Democratic lawmakers introduced sweeping legislative action Thursday to address deteriorating conditions in Wisconsin’s prisons, as chronic understaffing at the state’s prisons has led to months of lockdowns and federal lawsuits.
The state’s prisons are consistently overcrowded and understaffed, and the situation has worsened in recent years. The state’s adult facilities currently have an overall vacancy rate of 32.3%, according to the state Department of Corrections.
“We’re here today because the situation in our institutions is dire,” Rep. Ryan Clancy, D-Milwaukee, said at a news conference. “This measure is a crime reduction measure. The less brutality we incarcerate against the people we incarcerate, the less likely those people will be incarcerated in the future.”
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The bill includes proposals to require inmates to take hot showers, weekly visits and recreational opportunities. Other bills included in the package would require that cells be kept at an acceptable temperature and that prisoners be allowed to look outside for at least a few hours each day.
But the package doesn’t address staffing, and the bill doesn’t explain how the mandate would be met without adding more Guard troops.
Republicans, who control the state House and Senate, did not respond to messages Thursday asking about the possibility of passing the bill. Republican lawmakers have proposed little this session regarding prison staffing or conditions. The only notable proposal is to create a work program for prisoners nearing their release date, but the bill has not yet been considered.
Wisconsin State Capitol Building in Madison, Wisconsin. (Education Images/Universal Images Group, Getty Images)
The state budget signed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in July raised starting wages for security guards from $20.29 an hour to $33 an hour, but little changed. Inmate advocacy groups say staffing shortages are so acute that prisons in Waupun, Green Bay and Stanley have imposed lockdowns that keep inmates in their cells nearly 24 hours a day.
Waupun’s lockdown began in March. Green Bay he started in June. Stanley’s lockdown began in early 2023, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Correctional officials are calling the lockdown “modified transportation.”
At least three inmates have died at Waupun in the past four months. One death was confirmed as suicide. The remaining two deaths are still under investigation.
A group of Waupun inmates filed a federal lawsuit last week alleging conditions at the Milwaukee prison amount to cruel and unusual punishment. The prisoners have no access to medical care, and they claim guards told them their illnesses were “all in their heads” and they should “pray” for a cure. They also claim they are only allowed to shower once a week, receive no educational programs, are not allowed in-person visits with their families, and that the prison is infested with rats and cockroaches. are doing.
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The governor told the Journal Sentinel on Wednesday that his administration is “working on this issue every day,” but the problem stems from a lack of staffing.
“This is a people issue,” he said.
Department of Corrections spokesman Kevin Hoffman said in an email to The Associated Press that the agency is working with Democrats on the bill, but has not yet seen the final version of the bill. He objected to the word “lockdown” and said that under a lockdown, all movement stops. Inmate activity in Waupun and Green Bay is simply “less frequent or fewer in number,” he said. He did not discuss the situation at Stanley.
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Mr. Hoffman declined to comment on the lawsuit.
