Inmates still being strip searched, pepper sprayed and at risk of suicide at Lincoln Hills youth prison

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - Teen inmates at the state's long-troubled youth prison are still being strip searched and doused in pepper spray by correctional officers despite a longstanding federal court order to curtail such practices.

New findings by a court-ordered monitor of the juvenile prison also show guards continue to work 16-hour shifts many days in a row and are not swiftly responding to inmates' calls for help — a delay that for one former inmate in 2015 resulted in severe and permanent brain damage as she hanged herself while waiting.

In another sign prison officials aren't doing enough to prevent suicide attempts, rooms at the facility continue to include items inmates can use to harm themselves, the report found.

The report came five days after federal prosecutors announced they had closed a four-year-old investigation of the facility without charging anyone and the same day Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said he would not re-open the review.

The prison north of Wausau has been beset with problems for years, prompting multiple lawsuits and taxpayer-funded legal settlements worth millions of dollars. State officials plan to close the facility by early 2021 but may extend that deadline as they work to establish new, smaller lockups around the state.

The monitor's latest report found staff at the Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls continue to fall short of a court settlement reached last year aimed at reducing the use of pepper spray, solitary confinement and restraints.

The report also showed signs of progress: the rate of open positions for guards has been dramatically reduced from almost half to 15% in about a year's time. The use of pepper spray has been significantly decreased in the last three months. And one inmate reported the facility is "way better than before."

But advocates for closing the prison — a goal that has been delayed until at least mid-2021 — say the new findings are not good news.

"The report filed today underscores the need to get youth out of Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake and back to their home communities,” said Karyn Rotker, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, which brought the class-action lawsuit in conjunction with Juvenile Law Center that prompted the court-ordered monitoring.

“We recognize that progress is being made in keeping youth are in solitary for less time, but there appears to be continued, excessive use of solitary confinement — locking youth alone in their cells — under a variety of labels," Rotker said. "Chronic inadequate staffing and the lack of programs and activities exacerbate the problem, and reinforce the urgency of getting youth out of these facilities and back to their communities.”

Department of Corrections Secretary Kevin Carr acknowledged the state had fallen short of what's required in the court order.

"Although there has been some progress since I joined the DOC in January, it is clear from the report that significant work remains," he said in a statement. "I am committed to working closely with the Monitor, staff, and the youth at Lincoln Hills/Copper Lake to make holistic, evidence-based and necessary changes.”

No new probe

Kaul said Wednesday that his department wouldn't open a probe into whether state charges should be brought against staff at the troubled facility.

Kaul's announcement came just days after U.S. Attorney Scott Blader closed his investigation into allegations of abuse of teen inmates by prison staff at the prison in Irma.

Blader announced Friday he closed the review after finding “insufficient evidence to prove federal criminal civil rights charges” against staff.

The investigation started in 2015 under Kaul's predecessor, Attorney General Brad Schimel. Federal prosecutors took it over in 2016.

"I believe that the ... federal prosecutors in the Western District of Wisconsin who oversaw this investigation conducted a full and thorough investigation into the facts," Kaul said during an appearance at the Milwaukee Press Club.

"And, given that that is the case, I don't intend for the Wisconsin Department of Justice to conduct further criminal investigation into that matter."

Kaul said that "regardless of the outcome of the federal investigation, regardless of the fact that there weren't criminal charges brought against specific counselors from Lincoln Hills, there's no question we need substantial reform toward the juvenile correction system here in Wisconsin."

Gov. Tony Evers told reporters Wednesday he was looking past the now-ended criminal investigation and focusing on closing the prison complex.

"From my own vantage point, we need to move beyond that," Evers said of the probe. "The previous administration and the Legislature made the effort — the legislative effort, the political effort — to close that prison and to create new opportunities closer to home for those kids. That's where our focus has to be."

Complying with court order?

The decision by Kaul and Evers to move beyond the specter of criminal charges against DOC staff comes as court-ordered monitor Teresa Abreu found that Department of Corrections officials and prison staff are not fully complying with the court order to dramatically reduce or eliminate using isolation to manage inmate behavior.

"Although the official data shows that there was not a single youth in punitive confinement in excess of seven days during this review period, however, documentation of youth time in room confinement is inconsistent and inadequate," Abreu said. "Given the long-standing staffing deficiencies, there is an urgent need to also explore methods for promptly reducing youth populations."

However, prison staff have complied with an order to limit inmates' time in solitary confinement from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. only, Abreu found.

Staffing levels and training also continue to be inadequate.

"The vast majority of staff do not feel safe and do not feel they are adequately trained and prepared with the alternatives to (pepper spray) and reduction/elimination of confinement," Abreu wrote. "(DOC) will not be able to come into substantial compliance with the Court Order without solving the staffing issues."

Rooms in the youth prison still are not "suicide resistant," she found — a similar finding from her January review.

"With respect to youth rooms, there is no change from the last site visit," Abreu wrote. "Most youth rooms were not clean and organized. Several rooms had multiple blankets/sheets covering large areas of the room making it difficult for staff to assess whether there is contraband that can be harmful to youth inside the rooms or assessing youth activity while in bed."

DOC staff have received estimates on costs to replace furniture that pose such risks, Abreu wrote.

Taxpayers have helped settle a lawsuit that resulted in a nearly $19 million payment to a former inmate who in 2015 suffered permanent brain damage when guards at the facility failed to respond to her call for help as she hanged herself in her room — instead choosing to take out garbage before checking on her.

The new report shows room checks are still not being well documented or being done on an individual basis, and are not being recorded at the time of a welfare check.

"Safety/welfare checks need to be a priority and the Monitor hoped that the recommendations made would have been implemented by the time this second site visit occurred," Abreu wrote, and suggested the checks be made every 15 minutes.

Prison staff also began strip searching inmates without cause again in January, she found, but a memo released in March ordered the practice to end.

"Staff are doing a 'hygiene' check which requires a youth to strip to underwear and bra which seems to be replacing the 'strip search,'" Abreu wrote. "This type of search should only be used for the same reasons as a strip search when utilized for this purpose (probable cause of youth possessing drugs or weapons that could not be discovered through less intrusive means)."

The court order also requires that inmates be out of their rooms for three hours per day, but the monitor found many instances when this did not occur.

Overall, the monitor wrote DOC staff have made improvements in reducing the use of handcuffs, shackles and pepper spray and addressing staffing shortages.

Abreu also found inmates' mugshots were being taped to tables and doors to indicate where the inmates should be.

TIMELINE:How the Lincoln Hills crisis unfolded

Inmates sued the state over conditions at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake in 2016 with the assistance of the ACLU and Juvenile Law Center. In a settlement last year, the state agreed to overhaul operations at the prison and scale back the use of solitary confinement, pepper spray, handcuffs and shackles.

As part of that settlement, the state agreed to let Abreu independently review and report on the state's compliance with the agreement. Abreu is an attorney and prison consultant who previously helped run a juvenile detention center in Cook County, Ill.

Her report in January found offenders were receiving about three hours of education a day — well short of the five to six hours they should be getting.

She also found guards were using pepper spray when they shouldn't, she wrote in January. That included incidents when inmates were in danger of hurting themselves but other means could have been used to handle the situations, she wrote.

Lawmakers last year agreed to close the facility by 2021 and open smaller, regional teen lockups. The plan is to cost $80 million.

In recent weeks, lawmakers from both parties have said the state may need to extend the deadline for closing Lincoln Hills and spend more to open the new lockups.