'Right now we're failing': Lawmakers propose prison bills in hopes of addressing lockdowns, deaths

MADISON - Democratic lawmakers are taking aim at Wisconsin's beleaguered prison system with a package of bills meant to improve conditions for the thousands of people incarcerated across the state.

The bills, called the "conditions of confinement" package, seek to expand access to showers, outdoor time, recreation, programming, and communication with family and friends, among other improvements for those currently incarcerated across the state.

"We want to ensure that folks have the support and tools that they need to be in our society," Rep. Darrin Madison, D-Milwaukee, said at a press conference announcing the bills Thursday. "Because without them, the public safety of all of us is in jeopardy."

The bills were circulated Thursday for co-sponsorship, but at this point do not have supporters among Republicans who control the Legislature.

The package of bills would:

• Raise the minimum wage to $2.33 an hour for incarcerated people, provide a $25 per month stipend to purchase personal care items and provide free feminine hygiene products.

• Require at least four bathing periods a week with access to heated running water.

• Two visitations a week with registered individuals and those incarcerated would be permitted to keep original artwork, letters or notes created during those visits.

• Require at least seven hours of recreational opportunities a week and 14 hours of structured programming, with an average of three hours a day as well as at least three hours of outdoor viewing a day, either via going outside or through a transparent window and at least three hours of outdoor time a week.

• Require that those in solitary confinement be provided with a book, pen, paper, envelopes and their address book, as well as a toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo and deodorant, in addition to three audio-visual visitation periods. The bill would also require 15 hours of structured programming, two visits with a case manager and access to other services.

More: Green Bay prison is overrun with mice, inmate advocates say

Madison acknowledged that the bills wouldn't solve all of the issues within Wisconsin correctional institutions, but said action needs to be taken to protect people inside prisons and jails.

"We have a long way to go," he said. "But today, here and now, this moves us in the right direction."

John McCray Jones, a policy analyst with the Wisconsin ACLU, said Wisconsin needs to work to reduce the number of people it incarcerates, but in the meantime, the bills do work to address large issues.

"These bills respect the human dignity of incarcerated people," he said. "They improve public safety by fostering an environment that leads to rehabilitation."

'Right now we're failing'

The announcement comes at a time when the Department of Corrections is under increasingly intense scrutiny.

Three facilities are under what Secretary Kevin Carr calls "modified movement," meaning that those incarcerated at Green Bay Correctional Institution, Waupun Correctional Institution and Stanley Correctional Institutional eat meals in their cells and have restricted access to recreation, showers and the outdoors.

The conditions at the three facilities have also been called into question. Green Bay Correctional is more than 100 years old, and those incarcerated there often complain of heating and cooling issues, rodents and a building that wasn't built to house as many people as have been placed there.

Waupun is also an aging facility, and those incarcerated there also complain of conditions inside. In addition, there have been at least three deaths inside the facility within the last several months, increasing attention on the facility and what it's like for those incarcerated at the facility.

Carr has so far declined requests for interviews about conditions in prisons across the state, but Gov. Tony Evers has insisted that conditions inside correctional facilities are the result of Republicans refusing to adopt justice reform initiatives.

Evers' spokesperson Britt Cudaback said in an emailed statement that making correctional institutions safe is among the administration's top priorities, and that they "will continue to rely upon department leadership’s professional judgment in determining what changes or modifications are necessary and when in support of this important priority."

"Secretary Carr and the Department of Corrections are actively working every day to reduce movement restrictions toward restoring regular movement."

When asked about Gov. Evers' leadership on prisons, Sen. LaTonya Johnson, D-Milwaukee, said the administration has created a roadmap for solving issues, but work on the issue has been slow.

"Right now we're failing," she said.

More: Gov. Tony Evers says he hasn't visited lockdown-plagued state prisons recently

Talib Akbar, a Vice President of WISDOM, a prison reform advocacy group who was previously incarcerated at both Waupun and Green Bay, said the issues within prisons and the chronic lockdowns are due to management issues, and incarcerated people are paying the price.

"This is totally wrong. I don't know if I could have even survived these conditions," he said. "More people are going to die if they don't have hope."

"This is the worst it's ever gotten in the Wisconsin prison system. So are we really reforming anyone?"

Milwaukee County Jail deaths spark local reform

Many of the concerns highlighted across the Wisconsin prison system have also been reported at the local level.

In Milwaukee, the County Jail has been the site of six in-custody deaths in little of a year — of which two have been ruled as suicide and three natural.

In June, 2022, 21-year-old Brieon Green strangled himself with a phone cord while in booking. Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisolm determined there was "no basis" for criminal liability in Green's jail death. The Green family has sued the county and the jail's medical provider over his death.

Last December, 20-year-old Cilivea Thyrion choked to death on an adult diaper while housed in a special needs pod. The District Attorney's office ruled no criminal wrongdoing by County Jail officers in Thyrion's death.

In January, 49-year-old Octaviano Juarez-Corro was found unresponsive in his cell. While the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office reported that Juarez-Corro’s cause of death was initially unknown, with no reported no signs of injury or trauma at the time, records later showed that there were signs of him having strangled himself. In April, jail officer Laquisha N. Cowser, who was accused of lying about performing routine cell safety checks, was charged in his death. Cowser's plea hearing is set for Nov. 21.

In March, 37-year-old Terrance Mack, was found unresponsive in his cell during a medical check. It was later ruled that he died by natural causes and was caused by hypertensive cardiovascular disease. It was determined that no criminal conduct was committed by Sheriff’s Office in his death.

In June, the Sheriff's Office announced the death of 68-year-old Mohammed Afzal, who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness.

In August, a 58-year-old man had been hospitalized "after experiencing heightened symptoms that appeared to be related to his chronic conditions."

The deaths raised alarm bells among local advocacy groups and officials, who repeatedly called for an investigation into policies and procedures at the jail, particularly with a focus on suicide prevention, mental health care and health care access and lockdowns.

In May, the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors approved legislation that sought a review of the County Jail, which was later presented to supervisors.

In August, a incident at the jail led prosecutors to charge 27 men after they barricaded themselves inside a jail library. The men had been protesting the conditions at the jail, including poor access to medical and mental health care.

A year ago, a Journal Sentinel investigation reported that severe short staffing at the jail, under former Milwaukee Sheriff Earnell Lucas' administration, put the jail in violation of the court-ordered consent decree reached in 2001 after several people in the jail sued over dangerous conditions.

For those incarcerated, advocates and sheriff's employees, the conditions remain the same.

Rep. Ryan Clancy, D-Milwaukee, who is also a supervisor on the Milwaukee Board of Supervisors, has been a fierce critic of the conditions at the Milwaukee County Jail as well as the Milwaukee County Sheriff Denita Ball and her administration's handling of in-custody deaths.

“From lockdowns to deaths in custody and protests, current prison conditions are at a breaking point," Clancy wrote in a statement Thursday. "We owe it to those individuals and our communities to maintain correctional facilities that are humanely run and promote rehabilitation in an environment of basic dignity and respect."

Thyrion's mom, Kerrie Hirte, was also present at the press conference on Thursday.

"I lost my daughter's life due to the horrific conditions of the jail," Hirte said. "It is hard for me to continue this journey, but I do it for all the people — the ones who are still suffering inside these jails, in prisons."

Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@jrn.com and on X at @SchulteLaura. Contact Vanessa Swales at 414-308-5881 or vswales@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @Vanessa_Swales.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Lawmakers propose prison bills addressing lockdowns, deaths