Teen inmate used pepper spray on guards as records detail chaos at Wisconsin's juvenile prison

MADISON - Two lawmakers asked a federal judge to lift his ruling on how the state's teen prison complex must operate as new incidents of tumult there came to light, including one in which guards say an inmate seized a can of pepper spray and used it on staff.

Inmates smashed windows in that July incident, which one worker described as a riot. In another incident from this summer, a teen inmate grabbed a radio and hit a guard with it, giving him a concussion, according to records released Friday by state Sen. Tom Tiffany (R-Hazelhurst). 

"I fear for my life going into work," one worker told a Tiffany aide last month.

Tiffany and Rep. Mary Felzkowski (R-Irma) this week asked U.S. District Judge James Peterson to reverse his July order overhauling Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls. The facilities share a campus 30 miles north of Wausau and are located in Tiffany and Felzkowski's districts. 

"Your order has not only jeopardized staff safety but it is jeopardizing the safety of youth in (Lincoln Hills School for Boys) who are non-violent," Tiffany and Felzkowski wrote. "Unfortunately, your order has emboldened violent offenders to the detriment of those seeking to serve their time and return to civil society."

Those who sued over conditions at the prison complex said the problems there were the fault of state officials, not the judge who ordered them to make changes. 

"It is stunning that state legislators would ask a federal judge to walk back a ruling compelled by the U.S. Constitution. State officials cannot treat children in violation of the mandates of the 8th and 14th amendments, yet that is precisely the outcome sought by this letter," Marsha Levick, chief counsel of the Juvenile Law Center, said in a statement.

Peterson's injunction forced the state to curb the use of solitary confinement, pepper spray and handcuffs. The state has had trouble implementing the order because of unrest.

Separately, the prison complex has been under a criminal investigation for prisoner abuse for almost three years.

Tiffany on Friday released emails and summaries of phone calls his staff had received from terrified Lincoln Hills workers who said conditions had worsened at the prison since Peterson imposed his order. 

"I am afraid of getting killed by an inmate," said one guard who recently quit after 12 years. "I had to resign. Nothing is going to change and behavior is chaotic."

Last week, a teen inmate who had assaulted at least one other staff member punched a teacher in the face and knocked her out. On Monday, another inmate attacked a guard and sent her to the hospital. 

In September, a group of inmates allegedly attempted to electrocute a guard by dousing an outlet and a cord to a fan with water, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. The inmates asked a guard to plug in the fan, but one inmate warned him of the danger at the last moment, the newspaper reported.

Prison officials did not notify law enforcement. The Department of Corrections is looking into the incident, spokesman Tristan Cook said.

The records released by Tiffany described other dangerous incidents and a workforce strained by a staff shortage.

In the July incident that one worker called a riot, windows were smashed and doors removed from their hinges, according to descriptions provided by multiple workers. Two guards said inmates got hold of pepper spray and used it on guards. 

Cook said there was "no indication" that inmates obtained or deployed pepper spray or removed doors from their hinges.

In another July incident, an inmate stole a can of pepper spray and hit a guard in the head, giving him a concussion, according to the guard. Cook said there was no record of the guard receiving a head injury. 

Female workers face constant graphic sexual comments about them, according to one employee. 

Another worker said she had trouble soothing the worries of parents of inmates who are as young as 11 about the conditions at Lincoln Hills. 

"How can I ease their minds when I am scared myself?" she wrote Tiffany in July. 

Corrections Secretary Jon Litscher contended Thursday the prison is safe. Litscher visited Lincoln Hills this week to meet with staff and Juvenile Corrections Administrator John Paquin plans to return there next week, Cook said.

Department officials have emphasized they have made numerous changes in recent years, including extensively re-training staff, equipping them with body cameras and having medical staff — instead of guards — distribute medication. 

Prison becomes 'political football'

In their letter to the judge, Tiffany and Felzkowski wrote that his ruling had turned the prison complex into a "political football" that is being tossed around by inmate advocates who want to see the facility shut down. 

"We agree (inmates) have important constitutional protections but what are you going to do about the constitutional rights of the dedicated public servants at LHS when they are beaten and harassed by youth who know a judge will take their side?" they wrote.

The letter noted many Lincoln Hills inmates have committed serious crimes and are found to be dangerous. Tiffany made a similar point in June during a meeting of the Joint Finance Committee, when he said, "These are not angels that are coming into Lincoln Hills."

Democrats noted Tiffany and Felzkowski voted against proposals offered by Democrats in the budget committee aimed at making Lincoln Hills safer. Those budget amendments would have limited the amount of overtime Lincoln Hills employees could be forced to work, expanded training and increased staffing, 

The lawsuit over Lincoln Hills was brought on behalf of inmates by the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin and Juvenile Law Center. 

"The fact that corrections staff at LHS can think of no other way to manage and rehabilitate the youth in their care is their failing, not the federal court's," Juvenile Law Center's Levick said in her statement.

ACLU attorney Tim Muth said Tiffany and Felzkowski don't understand the problems at Lincoln Hills. 

"The guards and staff have a well-publicized history of abuse of the young people in their care," Muth said in a statement. "As Judge Peterson heard, Wisconsin's juvenile prison has been an outlier in its use of unconstitutional solitary confinement, shackling and pepper spray. The overwhelming research shows that juvenile justice systems which eliminate these practices are actually safer for both youth and staff."

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported a guard said he had been hit in the head in July with a can of pepper spray. The guard said an inmate had hit him in the head, but did not say it was done with a can of pepper spray.