For The First Time, Wisconsin’s Youth Prisons Are Fully Compliant With Required Reforms

For the first time since 2017, Wisconsin’s troubled youth prisons are fully compliant with 50 court-ordered reforms aimed at improving how staff treat young inmates.

The latest report from a court-appointed monitor charged with visiting the Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake youth prisons and interviewing residents found none of them had been continuously held in solitary confinement for longer than three days. The monitor also found staff’s use of pepper spray had been banned and reliance on strip searches and mechanical restraints had been “drastically” reduced.

“While the Defendants’ progress is substantial, it is essential that they avoid complacency and remain committed to sustaining these reforms and pursuing ongoing improvement,” the report said.

In a statement, Gov. Tony Evers hailed the findings, calling the report a “milestone accomplishment in our work toward turning the page on the troubled history of these institutions and closing the door for good.”

“This is the culmination of years’ worth of hard work, a consistent commitment to treatment and rehabilitation, and earnest dedication to repairing relationships and rebuilding trust, most especially by the staff at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake and DOC leadership,” Evers said.

The lawsuit that brought about the court-ordered reforms and regular monitoring dates back to 2017. It was brought by ACLU of Wisconsin, the Juvenile Law Center and Quarles & Brady LLP. In an interview with WPR, ACLU of Wisconsin Senior Staff Attorney Tim Muth said there’s been “considerable progress” making conditions at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake more humane.”

“But these are the minimum conditions required by the Constitution,” Muth said. “I mean, that’s what you can achieve through a lawsuit and a consent decree.”

Muth said what the state needs is a juvenile justice system that is more community based, “rather than having a youth prison in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.”

The youth prisons have been plagued by troubles for nearly a decade. In 2015, Lincoln Hills was raided by law enforcement amid an investigation into allegations of staff abusing minors. Last year, a staff member at the facility died after being critically injured during a fight. A 16-year-old inmate was charged with felony murder, second degree reckless homicide and two counts of battery by prisoners.

State lawmakers and governors have been working to close the facilities for years but due to multiple delays, both are still operating. In 2018, former Gov. Scott Walker signed a bipartisan bill, which passed with unanimous support in the Legislature, that set a deadline of Jan. 1, 2021 to close Lincoln Hills. After taking office in 2019, Evers signed follow-up legislation that extended that deadline.

In his statement, Evers said a new 32-bed facility for youth in Milwaukee is expected to open in late fall of 2026.

Muth said it remains to be seen how the Milwaukee facility will operate, but the ACLU is pleased to see that it will be smaller and closer to where some of the youth inmates are from.

“And the research shows that ongoing, significant contact with a family is important to juvenile justice,” Muth said.

He said the ACLU of Wisconsin hopes the new facility will be able to recruit more staff of color than there are at Lincoln Hills.

Muth said the consent decree states if the court’s monitor finds both facilities are in substantial compliance during two consecutive visits, the Department of Corrections can ask the judge in the case to be released from the court’s supervision.

Listen to the WPR report

Wisconsin’s youth prisons are in full compliance with court-ordered reforms was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.