|
Ben Austen, author of Correction: Parole, Prison and the Possibility of Change, came up from Chicago to talk about not just the problems of America's criminal justice system but why and how we change it. He discussed his research regarding parole hearings, the continued reliance on the facts of past crimes rather than changes in the people who committed them, the difference one or two people in positions of power can make, the different trajectories of corrections systems between America and Scandinavian countries and the absence of a social safety net in America, and some changes to be made from viewing prison facilities as warehouses to places of rehabilitation. Attendees experienced a lively cocktail hour, conversation, Ben's thoughtful and thought-provoking presentation, and the thoughts of others in response to Ben's talk. If you missed the event, or just want to watch Ben's presentation again, here it is! WJI thanks the following sponsors for their support of the event: Platinum
The Colby Abbot and Railway Exchange are historic office buildings in downtown Milwaukee. For information on renting space in these buildings, contact [email protected]. Gold
Silver
Bronze
0 Comments
By Gretchen Schuldt The number of paroles granted last year was down 82% from a peak just three years earlier, Department of Corrections figures show. The number plummeted from 201 in 2020 to just 37 in 2023.  Source: Wisconsin Department of Corrections What happened?
“We’re trying to figure that out, too,” said Mark Rice, Transformation Justice Campaign coordinator at WISDOM. The nonprofit has long been active in criminal justice reform efforts. DOC did not respond to a request for reasons behind the decline. Inmates eligible for parole are those who were convicted of crimes that occurred before the state's 1999 truth-in sentencing laws took effect. Those laws eliminated parole. The drop seems part of reduced efforts to lower prison populations, Rice said. Gov. Evers and DOC Secretary Kevin Carr took steps to cut populations during the Covid pandemic but now “it’s back to business as usual,” Rice said. The number of parole-eligible inmates declines each year as more die or serve out their sentences, but the drop in grants also appears linked to Evers' 2019 hiring and then de facto dismissal in mid-2022 of Parole Commissioner Chair John Tate II. The rise and fall in grant numbers neatly matches the dates of Tate’s employment. The Republicans ran ads attacking Tate's use of parole to release incarcerated individuals, Rice said. “Some of it was total lies” and there were “a lot of attempts to dehumanize people,” he said. Tate’s Parole Commission, which granted parole to some serious offenders, brought Evers under heavy political pressure as he sought reelection in 2022. First Evers intervened in May 2022 to successfully request Tate to rescind a decision to parole convicted murderer Douglas Balsewicz, who stabbed his wife to death in front of their children. Less than a month later, in June, Tate was gone after Evers asked him to resign. He was replaced by former State Sen. Jon Erpenbach, who assumed office in January 2023. Parole grant numbers followed the events: there were 43 grants in the first quarter of 2022, before the Balsewicz controversy blew up; then 31 in the second quarter, as the drama unfolded and Evers requested Tate's resignation. The number of grants dropped after Tate left to 19 in the third quarter and 18 in the fourth, according to DOC figures. Meanwhile, those who were paroled during Tate's tenure generally are doing well and making positive contributions in their communities, Rice said. "No human being is irredeemable," he said. Evers ran on pledges to reduce the prison population, but he and Carr have not done what is within their power, including commuting sentences and granting more compassionate releases to seriously ill inmates, he said. In Wisconsin prisons, Rice said, "The problem isn't understaffing. It's overpopulation."  By Alexandria Staubach
Legislation in reaction to disposal of a Bible could expand the amount of property incarcerated people may keep, but an administrative rule change might be better. Senate Bill 21 would increase the maximum permissible value of an incarcerated person’s general property from $75 to $150. The bill does not increase the permissible value of electronics, which is set at $350. The bill’s backstory features a Wisconsin prison’s disposal of a Bible mailed to a person in custody. The Good Book’s value exceeded the $75 limit on personal goods incarcerated people are allowed to keep, so prison officials refused to let the intended recipient have it. SB 21 passed the Senate in March 2023. It then passed the Assembly on Jan. 16 during an open session. The bill now heads to Gov. Tony Evers for signature. Since introduction of the bill last winter, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections issued an emergency rule raising the value of personal property to $150 and the value of electronics to $500. A permanent rule waits for approval in the Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules, said Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee) at the Assembly’s Jan. 16 floor session. Clancy highlighted that the maximum property value the bill is meant to address would be fixed by the pending permanent rule, which he described as “objectively better.” Unlike the administrative rule change, the bill does not raise the value for electronics and will therefore decrease the values set by DOC’s emergency rule. “If you intend to vote yes on this with the intent to make conditions better in our jails and prisons, thank you for that intent, that is not what this would do,” said Clancy. In a letter to the Assembly Committee on Corrections, the DOC said it preferred to make changes through the administrative code “rather than statute to allow greater flexibility for any future changes that may be needed.” Rep. Paul Tittl (R- Manitowoc), the bill’s primary sponsor, reiterated at the open session that the dollar limit is currently codified by statute and had not changed since 1994. He opined that a change in statute is the better solution. In reference to a package of 17 bills proposed to provide significant harm reduction for those in prison, Clancy said it was “frustrating” that SB 21/AB 16 was the only one to make it through the legislative process. By Gretchen Schuldt A bill adopted by the state Senate and pending in the Assembly contains some vague language about reporting election irregularities that some organizations are concerned about. Another bill would allow people in prison or jail to choose up to three people to be notified in case of lockdowns or other disciplinary measures that would affect a particular inmate's ability to visit or communicate. More information about each below. A chart showing the sponsors of each bill is at the bottom of this post. Senate Bill 291/Assembly Bill 300 – Increasing penalties for battery to an election worker; whistleblower protections Concerns about the vagueness of whistleblower protection language in this bill, which also would increase penalties for battery to election officials, have prompted some organizations to express concerns about the measure and call for clearer language. Other organizations, however, backed the measure, which was adopted by the Senate without a roll call. It is pending in the Assembly. That battery section of the legislation would increase the penalty for simple battery to an election worker from a misdemeanor to a felony and would increase the maximum penalty from nine months behind bars and a $10,000 fine to 3½ years of incarceration and a $10,000 fine. “Since 2020, we have witnessed shocking instances of violent behaviors and intimidation directed towards election officials in Milwaukee County, in Wisconsin, and throughout the nation,” Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson said in testimony submitted to the Assembly Campaigns and Elections Committee. “These threats show up by way of emails, voicemails, and personal verbal and physical threats against the dedicated public servants who stand at the front door of our democracy.” The bill, he said, “demonstrates the serious nature of these unacceptable behaviors and makes it clear that such attacks on election officials in Wisconsin will not be tolerated.” Brown County Clerk Patrick Moynihan Jr. also wrote in support of the bill, including the whistleblower language. “The recognition and importance of protecting and strengthening our election official’s person and self-confidence is paramount,” he said. “So too, the Whistleblower provisions as detailed within the bill provide reasonable assurances against any potential unlawful retribution.” That language says that no election worker may be disciplined or retaliated against because the worker “lawfully reported, or is believed to have reported, witnessing what the clerk or election official reasonably believed to be election fraud or irregularities.” Rock County Clerk Lisa Tollefson was generally supportive of the bill, but added in written testimony, “The only piece of the bill that concerns me is in the Whistleblower section. Each time I read the bill I have a different take on it. Some clarification in this section of the bill may be needed." She asked, "Can the reporting of an election irregularity act as a shield to protect an election official from something else that would cause them to be disciplined or release(d)…from employment?" and "What is lawfully reported?" The ACLU of Wisconsin, in registering against the bill, said the organization has concerns with the bill, “as the process for ‘lawfully reporting’ is not outlined, and the terms ‘reasonable belief’ and ‘irregularities’ are not defined.” All Voting is Local Action, also registered against the bill, said “Spoke with Governor's Office, RE: Concerns with the Whistle Blower section, no structure for reporting.” And Edgar Lin, Protect Democracy’s Wisconsin policy advocate and counsel (and also a WJI Board member), identified three specific areas that need strengthening. First, he said in testimony, there should be a process for “lawfully reporting.” To whom does a bad act get reported and who reviews the allegation? What happens if a false “bad act” is reported? When must these acts be reported? “Without a clear process, a whistleblower event – regardless of merit – could descend into chaotic litigation, which could further undermine the confidence in our election system,” he said. Second, he said, “an election worker’s 'reasonable belief' about fraud or irregularities should be defined. Is it a reasonable election worker standard? A reasonable person standard? Or simply that election worker’s own subjective belief?” Finally, he said, “ ‘irregularities’ should be defined. The current language states that a person could lawfully report “election fraud” or “irregularities.’ ” While election fraud is defined in state law, “ ‘Irregularities’ is not defined,” he said. “Instead of ‘irregularities’ – a vague and broad term that could be widely interpreted depending on perspective – the bad act should be grounded by existing laws, rules, regulation, and/or guidance,” he wrote. The Wisconsin Counties Association, the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, and the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, Inc. registered in support of the bill. Those organizations did not indicate why they supported the bill. Senate Bill 904 – Public information on lockdowns The public would have access to information about prison and jail lockdowns in facilities around the state, under a Democratic bill introduced in the state Legislature this week. The bill would require the Department of Corrections (DOC) to publish on its website certain information about each prison and county jail in the state. That information would include whether there is any restriction in place impacting the ability of an inmate or a group of inmates to participate in visitation or communication and, if there is such a restriction, a statement giving the reason for it, how long the restriction has been in place, the number of inmates in solitary confinement, and the total number of inmates held in the facility. The bill also would require DOC and sheriffs to establish a notification system to inform certain individuals within 24 hours of an inmate's being put under any type of restriction limiting availability for visitation periods or other communication. Each inmate would be allowed to select up to three people to receive the information.  By Alexandria Staubach Last week a bipartisan group of more than 30 lawmakers introduced a bill to end sentences of life without the possibility of parole for juveniles. The bill, Senate Bill 801, also creates new mitigating factors for a sentencing court to consider, recognizing that juveniles change and mature mentally and emotionally over time. The bill would apply retroactively to anyone currently serving a juvenile life-without-parole (JLWOP) sentence. If enacted, SB 801 would bring Wisconsin in line with 28 states already banning JLWOP sentences, including three of Wisconsin’s closest neighbors: Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety. Ruling in Graham v. Florida, the U.S. Supreme Court held it unconstitutional for a court to impose JLWOP on non-homicide juvenile offenders; the court found that such a sentence violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. In Miller v. Alabama, the U.S. Supreme Court banned mandatory life sentences for juveniles no matter the severity of the crime. SB 801 states that its purpose is to clarify that “the statutory mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or extended supervision for repeat offenders does not apply to youthful offenders,” consistent with Miller. JLWOP sentences are unique to the United States; we are the only country in the world with such a practice. According to the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, the practice is permitted in 22 states, including Wisconsin and Michigan. In five states the practice remains on the books without active sentences. Michigan has the highest JLWOP population in the nation and recently made national headlines for sentencing 17-year-old Ethan Crumbly, who committed Michigan’s deadliest school shooting at age 15, to life without the possibility of parole. However, Wisconsin outpaces Michigan regarding overall number of youth incarcerated on life sentences with or without parole (141 compared to 65) and sentences over 40 years (73 compared to 15) as well as the total number of children in adult prisons (1,709 compared to 554), according to a 2021 report produced by the nonprofit Human Rights for Kids. The following table shows the bill's sponsors.  In a letter dated Friday, Dec. 15, Wisconsin Justice Initiative asked Department of Corrections Secretary Kevin A. Carr to revise prison policy to allow peer video visitation for persons in DOC care who have terminal illness or are near death. A terminal-illness diagnosis often results in an imprisoned individual’s transfer to Dodge Correctional Institution (DCI). While DCI principally serves as the reception center for men entering the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) system, it also serves as the central medical unit for the male DOC population. But an incarcerated person’s removal to DCI for end-of-life care breaks bonds of friendship between incarcerated individuals that formed over years or even decades. And as WJI previously reported, DOC policy does not permit visitation, even by video conference, between two persons in DOC custody. WJI wrote to Carr as follows: Many individuals who die incarcerated have spent years if not decades of their life at another correctional facility. The friendship bonds developed in those institutions may be the most meaningful in their lives. It is inhumane to deprive people of these relationships at the end of life. While in-person visitation may be impractical and costly, video visitation is a satisfactory option available to DOC at little or no cost. Of the 21,974 persons incarcerated in the DOC as of October 31, 2023, nearly 24% were older than 50, including 44 individuals age 80 or older. As of June 30, 2023, the oldest person incarcerated at DCI was 92 years old. The incarcerated people in your care deserve dignity in death. A dignified death should include communication with one’s incarcerated peers—one’s lifelong friends. Please consider modifying DAI Policy # 309.06.01 to permit incarcerated persons with terminal illness to include their incarcerated peers on their video visitation lists or to otherwise have occasional video visits with their incarcerated peers. Copies of the letter were sent to the governor, the DCI warden, several DOC officials, and heads of pertinent legislative committees. WJI is committed to advocating for more humane conditions for those incarcerated in Wisconsin’s prisons and jails. Reducing the prevalence of lonely deaths is a low-cost way to achieve more humane outcomes for those who remain incarcerated at the end of their lives. DO YOU AGREE THAT THE POLICY SHOULD BE CHANGED? IF SO, PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION TO SECRETARY CARR:  Deteriorated living conditions in two of Wisconsin’s prisons have been in the news lately, with public protests outside of Waupun Correctional Institution (WCI), a rodent infestation at Green Bay Correctional Institution (GBCI), and reports on “modified movement” conditions (a sanitized way of saying "lockdown") at those facilities. Gov. Tony Evers recently visited WCI and on Nov. 14 said that the restrictive conditions there and at GBCI will be eased.
This fall, Wisconsin Justice Initiative launched a newsletter for men and women inside Wisconsin’s prisons. In response to WJI’s educational outreach, several individuals sent reports on the difficult conditions inside WCI, GBCI, and other facilities that have not garnered as much media attention. Below are some of these reports, from both before and after Evers' announcement, in the individuals’ own words. Wisconsin Secure Program Facility (a/k/a Boscobel or Supermax) Late November 2023 I want everybody to understand that some prisons around the State has been on modified movement since around 2020 when the pandemic took over the world. I was at Stanley at the time and saw what took place first hand. Governor Tony Evers has set a plan in motion to allow Green Bay and Waupun to come off modified lock down. THAT IS A LIE. If you not allowed programs, school, visits, and recreation you are still lock down. Please understand that the prisons are not just short staff but they are overcrowded. The Governor want to send hundreds of prisoners to other prisons around the State to make the situation there much worst. That is what you call kicking the can down the road. Wisconsin prisons are for profit. Its big business. We have guards that is making $36 dollars a hour to work at max plus time & half which is another $18 that add up to $54 dollars a hour. Guess what they do? They pass food 3 times a day through a slot and sit around because we all are lock in 24 hour a day here at Boscobel. Now who is the crooks. Wisconsin need real prison reform. We need something in place to make people want to do better because right now as it is people going to do what they want because they feel like they going to have to do 100% of their time anyways. Mean while a person that has done everything to stay out of trouble will go home behind the person who has done nothing but cause trouble while he or she been in prison. Its time to get real about what is going on. Late November 2023 I would like to let everybody know that DOC was not just short staff. They short doctors, nurses, mental health staff, Teachers, and many other people that work around the prisons. So when DOC gave correctional officers that huge pay raise these other places that was short staff got even shorter because now the lady that was processing complaints or working in the business office are now correctional officers. . . . One last thing. I been at Boscobel 7 months. I have been feed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches everyday for breakfast and one dinner on the weekend. Where is the money? Waupun Correctional Institution Late November 2023 After discussing how seeing his family is his “go to” way to cope with incarceration, one man wrote: For the past 8 months I have not been able to see my mother in any form whatsoever. The thing that means the most to me, the thing that has the most effect on me as a human being has been kept away from me these past 8 while this institution figures out its' "staffing shortages." They have enough staff where they can make license plates 5 days a week, but I can't see my family once in 8 months! Someone tell me how that makes an iota of sense? . . . The second way in which I would normally cope with such extreme and traumatic stress is a bit more obtuse so again I ask that you bear with me on the explanation. That coping method would simply be to go get a haircut! Now I know that for some people the notion of going to get a haircut ranks as a minute and mundane practice. But for many men like me it is so much more. I am a black man whom was born and raised in the inner city and like so many minorities across the nation going to the barbershop and getting a haircut is so much more than the particular act. The barbershop for most of us is a safe place. It is a place for fellowship and community. Hell going to the barbershop is the closest that a lot of minorities will ever get to going to group therapy! And I say that in all seriousness. I learned this as a very young child, just how much the barbershop meant in my community. It was a place where men would come and literally as well as figuratively shed the parts of themselves that were dead and/or dying. Going to the barbershop and getting a haircut was more then getting a fresh cut. Each and every time a men, especially a black man emerges from that chair after a haircut it is akin to a rebirth. And after all that black men have to go through and are put through in this country we need to have this symbolic rebirth as much as possible. This is probably the reason why black men spend so much time in the barbershop. It is our safe place to just be. But because of this lockdown I have not known this feeling for 8 months. I have not gotten a haircut for 8 months! And couple to this the fact that for this same 8 month period I have been allowed one shower maximum per week! I have had my hair fall out on two separate occasions. I have had to completely shave my head bald because the stress of this continued lockdown and the lack of offered hygienic avenues by way of showers and haircare/haircut caused my hair to just fall out all of a sudden in huge clumps! I am unable to articulate how unnerving it is to wake up one day and your hair just starts to fall out! And when I attempted to tell medical staff as well as security staff about this they treated it like it was nothing, like I was nothing. And this has been this way for 8 straight months, being treated like I am nothing... Just to catch you up on some of the other line items in regards to institutional happenings as of late.
Late October 2023 The lockdown remains strong, with small, pathetic attempts by wci to pacify us sprinkled in every now and then. The news had stated that we are locked in 23 hrs a day. No. Not true. We are locked in 24/7. I get out of my cell once a week for 15 min to take a shower. That's it. Rec is offered almost every week for 45-60 min a week for those who stand for count and don't have nothing hanging from their bars. 1 hour a week for rec-if they have the staff. No school. No barber shop. No religious services since Mar, although they just sent a memo saying they're trying to start services for 20 ppl at a time in Nov. One warm tray a day, n that's only mon-fri. Bag lunches for breakfast n dinner 7 days a week for 7 months now. All meals in cells since I've been here-no chow hall. No visits. Zoom or in person since Mar 28th either. There r other issues, but these r directly related to lockdown. Late October 2023 We have been on a seven going on eight month lockdown. We get NO rec, one shower a week, one change a clothes a week, no library, no visits either contact or video, no church services and peanut butter sandwiches ten times a week or more for just as long! The conditions are so bad here people are killing there self with many more attempts everyday! . . . I was first incarcerated at the age of 15 in adult institution. I've never been to juvenile corrections. I've always been a non violent criminal. . . . The justice system here in Wisconsin is so broken. Stanley Correctional Institution Late November 2023 Per multiple blue shirt correctional officers, they are being directed to start a program of harassment based on enforcing the rules that have been relaxed due to staff shortages. As stated they are to start writing tickets all minor issues as minor tickets are not able to be challenged like a major ticket is. This way many will be on cell confinement. New staff have not worked at anytime when the institution has run under regular movement. If anyone has people that can place complaints in the community about this place and the issues here it would be helpful. Upper staff, white shirts, via the warden are instituting an environment that will become more and more hostile by the day after the 27th. Officers have opined that the warden is pushing this agenda so he can yet again lock down the institution and have limited movement as soon as possible. . . . . . . . The warden has even removed the hard copies of the current DAI/DOC policies so as to hinder our capability to formulate proper complaints and or make due process claims. When asked about policy's we are told to go look it up, hard to do when no hard copies are available to look at. There is so much wrong with this place, staff are even allowed to keep their badges hidden from sight. The mantra heard regularly from staff is “This is Stanley, we do things different”! Green Bay Correctional Institution Early November 2023 I am writing to report on a number of conditions of confinement issues inside the prison. They include, but are not limited to, the following:
Jackson Correctional Institution Early November 2023 Jackson Correctional Institution has an inmate population that exceeds its general population capacity. The only way JCI can house its current population is by utilizing the segregation housing at near max capacity ALL THE TIME. This has led to a need for inflating segregation conefinement times for even relatively minor violations, a high number of false positive drug testing results due to misuse of their "drug sniffer" machines, the blockading of follow-up outside lab testing of positive tests, and a number of other suspect "violations" being written. If the segregation unit were emptied, there would be no place to house the inmates there. Note: Wisconsin is one of just three states (Georgia and Texas are the others) in which 17-year-olds are automatically treated as adults for purposes of criminal charges. The other 47 states process charges against 17-year-olds within the juvenile justice system. Wisconsin Justice Initiative has joined the Raise the Age Coalition, advocating for legislation to return Wisconsin's 17-year-olds to juvenile court. By Roy Rogers Guest Columnist Outside of the brain development research that counsels against treating 17-year-olds as adults, placing them in an adult setting is unhealthy and borders on benign cruelty. For these 17-year-olds, and those even younger, treating them like adults and keeping them in the adult system, together with more sophisticated adult criminals in the facilities, could, can, and has led to increased criminality in the institutional settings. At times they are forced to partake in activities that are harmful for them, due to the strong pressure from mob mentality and older incarcerated people. You increase the likelihood of assaults and trauma and aggravate mental health issues, which a lot of young people are dealing with when they enter into the correctional system. People sometimes have the misconception that the young person will have access to more treatment resources in the adult facilities, but that is not the case. More than likely, 17-year-olds going into the adult system have lengthy sentences. With long incarceration times, the likelihood of getting them involved in any treatment programs is thin. The institution will consider them too early in their sentence structure for programming treatment. In modern correctional wisdom, programming and treatment are provided to those who are about to return to the community within the next year or two, five years at the most. Accountability and treatment in a setting conducive to healing and restoration are what 17-year-olds need — not to be placed in a problem-plagued adult system that is not getting better anytime soon. I knew a few 17-year-olds who were treated as adults after having been waived into adult court. There were some commonalities in their incarcerated experience:
These scenarios become even more glaring if a youth is a part of the LGBTQ community. In the hypersexual prison settings, trauma for these youth will come from both ends — staff and fellow incarcerated people, some out of ignorance and some out of intention. Why put any 17-year-old through that? We know adolescents make bad decisions; that’s no secret. And yes, sometimes those bad decisions have great consequences in our community and accountability is a must. However, accountability is also about having the opportunity to make amends. Placing a 17-year-old in the adult system actually closes the door on the meaningful opportunity to make amends. The adult system is not set up for that in any shape or form. If the youth is kept within the juvenile system, programming and a wide variety of treatment options are available. A package of community service, community counseling, community accountability, and community engagement can all be put in place for the eventual restoration of these youth back into the community. I, too, was once a 17-year-old in the adult system. So I bear witness and have first-hand knowledge of everything I speak of. In the field of macroeconomics, we talk a lot about marginal analysis in which we compare marginal benefits against marginal costs in our economic decisions. So from my economic perspective, when the marginal costs outweigh the marginal benefits, it is a bad decision. The marginal costs of placing 17-year-olds in the adult system outweigh whatever marginal benefits policymakers think will occur. Such a decision can cost children their lives. It can cost them through the inability to recover from the traumas of being a child in an adult prison. Plus, the potential for them to be trapped in the cycle of incarceration increases dramatically. The humanitarian cost outweighs any economic benefit one may gain by treating these 17-year-olds like adults. Treating these juveniles as adults is a bad decision.  Roy Rogers is a Wisconsin Justice Initiative board member. He is a data solutions processor at Quad Data Solutions and a preentry and reentry liaison and information analyst for the nonprofit organization The Community. He also is a public speaker and advocate with the Wisconsin Alliance for Youth Justice.
Rogers committed himself to juvenile justice issues while serving 28 years as a juvenile lifer in the Wisconsin prison system. Now, after release, he counsels and mentors at-risk youth. He is committed to the philosophy of restorative justice, criminal justice reform, and second-chance opportunities for juveniles waived into adult court and sentenced as adults. By Alexandria Staubach
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the phenomenon of lonely deaths in nursing homes and hospitals, but such lonely deaths continue in the Wisconsin prison system even post-pandemic. In the Wisconsin prison system, a terminal-illness diagnosis lands an imprisoned individual in Dodge Correctional Institution (DCI). While DCI principally serves as the reception center for all adult males entering the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) system, it also serves as the central medical unit for the male DOC population. It is where sentences begin and where life may end. Removal to DCI for terminal-illness care breaks bonds of friendship between incarcerated individuals that formed over years or even decades. “Once that person goes to DCI you know you may not ever see or talk to them again. You may not ever find out what happens to them,” said Roy Rogers, a former juvenile lifer in the Wisconsin prison system. (Rogers is now a data processor, a preentry and reentry liaison for The Community, and a WJI board member.) WJI inquired whether DOC permits video or any other form of visitation between terminally ill incarcerated persons and their incarcerated friends. “Wisconsin DOC has never allowed a person in our care to be on another person in our care’s visiting list,” John Beard, director of communications for the DOC, told WJI. “Dodge Correctional Institution is one of our institutions which has trained certified peer specialists within the population. So, if an individual requests peer support, they would have access to another person in our care who is trained to provide that,” Beard said. In other words, those who spend their last days as residents of the DCI infirmary have the companionship of staff or volunteers whom they do not know, but not of their friends from within the DOC. While incarcerated individuals may receive visitation with friends and family who are not incarcerated, the relationships formed between incarcerated persons are often their main relationships, said Rogers. Though in-person, peer-to-peer visitation among incarcerated individuals may not practically be feasible, DOC is equipped to and offers video visitation, according to its visitation policy. However, per Beard’s response to WJI, because the DOC does not permit persons in its care to be on each other’s visitation lists, the DOC does not permit video visits between individuals who are both incarcerated. Nearly 20% of the U.S. prison population is older than age 50 according to June 2023 Federal Bureau of Prisons statistics. Of the 21,171 persons incarcerated in the DOC as of May 31, 2023, nearly 24% were older than 50, including 46 individuals 80 or older. DCI’s infirmary unit holds 60 beds, with seven rooms dedicated to palliative care. According to the DOC, “a number” of incarcerated patients are residents of this infirmary. In June 2022 the oldest person incarcerated at DCI was 98 years old. The infirmary unit provides care to patients who require 24-hour or subacute nursing care. The palliative care program provides “a valuable service to patients with terminal illnesses, providing comfort and symptom management, when release to the community is not possible,” according to DCI’s 2022 Annual Report. By Gretchen Schuldt The state's prison population is growing again after a long decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of adults incarcerated in state facilities declined to 19,381 on May 14, down significantly from the June 2019 level of almost 23,600 reported by the Wisconsin Policy Forum in its 2021-23 state budget brief. At the height of the outbreak DOC basically closed its doors to new inmates, shoving the problem of housing them downstream to local jails. And courts shut down or dramatically reduced operations, which also reduced the flow of inmates to prison. Then, this spring, prisons began accepting people again. The prison population ticked upward the week of May 21 and has increased every week since, according to Department of Corrections data. On Sept. 24, 20,132 people were incarcerated in the state's adult facilities. Current inmate numbers are likely to increase further as courts resume normal operations and more people are sentenced.  |
Donate
Help WJI advocate for justice in Wisconsin
|
RSS Feed