Governor Evers Announces Plans to Lift Restrictions at Wisconsin Prisons

Friday, November 17th, 2023 -- 12:00 PM

(Kelli Arseneau and Vanessa Swales, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) As advocates continue to demand the end of lockdowns at Wisconsin's prisons, Gov. Tony Evers and Department of Corrections Secretary Kevin Carr announced plans Tuesday to begin lifting restrictions at two of the state's oldest prisons, Waupun Correctional Institution and Green Bay Correctional Institution.

According to Kelli Arseneau and Vanessa Swales with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the plans include opening access to more services in the prisons, reducing the prisoner population at Waupun, updating solitary confinement policies, and continuing to recruit more staff with the enticement of higher pay.

Due to security concerns in the overcrowded and understaffed facilities, Waupun Correctional Institution has been on lockdown, or what the Department of Corrections calls "a state of modified movement," since March.

Green Bay Correctional Institution has been under lockdown since June. Stanley Correctional Institution, while under fewer restrictions than the Waupun and Green Bay prisons, is nearing a year of modified movement.

The Department of Corrections contends that prison officials have been gradually easing restrictions throughout the past few months. But incarcerated people, family members and prison reform advocates say the ongoing lockdown conditions are inhumane, and leave people confined to a small cell, usually with another person, at nearly all hours of the day.

In recent months, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin have reported on troubling conditions inside the facilities, including rodent infestations, rampant violence, and lack of access to medical care, as well as several deaths.

Evers' announcement Tuesday comes after the governor accompanied Carr on a visit to Waupun Correctional Institution Thursday and spoke with prison staff and people incarcerated there, according to a news release from the governor's office. He plans to visit other prisons in the coming weeks.

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