DOC reinstates showers at Waupun, but other lockdown restrictions continue there and in Green Bay
WAUPUN – Waupun Correctional Institution, which has been on lockdown for 10 months, is lifting its restriction on showers as part of a wider easing of lockdown measures at prisons, the Department of Corrections announced Wednesday.
However, advocates for people incarcerated at the Waupun and Green Bay prisons say there have been few substantive changes since Gov. Tony Evers and DOC Secretary Kevin Carr announced in November plans to begin lifting restrictions.
Waupun Correctional Institution went on lockdown, or what the DOC refers to as a period of "modified movement," in March. Green Bay Correctional Institution went on lockdown in June.
Wisconsin prisons are allowed to suspend standards required by law — except those related to use of force, firearms or "incapacitating agents" — if there is an emergency or disturbance "that prevents the normal functioning of the institution," according to state law.
Under the lockdown, the Waupun prison has not had to provide prisoners two "bathing periods" per week, as is normally required under state law.
Kevin Hoffman, the DOC's deputy director of communications, said in an email the restrictions at both institutions were put in place after "multiple instances of assaultive behavior" by prisoners toward staff and other prisoners. To justify the eight to 10 months of lockdown restrictions since then, the DOC has cited staffing shortages.
At an event hosted by criminal justice reform group MOSES on Thursday night, prison reform advocate James Wilbur said he was skeptical of the governor's announcement about lifting restrictions.
"Nothing of substance has happened at either Waupun or Green Bay," Wilbur said. "The men in these facilities are continuing to be subjected to nothing less than vicious conditions. I really need to emphasize that word — the conditions that these men are being subjected to are absolutely vicious."
Time spent outside cells still limited at Waupun and Green Bay prisons
The Waupun prison still does not allow in-person visitation and restricts "leisure time activities," according to Wednesday's news release.
State law defines "leisure time activities" as free time outside of cells for activities like "recreational reading, sports, film and television viewing, and handicrafts." The law stipulates prisons should give at least four hours of leisure time per week to prisoners under ordinary circumstances.
The DOC says prisoners at the Waupun prison are now getting out of their cells for recreation twice a week.
Despite the limitations, it's the most freedom prisoners at the Waupun facility have seen for months. Video visitation was reinstated Dec. 9 — meaning prisoners were unable to see the faces of their loved ones for at least eight months.
At Green Bay Correctional Institution, only leisure time remains restricted, the DOC says. Prisoners there are getting one period of recreation per week.
But that doesn't mean all other movement is back to normal. People incarcerated at both prisons are still receiving meals in their cells, rather than the meal hall, and have been doing so since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic nearly four years ago.
And prisoners are still receiving fewer opportunities for showers than they would under normal movement, due to other restrictions.
Sara Williams, community organizer for JOSHUA, an interfaith justice advocacy organization that is the Green Bay affiliate of WISDOM, said family members of people incarcerated at Green Bay Correctional Institution still share stories of dire conditions at the prison.
"We appreciate the focused attention that's starting to finally happen and the possible forward movement that is beginning, but that doesn't negate the fact that we still have human beings living in a facility that we wouldn't put our animals in," Williams said.
Williams added that she is still hearing from family members of people incarcerated at the Green Bay prison that they are on long waitlists for education classes and mental health appointments.
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DOC says staffing issues are improving
In Wednesday's news release, the DOC announced academy graduations in November and December brought 300 more correctional officers to prisons across the state, lowering the correctional officer vacancy rate from 35% in August to 26% by the end of January.
The DOC says the newfound interest can be partly attributed to a plan secured in Evers' biennial budget in June to raise pay for state employees, bumping the starting pay for correctional officers to $33 per hour.
According to DOC data, as of the end of January, Waupun Correctional Institution had a 55% vacancy rate, with 155 vacant positions. Green Bay Correctional Institution had a 39% vacancy rate, with 91 vacant positions.
Although the staffing shortage continues, the DOC said the Waupun prison was able to reinstate the minimum of two showers per week by by temporarily bringing in security staff from other prisons. In early January, that plan increased the number of additional officers helping at the Waupun prison from 22 to 33, the DOC's news release said.
“While we understand the work is not yet finished, we’re encouraged by both the growing interest in corrections officer jobs and the tremendous work from our staff to help get us to this point,” Carr said in a statement.
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Waupun Correctional Institution is reducing overcrowding
The cells at the Waupun and Green Bay prisons, which measure roughly 8 feet by 7 feet, were originally designed for a single person. But many people at Waupun have been sharing cells for years.
In November, the DOC announced Waupun Correctional Institution would move to single-person cells by March 1 by transferring about 220 people to different facilities.
In Wednesday's news release, the DOC said 54 prisoners still needed to be moved to meet the goal.
Reducing overcrowding in the prison "will help take pressure off of the facility's security staff," the news release states.
Both Waupun Correctional Institution and Green Bay Correctional Institution — the two oldest prisons in Wisconsin — are over capacity and have crumbling infrastructure.
According to a 10-year DOC facilities assessment plan completed in 2020, the cells at the Green Bay and Waupun prisons are not compliant with standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design, or by the American Correctional Association.
Laura Schulte contributed to this report.
Kelli Arseneau can be reached at 920-213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @ArseneauKelli.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Showers reinstated at Waupun but other prison restrictions continue
