Wisconsin
Related: About this forumJudge orders changes at Wisconsin juvenile prisons
MADISON (AP) -- A federal judge issued a stinging rebuke Friday of disciplinary practices at Wisconsin's youth prisons, saying state officials have demonstrated a "callous indifference" to the harm caused to juvenile inmates by the use of solitary confinement, pepper spray and shackles.
Those tactics used at the Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake prisons likely amount to unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment and are outside the national norms for juvenile corrections, U.S. District Judge James Peterson said.
"Ted Kaczynski has less restrictive solitary confinement than youth at Lincoln Hills," the judge said, referring to the convicted killer known as the Unabomber.
Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union and Juvenile Law Center had asked Peterson to immediately ban solitary confinement, pepper spray and the use of shackles at the Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake prisons located about 155 miles north of Madison. Corrections officials argued doing that could put the safety of inmates and staff at harm.
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http://fox11online.com/news/state/federal-judge-to-rule-in-wisconsin-youth-prison-case
dembotoz
(16,740 posts)just burdensome regulation
HelenWheels
(2,284 posts)I worked in LHS and Fox Lake for many years. Juveniles are very combative and unstable. The older inmates say the young ones haven't learned how to be an inmate, that is uncombative.
I will be interested in just how the Correctional Officers (CO) are going to handle a kid who attacks them or other kids. When the kids learn there will be no solitary, pepper spray and/or shackles holy hell will break out.
The main problem at LHS is not enough staff and they are now poorly trained. I hated the way kids were disciplined. If the staff had enough time to interact with the kids it would surely cut down on the need for discipline.