SPRINGFIELD – The empty Thomson Correctional Center, which has been the bane of three governors, now stands as a silent and costly monument to failed planning, failed motives and failed politics.

The sprawling maximum-security prison cost Illinois taxpayers $145 million to build and remains one of the most expensive construction projects ever undertaken by the state. It’s a debacle I helped uncover 11 years ago. Back then, I noticed people hadn’t been hired to work in the new prison, which I thought was weird. After all, it was the crown jewel of a plan to expand the state’s prison system.

The main problem with that plan was nobody stopped to see if the state had the money to actually hire people to work in it.