By Gretchen Schuldt

​The decline in the state's population slowed markedly in the past two weeks as the state started accepting new inmates from counties, a practice it suspended March 23 in an effort to block the importation of the coronavirus into state prisons, according to state figures.

The state started accepting inmates again on June 1.

Because of the crowded conditions in prisons, they are considered prime sites for COVID-19 spread.

The Wisconsin prison population declined by just 66 inmates during the week ending June 5 and 106 during the week ending Friday, according to the Department of Corrections. The last time the prison population decline was anywhere near that small was during the week ending March 27, when it dropped by 109 people.

​The overall prison population fell from 23,256 on March 6, the week before Gov. Tony Evers declared a coronavirus-related state of emergency, to 21,548 Friday, a decline of 7%.

David Liners, state director of WISDOM, a justice organization, said Evers is not doing enough to reduce the risk to incarcerated people.

"The governor once claimed he wanted to cut the prison population in half," Liners said. "At the moment when it is most urgent to use the powers unique to his office, he has failed by refusing to act."

WISDOM is organizing a "Drive to Decarcerate" caravan to Madison on Thursday.  People interested in participating can learn more and sign up here.

By Gretchen Schuldt

​Lying to a judge about having ovarian cancer is enough to warrant losing a court battle over parental rights, a State Court of Appeals judge ruled this week.

"All the evidence demonstrates that S.S. conducted an intentional, continuous campaign to perpetrate a fraud upon the court, manipulate the parties in this case, lie to her legal counsel, and create fraudulent medical records.," District II Court of Appeals Judge Paul F. Reilly wrote.

The ruling upheld Waukesha County Circuit Judge Lloyd Carter's decision to enter a default judgment against S.S., as she was referred to in court records.

S.S.'s child, A.W. was removed from her mother in 2016, after S.S. overdosed in her daughter's presence. She overdosed again in January 2017, illegally obtained narcotics in the summer of 2017, and was incarcerated for about three months that winter due to a heroin relapse while she was on probation.

Waukesha County filed a termination of parental rights petition in April 2018, alleging that S.S. had failed to assume parental responsibility and that A.W. still was in need of protection. S.S. contested the petition.

In June 2019, S.S.'s lawyer filed a motion to adjourn a scheduled jury trial on the petition.

The petition said that S.S. was "'experiencing some extreme physical distress'” and explained that S.S. was suffering “''increased pain, bleeding to a point that required frequent changes of sanitary products to avoid bleeding through clothing, exhaustion and an inability to function which have led to missing multiple appointments to prepare for trial,'” Reilly wrote. 

During a hearing on the matter, S.S. provided written documentation stating that she had ovarian cancer. The letter, purportedly from an emergency room nurse, said that S.S. was to be excused for four to six weeks due to the disease and related surgery. Carter granted the delay.

In July, the social worker assigned to the case filed a memo stating that S.S. refused to sign a release allowing her condition to be verified. S.S. said during a court hearing that she had privacy concerns and was protected by federal law.

Carter found the court had an interest in confirming the truthfulness of her representations and ordered her to sign the release.

Staff at Waukesha Memorial Hospital "denied writing the medical excuse that S.S. presented to the court, denied diagnosing S.S. with ovarian cancer, and indicated that they had no record of S.S. being diagnosed or treated for ovarian cancer at their clinic," Reilly wrote.  

S.S.'s lawyer later expressed concern that her client was "making use of me to defraud the court," Reilly said.

S.S. never denied the allegations that she faked the medical records and lied about it.

The county Department of Health and Human Services sought a default judgment and a finding that there were grounds to terminate S.S.'s parental rights. 

Carter granted the request. S.S.'s "conduct is the epitome of bad faith and egregious conduct…." he said.  "What (S.S.) did here was a calculated, planned effort on her part to make a false representation to her attorney knowing that her attorney would communicate that information to the Court, then follow it through with further fabrication and falsification." 

The court later found, at a separate hearing, that it was in A.W.'s best interests to terminate S.S.'s parental rights. 

S.S. appealed, arguing that the law does not give the court the right to terminate her parental rights because Carter did not specifically find that she violated a court order.

"As the circuit court acknowledged, S.S. presented no evidence in the record to suggest that perhaps a misunderstanding occurred....." Reilly wrote.  "The purpose of S.S.’s actions appears to be to manipulate the court’s calendar and avoid the jury trial on the grounds phase of the TPR proceeding."

The actions of S.S. were "egregious and constitute bad faith....Under the circumstances and given the court’s inherent authority to sanction parties for litigation misconduct, we see no error, he said.

sBy Gretchen Schuldt

​The Milwaukee Police Department's use-of-force policy does not prohibit the chokeholds or the kind of restraint that Minneapolis police used when they killed George Floyd, records show.

​Milwaukee has adopted just three of eight restriction on use of force recommended by Campaign Zero, an effort to reduce killings by police, according to the campaign.

Fire and Police Commission Executive Director Griselda Aldrete, responding to recent protests in Milwaukee, told the Common Council's Public Safety and Health Committee last week that the commission will review the policy.

Milwaukee's use-of-force policy also keeps secret the some of the weapons that the Police Department can use against protesters and others. The policy does not disclose why the public should not know what can of weapons can be turned against it.

The policy says the secret weapons are not lethal, but that cannot be verified without knowing what they are. Tear gas and rubber bullets also have been described as nonlethal, but they can kill or maim.

Campaign Zero has identified eight restrictions associated with fewer killings by police. Of those, eight, Milwaukee has adopted three – establishing a continuum of force, requiring a warning before shooting, and imposing on officers a duty to intervene if they see an excessive use of force by a colleague.

The campaign also says the city does not require that all other alternatives be exhausted before officers are authorized to shoot, but the Fire and Police Commission last year approved language that says that use of force that may result in serious injury or death "may only be used as a last resort." 

Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus cases reported in state prisons continues to increase, as DOC introduces, belatedly, wider testing. There were 213 people incarcerated at Waupun Correctional Institution who tested positive, a 92 percent positive rate, according to DOC figures. Other positive tests were were recorded at Columbia Correctional Institution (2), Felmers O. Chaney Correctional Center (18), Marshall E. Sherrer Correctional Center (5), Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility (1), and Oshkosh Correctional Institution (8). Thus far, DOC has conducted 4,770 tests at its adult institutions, for a testing rate of about 22%. The results of 1,981 tests are pending. 

Incarcerated people continue to express apprehension and anger about the virus and their treatment in prison. Inmate testimonials are below. They have been edited for length and clarity and to protect the writers' identities

I put in a hsu (Health Services Unit) form saying I wasn't feeling good and I was woke up the next morning at 1 a.m. and they gave me a mask and brought me and my celly to hsu where I was given a flu test which was negative then they gave me the coronavirus test and told me we were being put on quarantine until the results came back....They said we were being the first people going to segregation on quarantine because the hsu unit was full so they said they cleared a wing out in set for us.

So me and my celly were forced to walk ourselves to the hole at 3 a.m. then when I got there they made me strip search and wear restraints just like a seg inmate. I tried to refuse telling them if they are not subject to do this over on the hsu unit then we shouldn't have to do it either and I told them that putting on them restraints against my will when I did nothing wrong gives me flashbacks ...I told them I wasn't trying to go through that again. 

I told them...I need to talk to a psychologist and a white shirt I was told I would see both but the whole time I was in seg I saw neither. I was told if I didn't put the restraints on I would receive a major ticket so I had no choice....I was treated worse than a seg inmate. A few hours after I was there the Sgt came to my door and told me...I had to wear seg oranges and I had to give him my keep-on-person meds which was the only property I had. So I tried to refuse until I was again threatened with a major ticket. I gave up my meds and my greens....I was told we would eventually get our property like the guys on the hsu unit get it they even get there electronics but they did the opposite and took what little property I had. I couldn't even get a book! 

(The man said he developed a migraine.)

By Gretchen Schuldt

When all of this is over, the injustice in Milwaukee will continue, sanctioned by the city's elected officials.
 
Milwaukee will use its police, its judges, and its prosecutors to extract money from protesters and others who come to the attention of police for one reason or another and are erroneously or maliciously ticketed. 

The city spends millions of dollars each year for its law enforcement machinery to extract money from residents, but the people who get ticketed are on their own. 

Everyone who can't afford to hire a private lawyer is expected to somehow magically know the ins and outs of the local laws they are accused of violating so they can effectively defend themselves or make a case for a lower forfeiture.

By Gretchen Schuldt

​Two officers who repeatedly told a suspect that he failed a detector test but failed to tell him the results of that test could not be used in court were key to creating the coercion that invalidated the man’s eventual confession, a State Court of Appeals panel has ruled.

"In particular, we caution law enforcement officers that if they plan to rely on polygraph results in order to elicit a defendant’s confession, they need to inform the defendant that those results are inadmissible in court," Appeals Judge Lisa K. Stark wrote for the divided District III Court of Appeals panel.

The State Supreme Court has questioned the reliability and accuracy of the tests, she said.

The ruling upheld a decision by Washburn Circuit Judge John P. Anderson to suppress the confession.

Stark's decision was joined by Appeals Judge Mark A. Seidl; Appeals Judge Thomas J. Hruz dissented.

"I conclude the conduct of the two officers imposed only minimal psychological pressures upon (defendant Adam W. Vice) and was within the boundaries of what due process tolerates for police questioning," Hruz wrote. "Certainly, overt coercion is absent.​...As for 'other improper police conduct,' I see nothing of the sort." 

Vice, then 25, was  first interviewed in December 2014 by Washburn County Sheriff's Investigator William Fisher after a four-year-old girl said Vice indecently touched her two months earlier.

Vice asked if there was anything he could do to clear his name and Fisher suggested taking a lie detector test.

Fisher drove Vice to Eau Claire, where the polygraph test was administered by Eau Claire Police Detective Ryan Lambeseder. Lambeseder read Vice his Miranda rights, including the warning that any statement he made could be used against him, and Vice consented in writing to the polygraph.  

The exam itself took about one hour and 45 minutes, Stark wrote. Afterward, Fisher and Lambeseder questioned Vice in an interview room. Vice was not handcuffed.

"Lambeseder asked Vice how he thought he did on the polygraph examination," Stark wrote. "Vice responded, 'I don’t know. I know for a fact that I’m telling the truth when I was telling the truth.'”

Lambeseder told Vice, who was in special education classes and high school and had minimal previous contact with police, that he had not passed the examination that it was “very clear” Vice was not telling the truth.

By Gretchen Schuldt
​
This post was updated on May 20 to reflect additional positive coronavirus tests reported by the Department of Corrections.

The number of people incarcerated in state prisons testing positive for the coronavirus jumped 70% this week, from 20 last week to 34, according to Department of Corrections figures.

Meanwhile, the state's prison population still is declining during the coronavirus crisis, but at a much slower pace than it did earlier in the pandemic, DOC figures show.

The biggest virus outbreak is at the Felmers O. Chaney Correctional Center in Milwaukee, where 18 people have tested positive as of Wednesday, up from 13 on Monday. Five tested  positive as of Wednesday at the Marshall E. Sherrer Correctional Center, also in Milwaukee. That number is up one since Monday. Another 116 residents of those two facilities have tested negative.

The DOC last week tested all 125 or so of the people held at those facilities at the time. All of the testing has been completed and the results received. 

Two people incarcerated at Columbia Correctional Institution have tested positive, as have eight at Oshkosh Correctional Institution and one at Waupun Correctional Institution, according to the figures.

Some 1,047 people are in quarantine, meaning they were potentially or directly exposed to the virus, according to the DOC.

During the week that ended Friday, May 15, the number of occupied prison beds fell  by 128, just 52% of the 243-inmate decline recorded the week ending April 10, which saw the biggest drop recorded thus far during the pandemic. 

The number of occupied beds in the prison system has dropped from 23,273 on Feb. 28 to 22,008 on Friday, a decline of 1,265, or 5.4%. The prison system is still about 25% over capacity.

The number of filled inmate beds (as opposed to community corrections beds) at the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility rose for the sixth week in a row, and stood at 463 as of Friday, up six from the week before and 59 from its lowest pandemic population of 404 on April 3.

The MSDF inmate population still is down 24%, or 144 people, from its pre-crisis level of 607 on March 6. 

The number of people held for alleged probation and parole (including extended supervision) also has dropped significantly, from 905 on Feb. 28 to 315 on Friday, a decline of 65%. 

The first chart below shows the decline in prison population for each week beginning Feb. 28. The other charts show state prison populations over time.

DOC stopped accepting most new inmates on March 23, shifting to countiesThe number of people incarcerated in state prisons testing positive for the coronavirus jumped 35% Monday, from 20 to 27, according to Department of Corrections figures.

Meanwhile, the state's prison population still is declining during the coronavirus crisis, but at a much slower pace than it did earlier in the pandemic, DOC figures show.

The biggest virus outbreak is at the Felmers O. Chaney Correctional Center in Milwaukee, where 13 people have tested positive.  Four have tested positive at the Marshall E. Sherrer Correctional Center, also in Milwaukee.

The DOC tested all 125 or so of the people held there last week. Most of those tests are pending, according to DOC figures. 

Two people incarcerated at Columbia Correctional Institution have tested positive, as have eight at Oshkosh Correctional Institution, according to the figures.

Some 956 people are in quarantine, meaning they were potentially or directly exposed to the virus, according to the DOC.

During the week that ended Friday, May 15, the number of occupied prison beds fell  by 128, just 52% of the 243-inmate decline recorded the week ending April 10, which saw the biggest drop recorded thus far during the pandemic. 

The number of occupied beds in the prison system has dropped from 23,273 on Feb. 28 to 22,008 on Friday, a decline of 1,265, or 5.4%. The prison system is still about 25% over capacity.

The number of filled inmate beds (as opposed to community corrections beds) at the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility rose for the sixth week in a row, and stood at 463 as of Friday, up six from the week before and 59 from its lowest pandemic population of 404 on April 3.

The MSDF inmate population still is down 24%, or 144 people, from its pre-crisis level of 607 on March 6. 

The number of people held for alleged probation and parole (including extended supervision) also has dropped significantly, from 905 on Feb. 28 to  315 on Friday, a decline of 65%. 

DOC stopped accepting most new inmates on March 23, shifting to counties the responsibility of housing sentenced inmates. 

The first chart below shows the change in prison population for each week beginning Feb. 28. The other charts show state prison populations over time.

Updated 5/5/2020

​By Gretchen Schuldt

​The regular inmate population at the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility rose 7% in two weeks, reversing several weeks of decline, according to the most recent prison population figures from the State Department of Corrections.

MSDF has the largest number of staff – six – testing positive for the corona -virus among state correctional institutions, according to DOC figures. No person incarcerated at MSDF has tested positive for coronavirus, according to DOC.

Overall, the number of people incarcerated at MSDF for reasons other than probation or parole violations / holds rose from 417 on April 17 to 446 on Friday, May 1, according to the figures.

A DOC spokeswoman, asked why the population increased, said that correctional facility populations tend to fluctuate.

Despite the increase over the last two weeks, the number of people in MSDF incarcerated for other than probation and parole issues has declined significantly since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis in March. There were 577 people held on Feb. 28, so the 446 held Friday represents a decline of 131 people, or 23%.

The number of people on probation or parole who were incarcerated at MSDF also rose last week, from 214 to 218, an increase of 2%. Overall, since Feb. 28, the number of people housed at MSDF for probation- and parole-related reasons dropped from 371 to 218, a 41% decline. 

The decline in the number of filled prison beds continues to be very slow. Since Gov. Evers declared a public health emergency on March 12, the prison population has declined by an average of 139 people per week. Much of that decline can be attributed to DOC's decision to stop accepting new inmates from counties. ​

By Gretchen Schuldt

A man's brief interaction in a car with a woman at 3:30 a.m. did not justify the subsequent traffic stop that led to the discovery of an illegal gun in the man's car, the State Court of Appeals ruled this week.

​The decision reversed Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Dennis Cimpl's and vacated the felon-in-possession conviction of James Timothy Genous.

Instead, the appeals panel said, the traffic stop was based on a "hunch" rather than reasonable suspicion.

West Allis Police Officer Adam Stikl did not see a drug transaction before he stopped the vehicle driven by James Timothy Genous, the District I Court of Appeals panel said in an unsigned opinion.

Stikl testified he stopped Genous after seeing a woman who matched the description of a known drug user come out of a house in the 1600 block of S. 65th St. – which officers testified was in a high drug trafficking area – get in Genous' legally parked black sedan for 15-20 seconds, then leave it to return to the house.

Stickl said believed a drug deal had taken place based on his “training and experience,” according to the appeals panel, which included Appeals Judges William W. Brash III, Timothy G. Dugan, and M. Joseph Donald. 

Stikl stated that he had no information about a black sedan being used to transport drugs to that area, nor was Stikl aware of a black sedan belonging to a known drug dealer or drug user. 

​"Stikl stated that he had no information about a black sedan being used to transport drugs to that area, nor was Stikl aware of a black sedan belonging to a known drug dealer or drug user," the panel wrote.

By Gretchen Schuldt

​Admissions into state prisons all but stopped after the Department of Corrections announced last month that it would not accept new inmates from counties, while the numbers of incarcerated released rose and fell, but did not show any dramatic swings, DOC figures show.

 
​The numbers also make clear that DOC has made little effort thus far to release additional inmates from prison during the coronavirus crisis, despite wide acknowledgement that jails and prison are breeding grounds for the virus and COVID-19, the potentially fatal disease it causes.

Evers announced on March 22 that state prisons would not accept new inmates, shifting to counties the burden of holding those not suitable for release. 

He wasn't kidding. The number of inmates fell dramatically after the announcement, from 151 the week beginning March 15, to six the week beginning March 22.

Releases, meanwhile, peaked the week of March 29, when 294 people walked out of prison. A week earlier, however, just 169 inmates were released, the lowest total in the weeks considered. 

Those incarcerated are frustrated with their conditions.

The testimonials below have been edited for length, clarity and to protect the writers' identities.
​
I know everyone in the community is dealing with this virus, and I don't feel like we are more important than any one of you by any means. But we are in the care of the system, we are at their mercy....I have no way of social distancing myself with 37 bunk beds crammed into one room 3 feet apart, with everyone sharing the same sinks, toilets, etc. If/when this virus reaches us, how will they take care of us? There are approx. 140 people between the 2 barracks here. We are sons, husbands, brothers, uncles, fathers (etc), and we MATTER!  Please do what you can to bring our plight to someone who will do something about this situation BEFORE we become UNECCESSARY statistics! Take care of yourself and each other out there.

​***

We are on a lockdown from our day rooms, visiting, and the barber shop. Otherwise I'm not sure I'd say we are on a lockdown. The gym crowded, the library crowded, outside rec super crowded, and workers...packed close together serving our food – no masks for them. We are social distancing at the dinner tables; only two allowed at a table while eating. Two at a table outside. But big groups walking together. Only seen maintenance workers and a few others like laundry get masks. But there's others working, no masks being given to them for their safety. Governor Tony Evers ordered stay-home-safe bill with social distancing. This don't help an over-populated and over-crowded prison system. The coronavirus is here....Now the question is what will be done to stop the spreading of coronavirus? Do inmates and prison systems have to obey the Governor's stay-at-home-safe bill to stop spreading of coronavirus by social distancing? Why are some prison systems down playing the dangers of the coronavirus by letting inmates pack into a gym, library, in...with no masks serving food? Why is not everyone given cloth masks...to slow down spreading of coronavirus? Everyone in China is wearing some kinda mask on their face even if its cloth masks. What ever to stop this from spreading. 

***

So, while most of the staff here are decent, caring people, and do have to contend with some less than pleasant situations from time to time, the info. presented to you on the (DOC) website is a tad misleading....There is no social distancing being practiced "during dining" here. We sit four to a table in a day room that doubles as a dining room with 90-100 guys all eating at the same time. Myself and some others try to keep a cushion of 6 feet while in the chow line and otherwise, but...fill in the blank. 

Furthermore, when you read that part about PPE's being made available to staff, you may get the impression that the staff are actually wearing these, but you'd be wrong. I have seen a couple of the teachers wearing masks, but that's it. The officers and other staff I see do not.  I'm not sure what is promoting this "wait 'till it's here" mentality, but it just doesn't seem right. The ABC news this morning quoted someone @ (another prison) as saying they "don't know" how the three inmates who tested positive there became infected. You don't have to be a reporter to ascertain that it was most-likely transmitted by a staff member.  ​