Letters from Evers, Republicans present clashing views on juvenile corrections

by Andrew Kennard, Wisconsin Examiner
August 15, 2024

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Republican legislators are at odds over a consent decree that has mandated change at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools, juvenile correctional facilities in Irma, Wisconsin. 

In 2018, the state of Wisconsin settled J.J. vs. Litscher, a class action lawsuit against Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Wisconsin, the Juvenile Law Center and Quarles & Brady. The lawsuit was filed over “cruel conditions children encountered there, including painful pepper spray, extended solitary confinement, humiliating strip searches, and oppressive arm and leg restraints,” the ACLU has said. The settlement resulted in an agreement mandating changes. 

Evers said his administration is in partial compliance with all items of the consent decree and substantial compliance with 43 out of 50. 

After the death of youth counselor Cory Proulx in an assault at Lincoln Hills and testimony about staff safety concerns at a state Senate hearing, Republican legislators asked Department of Corrections Secretary-Designee Jared Hoy to petition United States District Court Judge James Peterson to revisit and revise the consent decree and permanent injunction requirements. The letter bore the signatures of the Republican members of the Assembly Committee on Corrections and the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety.

In their letter to Hoy on Aug. 8, legislators said Lincoln Hills has become less safe since the consent decree went into effect. They said that no one wants to return to the conditions at Lincoln Hills that required the consent decree to happen, but said “it appears that we may have reached the point where attempting to be fully compliant with the consent decree is causing more harm than good.” 

They said the consent decree has “greatly limited the tools available to Lincoln Hills staff to ensure their safety, and the safety of the inmates at the facility.”

In a letter to Peterson on Aug. 14, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers made a case for not revisiting and revising the consent decree. He said the consent decree exists because “the conditions at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake under the Walker-Kleefisch Administration were inhumane and unlawful.” Evers said the consent decree increases safety for youth and helps keep staff safe.

“As you know from the monitor’s reporting over the last five years, our administration has made important progress at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools—progress that, most especially given the state of these facilities when I took office, I am incredibly proud we have accomplished,” Evers wrote. 

Scott Kelly, staff for Sen. Van Wanggaard, the chair of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, said Evers is “trying to cover up his administration’s mismanagement of Lincoln Hills by blaming the situation on the [former] Governor Walker.”

Staff describe assaults, safety concerns at Lincoln Hills, Copper Lake hearing 

“As a result, Governor Evers is doubling down on a policy that is so clearly making Lincoln Hills less safe for inmates and staff,” Kelly said in an email response to a request for comment about Evers’ letter.  

In a statement, the Wisconsin ACLU and the Juvenile Law Center said the consent decree must be fully implemented to ensure the safety of the staff and youth at Lincoln Hills. In the long term, they said, “it is clear that Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake must close.” David Gwidt, deputy communications director for the ACLU of Wisconsin, sent the Examiner the statement for the organizations. 

“The death of Lincoln Hills counselor Corey Proulx is a terrible tragedy,” the organizations said. “Any loss of life at Lincoln Hills — whether a staff member or a child incarcerated there — is heartbreaking, and everyone at the facility deserves safety. But rolling back the reforms made at Wisconsin’s youth prisons will not lead to more safety.”

Wisconsin Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Wisconsin Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Ruth Conniff for questions: info@wisconsinexaminer.com. Follow Wisconsin Examiner on Facebook and X.