposite the door, and a window set at the top of the wall over the bunk; all of the furniture in a typical Tamms cell is made of reinforced concrete. See Doc. 433 (Day 2 Trial Transcript) at 108; Photographs of Tamms (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 12); Doc. 144 (Complaint) at 5 ¶ 13; Doc. 267-3 (Welborn Orientation Presentation) at 9. The window of a typical Tamms cell cannot be operated from inside the cell and is positioned so that, without making unusual efforts, all that an inmate can see through it is a sliver of sky. See Tamms Photographs (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 12); Doc. 267-3 (Welborn Orientation Presentation) at 9; Doc. 144 (Complaint) at 5 ¶ 13; Doc. 514 (Testimony of Rodney Guthrie) at 21. The door of a typical cell is made of steel mesh perforated with small holes so as to reduce severely visibility inside and outside the cell. See Tamms Photographs (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 12); Doc. 144 (Complaint) at 5 ¶ 13; Doc. 148 (Answer) at 3 ¶ 13. There is a small chuck hole in the door of each cell; through the chuck hole an inmate receives and returns plastic trays bearing his meals (all Tamms inmates eat alone in their cells). See Tamms Photographs (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 12); Doc. 144 (Complaint) at 5 ¶ 14; Doc. 148 (Answer) at 3 ¶ 14. The chuck hole is locked from the outside and provides no visibility into or out of the cell. See Tamms Photographs (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 12); Doc. 144 (Complaint) at 5 ¶¶ 13-14; Doc. 148 (Answer) at 3 ¶¶ 13-14. Inmates at Tamms are only permitted two small property boxes and there are limits on the amount of individual items of property they may have; for example, inmates may keep a maximum of twenty-five books and fifteen pictures in their cells. See Doc. 433 (Testimony of James Hughes) at 80-81. Tamms inmates spend between twenty-three and twenty-four hours a day in their cells. See Doc. 144 (Complaint) at 5 ¶ 13; Doc. 148 (Answer) at 3 ¶ 13. Depending on their behavioral status, inmates are permitted to have either a television or a radio, or else a television and a Walkman, in their cells. See Doc. 144 (Complaint) at 5 ¶ 13; Doc. 148 (Answer) at 3 ¶ 13. Because inmates at Tamms are not given work assignments (and thus cannot earn wages), it may be difficult for indigent inmates to afford a television, radio, or Walkman. See Doc. 175 (Response to Request for Admissions) at 17 ¶ 83; Doc. 433 (Testimony of Alonzo Franklin) at 38-39.

As noted, inmates at Tamms spend the vast majority of their time alone in their cells. Inmates assigned to Tamms in disciplinary segregation are permitted at least one shower a week and up to five hours of exercise yard time per week. See Tamms Closed Maximum Security Facility Inmate Orientation Manual (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 11) at 26. Inmates who are placed at Tamms in administrative detention are permitted to leave their cells according to which of three security “levels” they have been assigned by reason of the quality of them behavior and the length of time they have been at Tamms. See id. at 26-27. As administrative detention prisoners move from level one to level three, they are granted more privileges: thus, administrative detention prisoners in level one are permitted two showers per week and two hours of exercise yard time per week, and administrative detention prisoners in level three are permitted five showers per week and seven hours of exercise yard time per week. See id. An exercise yard at Tamms is an empty concrete room with a hard composite deck that is about fifteen by twenty feet (approximately the size of two cells), with walls about thirty feet high; only about a third of the yard is uncovered, and through this small uncovered space inmates occasionally are able to see a bird or an airplane passing overhead. See Tamms Photographs (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 12); Doc. 433 (Day 2 Trial Transcript) at 108-09; Doc. 144 (Complaint) at 7 ¶ 19; Doc. 148 (Answer) at 5 ¶ 19; Doc. 514 (Guthrie Testimony) at 22. A typical exercise yard in the supermax prison at Tamms does not contain a bathroom, a water fountain, or any kind of exercise equipment (such as a basketball hoop, for example). See Tamms Photographs (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 12); Doc. 144 (Complaint) at 7 ¶ 19; Doc. 148 (Answer) at 5 ¶ 19. Tamms inmates go to the exercise yard alone (observed by an armed guard in a control center) and the inmates are not permitted to exercise together. See Doc. 144 (Complaint) at 7 ¶ 18; Doc. 148 (Answer) at 5 ¶ 18. Additionally, an inmate may be deprived of his exercise yard privileges for an extended period as a result of infractions of prison discipline. See id.

Consistent with the general prohibition of congregate inmate activities at Tamms, the supermax prison imposes heavy restrictions on the ability of inmates to communicate with one another. Inmates at Tamms are not permitted to communicate with other prisoners when outside their cells, and while it appears that inside their cells inmates can communicate with inmates in other cells, they can do so only with considerable difficulty. As noted, the doors of the cells at Tamms are made of steel mesh, so that an inmate cannot see into or out of a cell without hindrance. Thus, inmates cannot see one another and can communicate between cells only by standing beside the door of their cells and speaking loudly so as to be heard in other cells. IDOC inmate Larry Strickland, who was confined at Tamms from May or June of 1998 until approximately October of 1999 and who now is confined at Pontiac, testified to the unique difficulty of communicating with other inmates at Tamms:

Down at Tamms you can’t communicate with nobody because you don’t know if somebody on the other yard or not. And it’s hard, you know, if you don’t know a person if you can’t see a person it’s hard to, you know, communicate. ‘Cause you don’t know who you are talking to. Most people just don’t talk to anybody unless they see you and able to see who you are or what.

‡ ‡ ‡

And it’s just you seem like you all alone, like there’s nobody there. But you, even though you got somebody next door to you it’s like you communicating — when you do communicate it’s like you communicating with that person at a long distance.

# * * * * *

THE COURT: Now why is it that you can’t communicate with your neighbor at Tamms?

THE WITNESS: Because it’s like you in the cell, you in the back of your cell, and if he call you, he don’t call you loud enough you won’t hear him. You see what I’m saying? If you have a TV or radio or you watching your TV or your radio you can’t hardly hear the other people because you — the cell is big and you in the back of it. You all the way in the back of the cell. And if you come to the front it’s just not the same. You know, you have to stand at the door and you have to communicate standing at the door and it’s not for very long because it’s an uncomfortable situation. Even if you sit down you sitting on the hard floor unless you get your pillow and put it on the floor. But if you moving around and somebody call you, you— you — and you don’t want to just stand at the door all the time and just talk because you get tired.

Doc. 514 (Testimony of Larry Strickland) at 9-10, 13-14. As Strickland’s testimony suggests, the fact that Tamms inmates must wear earbuds when using a television or radio also hampers what little communication inmates at Tamms are able to conduct between cells; former Tamms inmate Rodney Guthrie testified similarly about the effect of earbuds on communication among inmates of the supermax prison. See id. (Guthrie Testimony) at 22, 23-24.

Every IDOC inmate testifying in this case who currently is confined or who formerly was confined in the supermax prison at Tamms complained bitterly of the intense isolation caused by the pervasive lack of contact with other inmates. For example, IDOC inmate Johnny Almodovar, who has been confined at Tamms since March 1998, testified as follows:

THE COURT: ... [Y]ou told me earlier that here, just like the other prisons, you can communicate between your cell bars with the other prisoners. What’s different? Describe it to me so when I write it down I can say: This, you know, this witness told me this and this is what’s different. And he should know he’s been to a lot of prisons. What is the difference?

THE WITNESS: Isolation from communicating with other people. Communicating with other people just to go on the yard with other people, you know. To have that connection with someone, you know. You can talk to someone behind a door and you are isolated 23 hours a day. But it is a totally different situation if you are allowed to be with other inmates around and communicate, you know. And that type of way it’s totally different. You got to have — you got to be in that situation to understand that. And it takes a toll. And it takes a big toll. I don’t feel the same.

Doc. 433 (Testimony of Johnny Almodovar) at 69-70. Rodney Guthrie, who was confined at Tamms from April 2000 until January 2007 and who now is confined at Pontiac, went to truly remarkable lengths to escape from the loneliness and monotony imposed on Tamms inmates by the regime of strict isolation at the supermax prison. Guthrie advised prison officials at Tamms that he intended to escape from the prison, even though he had no intention of attempting an escape, so that he could be classed as an escape risk and therefore be moved at regular intervals to different parts of the prison, thereby increasing Guthrie’s opportunities for possible communication with other Tamms inmates:

Q. Okay. I also see that you are wearing green stripes on your shirts. Can you tell us what that is?

A. Level E status. That means high escape risk.

Q. And how did you come about classified as level E?

A. That happened at Tamms in 2002.

Q. What happened?

A. Well, they had placed me at Tamms and, you know, the monotony was getting to me, things like that. By being stuck in that cell and nobody to talk to and just minimum contact with other inmates or staff or whatever. And in order to move around and be able to talk to other people, things like that, I wrote a letter to the major saying that if he don’t move me out of the cell by 3:00 I be halfway to Chicago. And things like that.

Q. And it was after that that they classified you as high escape risk?

A. Yeah, they made me level E.

Q. Why is being classified as high escape risk something that you wanted to happen?

A. Well, because I didn’t actually — I just wanted to move around because I was stuck in that one cell. I wanted to move around from pod to pod from wing to wing so I could be able to, you know, talk to other people, you know. I wanted to break up the monotonous routine.

Q. It is now seven years later and you are still—

A. Level E.

Q. Have they told you what you need to do to get out of level E?

A. No, they never told me.

Doc. 514 (Guthrie Testimony) at 18-19.

A number of IDOC inmates who are or who formerly were confined at Tamms gave testimony in this case that specifically linked the intense isolation at Tamms to deterioration of their mental health that they suffered during their confinement in the supermax prison. For example, Larry Strickland, a former Tamms inmate, as noted, who currently is confined at Pontiac, testified that confinement at Tamms is “a lot more stressful” than confinement at Pontiac precisely because inmates at Tamms cannot communicate effectively with each other. Doc. 514 (Strickland Testimony) at 9. Strickland also testified that while he was at Tamms he began experiencing auditory hallucinations or “hearing voices” and suffered delusions that correctional personnel at the supermax prison were poisoning his food. Id. at 10. Ultimately Strickland was transferred out of Tamms to the Psychiatric Unit of the Dixon Correctional Center, where he remained for approximately a year before being transferred to Pontiac. See id. at 8-9. Similarly, Rodney Guthrie testified that he had no history of psychiatric disorders before being transferred to Tamms and that, following his transfer to the super-max prison, he fell into a severe depression caused by the isolation at Tamms that ultimately prompted him to have himself classified as an escape risk in a desperate bid to escape from that isolation:

Q. Did you notice any change in yourself, your mental attitudes while you were at Tamms?

A. Well, um, when they first sent me there I was maybe in a depressed state, you know. I contacted mental health after dealing with them for maybe five years out of the whole time I was there just to keep my sanity to have nobody to talk to. They pull me out maybe once every two weeks, see how Pm doing, things like that. We talk about social issues, prison issues, things of that nature. For the most part I was in a depressed state. That’s what led me to become a level E.

Q. Did you have those depression problems before you went to Tamms?

A. Naw. No.

Id. (Guthrie Testimony) at 22-23. As IDOC inmate Johnny Almodovar said, and as the testimony of inmates Larry Strickland and Rodney Guthrie illustrates, the intense deprivation of human contact at Tamms exacts a toll on the psychological well-being of the inmates of the supermax prison.

While cases of IDOC inmates who suffered decompensation while confined at Tamms could be recounted at great length, the Court merely will note a couple of additional examples. Plaintiff Felton testified that the isolation of his confinement at Tamms prompted him to mutilate himself and to attempt suicide:

... I was in isolation for long periods of time. I wasn’t allowed to make any telephone calls to my relatives and family members. I didn’t have any physical or social interaction with the people that was at the institution that I was at.

Q. Did that have any effect on your mental health?

A. Yes, it did.

Q. Tell us about that.

A. While I was at Tamms I was in what was called physical psychotherapy for seven and a half years through the mental health services at Tamms due to the isolation.

Q. Before that didn’t you have a particular problem before that got you into therapy?

A. Yes. I suffer from bipolar disorder prior to going to Tamms. While at Tamms I suffer from self-mutilation and other psychiatric problems.

Q. In fact, you attempted suicide?

A. That’s correct.

Q. You were put in a suicide cell stripped out?

A. That’s correct.

Doc. 482 (Testimony of Robert Felton) at 4. Finally, IDOC inmate Ronnie Carroll, who was confined at Tamms from July 1998 until July 2004 and who now is confined at Pontiac, testified that he has had no history of mental problems since he was transferred out of Tamms. Doc. 514 (Testimony of Ronnie Carroll) at 44. However, while he was confined at Tamms, Carroll testified,

I held a record there for while I was on suicide watch consecutive for like 57 days so, or 15-minute watches, a stripped out cell in the hospital with nothing but a gown and a little foam mat. I had a number of mental health issues at Tamms as far as suicidal thoughts, depression, a lot of mental health people and things of that nature.

Id. at 43^4. In fact, after mandatory supervised release (that is, parole) or discharge from IDOC custody, mental health problems are the most common reason that inmates are transferred out of Tamms. See Ten-Point Plan (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 7), Table 4.

Importantly, unlike Carroll, who, as noted, has experienced no further mental problems since his transfer out of Tamms, a number of former inmates of Tamms testified that, due to the extreme isolation in which they were confined at the super-max prison, they have experienced ongoing mental difficulties even after their transfer out of Tamms to lower-security facilities where they have much freer access to other inmates. For example, Plaintiff Spar-ling, who spent six years and seven months at Tamms, testified that as a continuing result of his past confinement in the super-max prison he does not like to be around other people and that after he was transferred out of Tamms he found it difficult to adjust to sharing a cell with another inmate:

Q. Have you noticed any changes in yourself since you were at Tamms?

A. Whew, yeah.

Q. Tell us about that.

A. Well, I — I’m going to have to say being in isolation is kind of a trip. If you are not pretty strong then you might become a bug. I mean, have mental issues.

Q. But how about you personally? Did you notice any change once you got out of Tamms as compared when you were back at Menard before you went to Tamms?

A. Yeah, I don’t like being around crowds too much. Being around people.... [I]t was a trip having a celly, being in isolation for so long, to have to live with another man, you know? But ... being in isolation is kind of hard.

Doc. 513 (Testimony of Michael Sparling) at 13. Plaintiff Burrell, a Tamms inmate for over seven years, gave similar testimony about suffering a continuing sense of paranoia after his transfer out of the supermax prison:

Mentally sometime, I guess I would be — it took me a while to adjust to my surrounding. I’m somewhat — I became more paranoid. For some reason I became paranoid after leaving Tamms — as I’ve stated before I’ve been around hundreds of men, fox holes, and, I mean, in the military and out of the military and welding schools, and never experienced any form of paranoid before in my life that I ever known of until I was released from Tamms.

Q. And you are housed currently at where?

A. Centraba.

Q. And that’s a medium security institution?

A. It’s a medium or — I believe minimum.

Q. Okay. And there you have an opportunity to go out and mingle with people at will during certain times of the day? A. Yes.

Q. Do you take advantage of all those opportunities?

A. I force myself to do these things.

Q. And did you used to have to force yourself to have to do them?

A. No.

Q. When did that change?

A. After Tamms. Well, before I was released from Tamms I guess.

Doc. 417 (Testimony of Roosevelt Burrell) at 46-47.

Although, again, the Court could recount at length instances of former Tamms inmates who have experienced ongoing mental problems as a result of confinement in the supermax prison, instead the Court merely will note a few additional examples. Plaintiff Sorrentino, who was an inmate at Tamms for over ten years, testified to the great difficulty he has experienced trying to adjust to being in the company of other people after he was transferred out of Tamms:

Q. How about your mental state, has that changed at all since you were in Tamms?

A. Well, I’m stressed out most of the time. A lot of anxiety. If I even think that I’m getting a call pass my stomach starts to hurting, I have murmurs — palpations [sic], I mean. The mornings of yard, stressed out. I’m not good around people anymore. I don’t want to be around people.

Q. And were you that way before you went to Tamms?

A. No.

Doc. 417 (Testimony of Joe Sorrentino) at 51. Plaintiff Clayton testified that, although he is no longer confined at Tamms, “it [confinement at Tamms] still bother me,” and stated flatly that, as a result of his time at Tamms, “I don’t trust nobody.” Doc. 513 (Testimony of Leverne Clayton) at 6. Plaintiff Knox, a Tamms inmate for nearly eleven years, commented of his recent transfer out of the supermax prison, “I got to get readjusted to everything. Basically like a little child again. That’s like I say it’s kind of scary just being around people again. Having a cell mate again after 11 years.” Doc. 417 (Testimony of Ted Knox) at 35-36. Finally, Plaintiff Bivens, who was an inmate at Tamms from July 1998 until December 2001, testified that as a result of his confinement in the supermax prison he has had ongoing difficulty with “not being able to look people in the face or in the eye when I’m speaking to them” as well as with a “depressive state” and “not being able to sleep” after he was transferred out of Tamms. Id. (Testimony of Aryules Bivens) at 23. In sum, it appears that the psychic toll exacted by long-term confinement in the intensely isolated circumstances of Tamms is, in many instances, a continuing one.

In addition to being isolated in their cells up to twenty-four hours a day and forbidden to participate in any congregate inmate activities, Tamms inmates are isolated in other respects as well. For example, although the majority of Tamms inmates are from Chicago or the Chicago area, Tamms is located 360-370 miles from Cook County, Illinois, making it difficult for the families of inmates to visit their loved ones at the prison. See Doc. 144 (Complaint) at 7-8 ¶ 20; Doc. 148 (Answer) at 5 ¶ 20; Ten-Point Plan (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 7), Table 1; Doc. 267-3 (Welborn Orientation Presentation) at 7-8. Moreover, extremely strict limitations are placed on visits and telephone calls at Tamms. All prospective visitors must submit a visitor interview form, which must be approved by the Internal Affairs Office at Tamms before a visit is allowed; an appointment must be made for a specific date and time at least ten days in advance of the requested visit. See Tamms Inmate Orientation Manual (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 11) at 16-17. If a visitor is twenty minutes late for his or her scheduled visit at Tamms, the visit is subject to being can-celled. See Doc. 175 (Response to Request for Admissions) at 10 ¶ 41. All visits are non-contact, with inmates chained to the floor during visits and all conversation conducted through plexiglass windows via an intercom system; also, all non-legal visits are monitored by Tamms correctional personnel. See Ill. Admin. Code tit. 20, § 505.80(b)(2); Doc. 433 (Day 2 Trial Transcript) at 110; Tamms Inmate Orientation Manual (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 11) at 15; Tamms Photographs (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 12); Doc. 144 (Complaint) at 8 ¶ 20; Doc. 148 (Answer) at 5 ¶ 20. Visits between an inmate and his attorney take place in a specialized, non-contact visiting room; a correctional officer is seated in a special area separate from the inmate and the attorney so that if papers need to be passed between the two, the officer may do that. See Doc. 433 (Day 2 Trial Transcript) at 110-11; Doc. 144 (Complaint) at 8 ¶ 22; Doc. 148 (Answer) at 5 ¶ 22. As to telephone privileges, Tamms inmates have none and may use the telephone only in emergencies and for legal matters; also, they may not initiate calls to an attorney. See 111. Admin. Code tit. 20, § 505.80(a); Ten-Point Plan (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 7) at 22; Doc. 522 (Randle Testimony) at 32. Ronnie Carroll, who as already has been noted is a former Tamms inmate now housed at Pontiac, where he has telephone privileges, testified that “[a]t Tamms I was down there six years I never used the phone in any way, shape, or form.” Doc. 514 (Carroll Testimony) at 40. Similarly, Johnny Almodovar testified that, following over eleven years of confinement at Tamms, he has been permitted to use the telephone only once, when his mother died. See Doc. 433 (Almodovar Testimony) at 63, 70.

On the record before the Court, it is abundantly clear that the first of the three factors identified by the Wilkinson Court as relevant to the existence of a due process liberty interest in avoiding confinement in a supermax prison, severe limitations on all human contact, is present in this case. In an earlier decision in this case the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit observed that, if Plaintiffs’ allegations are true, “being confined to Tamms is to be subjected to virtual sensory deprivation, with prisoners forced to spend most days doing literally nothing but staring at the four blank walls of their cells.” Westefer v. Snyder, 422 F.3d 570, 589 (7th Cir.2005). The record shows that this is indeed the case. The Court notes that a large population of Tamms inmates are poorly educated, if not illiterate, and therefore cannot beguile their time in isolation through activities like reading and letter-writing. See Ten-Point Plan (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 7) at 4 (Tamms inmates are less likely than inmates in other IDOC prisons to have a high school diploma or GED). For those inmates, the long hours that they must spend alone in their cells at Tamms must weigh especially heavily. With that observation, the Court turns to consideration of the other relevant factors identified in Wilkinson.

b. Indefinite Duration of Placement at Tamms

As already has been discussed, the second factor identified in Wilkinson as relevant to the existence of a liberty interest in avoiding confinement at a supermax prison is whether placement at such a prison is of indefinite duration. It is clear from the record that under existing IDOC procedures placement at Tamms is of indefinite duration and that inmates transferred to the prison know neither how long they will be confined there nor how they can effect transfer out of the prison through good behavior. According to George Welborn, who was closely involved in the design of Tamms and who served as the first warden of the supermax prison, when Tamms opened in 1998 his view and that of most IDOC officials was that an inmate assigned to the prison who behaved well should not stay more than a year at Tamms. See Doc. 267-3 (Welborn Orientation Presentation) at 3, 7-9; Welborn Deposition at 69-71. However, when Welborn retired in 2002, most of the inmates who had been transferred to Tamms when it opened were still there. See Welborn Deposition at 71-72. It appears that the change in policy concerning the duration of an inmate’s stay at Tamms may have come about in part as a result of a decision by IDOC officials to require Tamms inmates to renounce their gang affiliations as a prerequisite for transferring out of the supermax prison. As IDOC Director Randle acknowledged in his testimony before the Court, for many Tamms inmates renunciation of gang affiliations would be “an automatic death sentence.” Doc. 522 (Randle Testimony) at 23. A current Tamms inmate, Johnny Almodovar, explained that inmates who participate in the gang renunciation procedure may be perceived as informers by other inmates:

Q. What is this renunciation?

A. I don’t know. I never went out there. I wasn’t never concerned about it.

Q. All right.

THE COURT: Well, let me stop you there. Why wouldn’t you be?

THE WITNESS: Because supposedly— this is word that’s going around, that supposedly when you go out there you suppose to be a stool pigeon and tell these people everything they want to hear. And if you don’t tell them that, then, you know, it is a waste; you are not going to leave from down here. And that’s the last thing I want to do is to be marked and to be — have other inmates thinking that I’m telling something, you know. That’s — that’s—that’s not— that’s something I don’t want a label on myself.

❖ # # * Hi

Q. Why would you want to avoid that label, what impact would it have?

A. It can get you killed. Definitely get you killed. You know, I mean it’s not no secret. Everybody knows that. A stool pigeon will get you hurt. You know, so, that’s the last thing I want to associate myself with. Especially in these conditions. I mean, com’on now.

Doc. 433 (Almodovar Testimony) at 66-67. Thus, in some instances inmates may have preferred to remain at Tamms rather than renounce their gang affiliations, although even inmates who have renounced such affiliations can remain confined at Tamms. See id. (Hughes Testimony) at 84 (the witness remained confined at Tamms notwithstanding having renounced his gang affiliation almost two years earlier).

IDOC Director Randle’s Ten-Point Plan acknowledges that “[a]s part of the current orientation process, inmates are not informed of how long they should expect to be incarcerated at Tamms ... and the process of earning privileges based on positive adjustment behavior is under-amplified.” Ten-Point Plan (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 7) at 16. This is borne out by the testimony of IDOC inmates confined at Tamms. For example, current Tamms inmate Alonzo Franklin testified as follows:

Q---- [H]as anybody told you well has anybody given you a date by which you will be transferred out of Tamms?

A. No, sir.

Q. Has anybody given you a list of things you need to accomplish in order to get out of Tamms?

A. No, sir.

Q. Has anybody told you anything about what you can do to earn your way out of Tamms?

A. Renounce [the witness’s gang affiliation].

Q. Anything else?

A. No, sir.

Q. Is it your understanding if you renounce that you are guaranteed to get out of Tamms?

A. No.

Q. Okay.

Doc. 433 (Franklin Testimony) at 46. Similar testimony was given by other Tamms inmates, such as Manuel Bobee:

Q. Did they tell what you are supposed to do to get back out of Tamms?

A. Nothing.

‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

Q. And has anybody told you yet when you are leaving Tamms?

A. No.

Id. (Testimony of Manuel Bobee) at 94. See also Doc. 507 (Testimony of Kennard Combs) at 8. (Plaintiff Combs, who currently is confined at Tamms, testified that upon arriving at the supermax prison he was told neither how long he would be confined there nor any specific things that he needed to do to be transferred out of the prison); Doc. 433 (Hughes Testimony) at 84 (testifying that, apart from advising the -witness to renounce his gang affiliation and to complete his term of disciplinary segregation, IDOC personnel had furnished no guidance about what to do to be transferred out of Tamms).

Some inmates testified to receiving misleading information from IDOC personnel about the likely duration of their confinement at Tamms and what they needed to do to be transferred out of the prison. For example, Plaintiff Sparling testified that during orientation at Tamms he was told that he would be confined at Tamms only for a year, provided that he behaved himself and was not disciplined: “[WJhen we came in for orientation they said do your year, go through level systems, don’t get any tickets, and we will ship you out of Tamms.” Doc. 513 (Sparling Testimony) at 11-12. Although Sparling complied with these instructions, in fact he remained at Tamms, as already has been noted, for six years and seven months, his confinement at the supermax prison being explained to him only as that he was “[p]roperly placed.” Id. at 12. See also Doc. 514 (Carroll Testimony) at 37 (the witness testified that the common understanding among IDOC inmates in 1999 was that placement at Tamms was only for a year). Relatedly, IDOC inmate Gene Arnett, who currently is confined at Tamms, testified that IDOC personnel have told him that because of his poor disciplinary record he will never be transferred out of the super-max prison:

Q. And has anybody told you how long you are likely to stay here at Tamms?

A. Wardens have told me I’m never leaving Tamms.

Q. Have they told you what you can do to modify your behavior to get out of here?

A. They’ve told me because of my past I will never leave Tamms.

Doc. 433 (Testimony of Gene Arnett) at 75.

Significantly, even Tamms inmates who have maintained clean disciplinary records for years remain at the supermax prison, with no idea how long they may be confined there. For example, IDOC inmate Richard McCue testified that he remains confined at Tamms despite not having received a disciplinary ticket in nine years and despite having been in level three, which, as already has been discussed, is the security level assigned to the best-behaved Tamms inmates and the one that carries the most privileges, for eight years:

Q. When is the last time you got a disciplinary report here at Tamms?

A. Nine years ago.

Q. And you are currently in level three here the [administrative detention] level?

A. Oh, yeah.

Q. How long have you been in level three?

A. Probably about eight years at least.

Doc. 433 (Testimony of Richard McCue) at 105. Similarly, Manuel Bobee has been in level three for six years and has not received a disciplinary ticket in approximately the same amount of time, yet he remains confined at Tamms with no idea as to how much longer he will remain at the supermax prison:

Q. Did [the IDOC] tell what you are supposed to do to get back out of Tamms?

A. Nothing.

Q. Now once you got into administrative detention, you were in level one, right?

A. Yes.

Q. Are you still in level one?

A. No, I’m at level three.

Q. How long have you been at level three?

A. Mmm Mmm, right now it’s been about five years, maybe six years.

Q. And has anybody told you yet when you are leaving Tamms?

A. No.

Q. How long has it been since you got a disciplinary report?

A. The year 2003 or about 2003 or something around there.

Id. (Bobee Testimony) at 94-95. Finally, Johnny Almodovar testified that, despite having been in level three for six years and not having received a disciplinary ticket in that time, he remains confined at Tamms with no end in sight. See id. (Almodovar Testimony) at 65.

On the record before the Court, the Court concludes, that placement at Tamms is indefinite and “the only time limit is the length of the underlying sentence.” Westefer, 422 F.3d at 589. Importantly, among the reforms proposed by IDOC Director Randle’s Ten-Point Plan regarding Tamms is to inform inmates on their arrival at the supermax prison of the likely duration of their confinement there and to offer them behavioral goals to meet in order to be released in that time frame, with periodic updates as to whether they are meeting those goals. See Ten-Point Plan (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 7) at 16. IDOC Director Randle testified:

One of the concerns that was expressed to me during my tour at [Tamms] by the inmates was that in a lot of cases they did not know or they said they weren’t told how long they could expect to stay. What we’ve said in the 10 Point Plan is that we will give the offender a range. Once they’ve been approved for placement in Tamms what I expect staff to do is, based on how long a person has been there for a similar offense, based on correctional professional judgment, to tell the person a range of time that they can expect to be at Tamms.

Hi Hi Hi ❖ Hi H<

Now from there what we expect the staff to do is tell the offender how they can impact that one to three years and make it closer to one year rather than the three years by getting involved in programming, by their interactions with staff, by not getting conduct reports, by engaging in program activities when they have an opportunity. All of those things can help a person get closer to the lower end of that range rather than the longer end of that range. And, again, this is an estimate based on our staffs professional judgment, based on the offense that they committed to get placed at Tamms, and how long we think they will be there.

Q. Will the inmate get feedback after that on whether or not they’re meeting their goals or whether they fall short?

A. That would come at those 90 day reviews they give them feedback and tell them how they’ve done in the past 90 days, what they need to work on, what they may need to get involved in, what staff have been saying about their interactions with staff, their attitudes and behaviors, those things happen during those 90 day reviews.

Doc. 522 (Randle Testimony) at 13-14. In the Ten-Point Plan the IDOC effectively concedes that, hitherto, inmates arriving at Tamms have not been advised of how long they will be at the supermax prison and how they can work to be transferred out of the prison. The second Wilkinson factor relevant to the question of whether IDOC inmates have a due process liberty interest in avoiding assignment to Tamms, the indefinite duration of placement at the supermax prison, weighs in favor of a finding that IDOC inmates have such an interest.

c. Effect of Placement at Tamms on Length of Sentence

The Court turns to the third of the Wilkinson factors to be considered in determining whether there is a liberty interest in avoiding confinement at Tamms, the effect of placement at the supermax prison on the length of an inmate’s sentence. In Wilkinson the Court identified as a factor relevant to the existence of a liberty interest in avoiding confinement at the OSP the fact that placement at the OSP automatically disqualifies an inmate of the super-max prison from consideration for parole. See 545 U.S. at 224, 125 S.Ct. 2384. The part