Youth Justice Milwaukee Calls for Transformation of the Wisconsin Youth Justice System as the State Acknowledges it Will Not Meet the July 2021 Deadline to Close Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Prisons
MILWAUKEE–Youth Justice Milwaukee reiterated its demand for the closure of Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake youth prisons, as they are abusive, dangerous facilities that are incapable of rehabilitating young people. The coalition first called for closure in 2016– two years before Act 185 passed.
In 2018, Act 185 sought to close Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake by creating county and state-operated secure facilities and expanding the Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center, which collectively increased the number of secure placements beyond the number needed. Today, that disparity is even greater as the population at the two prisons continues to decline.
The state has eliminated the use of pepper spray to impose control over and incapacitate youth, an abusive practice that should never have been used in the first place.
Youth Justice Milwaukee urges Governor Evers, Secretary Carr, and the state legislature in the strongest terms to act now to transform our state’s youth justice system by focusing on healing trauma and supporting youth and families as they address the needs that contributed to their involvement in the criminal legal system.
This transformation should eliminate correctional settings as placements for youth; limit out of home placements to only short-term stabilization and respite needs; scale up sustainable resources for prevention, including mentoring, employment opportunities, healthy recreation, enrichment, and wellness; and support counties’ efforts to create a continuum of high-quality community-based services for youth and families. These investments will cost considerably less than the current outdated, oversized system that results in a two-thirds re-offense rate and has cost taxpayers many millions of dollars in lawsuits for injuries and wrongful deaths.
A new path forward in Wisconsin must also include a comprehensive revision of Chapter 938, the Juvenile Justice Code. This punitive legislative framework was put into place during the 1990s when there was an apocryphal criminalization of Black children as “superpredators”. This code and related statues allow children as young as age 10 to be charged and convicted as adults and has resulted in Wisconsin having among the worst racial disparities in the country: Black children in Wisconsin are 16.2 times more likely to be incarcerated than White children[ii].
The people of Wisconsin should not have to wait any longer for action to protect our children and make our communities safer.
Youth Justice Milwaukee encourages members of the public to attend and offer comments at the upcoming meeting of the Governor’s Juvenile Justice Commission on Tuesday, February 9, 2021, at which the DOC will make a presentation about these two prisons. For more information, click here.
For details on Youth Justice Milwaukee’s recommended alternatives to sending youth to Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Juvenile Prisons, click here.
More about the Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake
- Evers Proposes $45.8 Million for Milwaukee Juvenile Facility - Gretchen Schuldt - Mar 1st, 2021
- MKE County: County Has Just 22 Inmates in Youth Prisons - Edgar Mendez - Feb 24th, 2021
- Evers Pushes Juvenile Justice System Changes - Corri Hess - Feb 18th, 2021
- Youth Justice Milwaukee Calls for Transformation of the Wisconsin Youth Justice System as the State Acknowledges it Will Not Meet the July 2021 Deadline to Close Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Prisons - Youth Justice Milwaukee - Feb 8th, 2021
- Pandemic Causes Youth Prison Problems - Graham Kilmer - Jan 27th, 2021
- Can State Rescue Youth Corrections Plan? - Graham Kilmer - Jan 11th, 2021
- State Can’t Meet Deadline to Close Youth Prisons - Graham Kilmer - Dec 30th, 2020
- MKE County: Crowley Defers Youth Corrections Grant Until State Has Sustainable Plan - Graham Kilmer - Sep 16th, 2020
- State Blows Up County Youth Corrections Plan - Graham Kilmer - May 20th, 2020
- Youth Advocates Remain Committed to Closing Wisconsin Youth Prisons Following Monitor’s Report - American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin - Mar 5th, 2020
Read more about Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake here
Mentioned in This Press Release
Recent Press Releases by Youth Justice Milwaukee
Polling Shows: Majority of Wisconsinites Support Youth Justice Reform
Jun 3rd, 2019 by Youth Justice MilwaukeeSignals Strong Bipartisan Support for Community-Based Alternatives to Incarceration to Rehabilitate Youth
Youth Justice Milwaukee: Wisconsin Must Include Community Input for Any Youth Transfers
May 10th, 2019 by Youth Justice Milwaukee"YJM agrees with President Hamilton that there are already enough correctional settings on the north side of Milwaukee."