Wisconsin Property Policy Violates RFRA by A federal district court in Wisconsin held that a state DOC policy sharply restricting prisoner property violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) when it prohibits prisoners from wearing religious jewelry. The court held that the policy did not violate the RFRA in that …
WI Court Upholds DOC Classification Policy by A Wisconsin state appeals court has upheld DOC rules which establish minimum periods that lifers are required to serve in maximum security prisons. The DOC rules assign each lifer to one of four security classifications, based on the prisoner's conviction, criminal history and …
Old Friends Only by Adrian Lomax The public pays $25,000 a year to keep each of Wisconsin's 9,500 adult prisoners locked away. Part of what society expects to get for that considerable investment is prisoners who are changed for the better by the time they get out. One of the …
Police, Death and Inquests by Adrian Lomax David Urban, 35 years old, was serving a 30-day sentence in the Winnebago County Jail in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, when, at 1:00 pm on January 13, he began complaining to guards that he felt ill and needed medical attention. The sheriff's deputies who run …
Prison TV: Aid and Comfort to the Enemy by Adrian Lomax I've been serving time in Wisconsin prisons since 1980. A lot of changes in the way these joints are run have come down the pike in that time, almost all of them for the worse: less recreation, less visiting, …
Tommy's Jobs Program by Adrian Lomax Gov. Tommy Thompson recently unveiled his startling plan to put inmates to work in Wisconsin prisons. Thompson wants to allow private businesses to construct production facilities inside state prisons and employ inmates as laborers. The Governor assures us that his plan will accomplish several …
WI Guard Indicted for Mail Obstruction by In the October, 1994, issue of PLN we reported that U.S. Postal investigators were investigating the discovery of large quantities of prisoner mail found in the garbage at the Waupun Correctional Institution in Wisconsin. On December 8, 1994, the US Attorney for the …
Televisions in Prison by Reader Mail Your article, Prisons TV: Luxury or Management Tool? [Vol.5 No.9, Sept. '94], raises an issue that has been debated by myself and some other prisoners here in Wisconsin. I believe that Wardens and others within the DOC have a perception that televisions are assisting …
WI Enacts Sex Predator Law by By Jan Starks On May 26, 1994, Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson enacted a Sexual Predator Law, officially called 1993 Wisconsin Act 479. It was designed especially for two current prisoners: Gerald Turner, who in 1973 killed 9 year old Lisa French on Halloween night …
Shortened Pens States Claim by Two prisoners in the segregation unit of the Waupun Correctional Institution at Waupun, Wisconsin, filed suit challenging the prison's practice of issuing segregation prisoners only the ink tube portion of a ball-point pen with which to write. Prisoners who modify the ink tube in anyway …
WI Removes Weights and Tennis Courts by Wisconsin's hard-line Republican Governor Tommy Thompson, apparently concerned about his upcoming re-election bid, has ordered all weights and tennis courts removed from the Wisconsin prison system by October 1, 1994. Wisconsin prison officials were in the process of conducting an inventory of weights …
Hazardous Waste Found in WI Prison by Since 1993 the Wisconsin Department of Corrections has been the subject of several scathing investigations by that state's Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The investigations have made several alarming discoveries, concluding that the DOC is failing to keep track of and properly dispose …
Refusal to Help Prisoner Eat Illegal by A Wisconsin state prisoner suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, had difficulty eating due to weakness in his arms, hands, jaw, facial and throat muscles used in eating due to the disease's progression. Part of the treatment …
Prisoner Mail Trashed at Waupun by In the editorial in the September, 1994, issue of PLN, we noted that subscribers at the Waupun Correctional Institution at Waupun, WI. had complained of not receiving their issues of PLN. Shortly thereafter we learned why. The August 4, 1994, edition of the Wisconsin …
The "Correcting Corrections" Project Distributes Prison Video Documentaries by Community activists in Madison, Wisconsin have joined together to develop the Correcting Corrections Project. Correcting Corrections combines art and journalism to create a series of educational videos, to organize community meetings, to arrange for radio and cable television broadcasts, and to …
Cross Gender Strip Searches Illegal by David Canedy is a Wisconsin state prisoner. He filed suit claiming that during a shakedown of his housing unit female guards strip searched him, causing him embarrassment, humiliation and mental distress. Male guards were readily available and could have conducted the search. He also …
Supreme Court Defines "Deliberate Indifference" in Prison Rape Case by The US Supreme Court heard only one prison related case in its 1994 term, and it resulted in a win for the prisoner. In Farmer v. Brennan the court was asked to answer what constitutes "deliberate indifference" to a prisoner's …
Jail Detainees Have Right to Library Access by This case involves a consolidated appeal of one suit by three Wisconsin county jail detainees and one by an Indiana jail detainee. All of the plaintiffs claimed their right of access to the courts was violated because the jails they were held …
Needs Mail Stamping of Prisoner Mail Information by Reader Mail On November 1, 1993, Wisconsin Prisons started to stamp prisoner mail as originating in a prison. We filed for a temporary injunction in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. On October 28, 1993, the court came …
WI Prisoners Not Entitled to Minimum Wage by In part of the continuing struggle to obtain minimum wages for their labor, five Wisconsin prisoners filed suit under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. The Wisconsin prison industries program, under the name of Badger State …
