Current:Home > MyWisconsin Democrats introduce legislation package to address deteriorating conditions in prisons -NextFrontier Finance
Wisconsin Democrats introduce legislation package to address deteriorating conditions in prisons
View
Date:2025-04-17 08:48:15
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic lawmakers introduced a sweeping legislative package Thursday to address deteriorating conditions in Wisconsin prisons as a chronic staffing shortage has led to months-long lockdowns and a federal lawsuit.
The state’s perennially overcrowded prison system has been grappling with a lack of staffing that has only grown worse in recent years. The state’s adult institutions are currently dealing with an overall 32.3% vacancy rate, according to the state Department of Corrections.
“We are here today because conditions are dire in our institutions,” Rep. Ryan Clancy of Milwaukee said at a news conference. “This package is a crime reduction package. When we are less cruel to those we incarcerate, those people are less likely to be incarcerated in the future.”
The legislation includes proposals that would require inmates get hot showers, weekly in-person visits, and recreational opportunities. Other bills in the package would mandate cells be kept at tolerable temperatures and that prisoners be allowed to at least view the outdoors for several hours daily.
But the package doesn’t address staffing and the bills don’t explain how the mandates would be met without more guards.
Republicans who control the state Assembly and Senate didn’t respond to messages Thursday inquiring about the bills’ chances. GOP lawmakers have introduced almost nothing dealing with prison staffing or conditions this session. The only notable proposal would create a work program for inmates approaching their release date and that bill hasn’t gotten a hearing.
The state budget Democratic Gov. Tony Evers signed in July bumped guards’ starting pay from $20.29 to $33 an hour, but it has made little difference. The lack of staffing has become so severe that prisons in Waupun, Green Bay and Stanley have implemented lockdowns in which prisoners are confined to their cells for nearly 24 hours a day, according to inmate advocates.
Waupun’s lockdown began in March; Green Bay’s began in June; Stanley’s lockdown began in early 2023, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Corrections officials have labeled the lockdowns as “modified movement.”
At least three inmates at Waupun have died over the last four months. One death was confirmed as a suicide. The other two deaths remain under investigation.
A group of Waupun inmates filed a federal lawsuit in Milwaukee last week alleging conditions at that prison amount to cruel and unusual punishment. The prisoners allege they can’t get access to health care, with guards telling them their illnesses are “all in your head” and they should “pray” for a cure. They also maintain that they’re allowed only one shower per week, they receive no educational programming, aren’t allowed in-person visits with their families and that the prison is infested with rats and roaches.
The governor told the Journal Sentinel on Wednesday that his administration is “working on this every single day” but the problems stem from lack of staffing.
“It’s a people issue,” he said.
Corrections spokesman Kevin Hoffman said in an email to The Associated Press that the agency has been working with Democrats to craft legislation but hasn’t seen final versions of the bills yet. He disagreed with the term “lockdown,” saying under a lockdown all movement would stop. Inmate activities at Waupun and Green Bay are simply taking place “less frequently or with fewer numbers,” he said. He did not address conditions at Stanley.
Hoffman declined to comment on the lawsuit.
veryGood! (2881)
Related
- The White House is cracking down on overdraft fees
- Defense attorney for rapper Young Thug found in contempt, ordered to spend 10 weekends in jail
- Ashlee Simpson and Evan Ross Make Rare Red Carpet Appearance With All 3 Kids
- Four people shot at downtown Atlanta food court, mayor says
- Paige Bueckers vs. Hannah Hidalgo highlights women's basketball games to watch
- As FDA urges crackdown on bird flu in raw milk, some states say their hands are tied
- Young Thug's attorney Brian Steel arrested for alleged contempt of court: Reports
- Why Bachelor's Joey Graziadei & Kelsey Anderson Have Been Living With 2 Roommates Since Show Ended
- Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
- Militants attack bus in India-controlled Kashmir, kill 9 Hindu pilgrims, police say
Ranking
- New Orleans mayor’s former bodyguard making first court appearance after July indictment
- How schools' long summer breaks started, why some want the vacation cut short
- Horoscopes Today, June 10, 2024
- Stock market today: Asian stocks are mixed ahead of this week’s Fed meeting
- A Georgia governor’s latest work after politics: a children’s book on his cats ‘Veto’ and ‘Bill’
- Stock market today: Asian stocks are mixed ahead of this week’s Fed meeting
- The 10 Best Sexy Perfumes That’ll Immediately Score You a Second Date
- A New York county with one of the nation’s largest police forces is deputizing armed residents
Recommendation
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Hi Hi!
$552 million Mega Millions jackpot claimed in Illinois; winner plans to support mom
WNBA power rankings: Liberty, Sun pace league, while Mystics head toward ill-fated history
US Coast Guard says ship with cracked hull likely didn’t strike anything in Lake Superior
Spooky or not? Some Choa Chu Kang residents say community garden resembles cemetery
An Oregon man was stranded after he plummeted off an embankment. His dog ran 4 miles to get help.
Four people shot at downtown Atlanta food court, mayor says
Utah governor looks to rebound in primary debate after harsh reception at GOP convention