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Wisconsin’s Troubled Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls to Close in 2021, New Governor Says

Article • January 25, 2019

Filed under: Totality of Conditions, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Restraints, Failure to Protect (Juveniles), Juvenile Prisons

Wisconsin’s Troubled Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls to Close in 2021, New Governor Says by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna  The Wisconsin Department of Corrections youth facilities at the Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls, located in rural Wisconsin north of …

Audit Criticizes Milwaukee County Jail’s Contracted Medical Services

Article • January 9, 2019 • from PLN January, 2019

Filed under: Armor Correctional Health Services, Misconduct/Corruption

Audit Criticizes Milwaukee County Jail’s Contracted Medical Services by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna In August 2018, a comprehensive audit report revealed that the private healthcare provider at Wisconsin’s Milwaukee County Jail and House of Correction (HOC) was not in compliance with the terms of a court-ordered consent decree requiring …

Pro Se Prisoner Demonstrated Need for Recruitment of Counsel

Article • December 7, 2018 • from PLN December, 2018

Filed under: Appointment of Counsel

Pro Se Prisoner Demonstrated Need for Recruitment of Counsel by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a district court abused its discretion when it denied a Wisconsin prisoner’s repeated motions to recruit counsel. Before the appellate court was a case involving prisoner Randy McCaa, whose 2016 civil rights …

Mentally Ill Wisconsin Prisoners Held in Solitary Improperly Reclassified

Article • December 5, 2018 • from PLN December, 2018

Filed under: Classification, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Mental Health, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness)

Mentally Ill Wisconsin Prisoners Held in Solitary Improperly Reclassified by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon The Wisconsin Department of Corrections has employed a unique method to reduce the number of seriously mentally ill prisoners being housed in solitary confinement: Their mental health classification competency levels were administratively changed without an …

Magistrate Judge Must Have Jurisdiction Prior to Entering Final Judgment

Article • November 6, 2018 • from PLN November, 2018

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Appeals

Magistrate Judge Must Have Jurisdiction Prior to Entering Final Judgment by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals allowed an appeal to continue to the briefing stage after concluding that “all parties had consented to proceeding before the magistrate judge by the time he entered a final judgment dismissing the entire …

Podcast Produced by Wisconsin Prisoner Tackles Criminal Justice Topics

Article • November 6, 2018 • from PLN November, 2018

Filed under: Prisoner Media

Podcast Produced by Wisconsin Prisoner Tackles Criminal Justice Topics by Steve Horn by Steve Horn A Wisconsin state prisoner is leading the way in getting a new podcast out to the public that covers issues faced by people behind bars. Podcasts are radio-style audio series that can be downloaded and …

Milwaukee County Office of the Comptroller Audit Services Division--Improved Staffing From Armor, Assignment of Contract Manager With Clinical Exp. along with Contract Revisions Would Improve Inmate M...

Publication • August 1, 2018

Filed under: Medication, Failure to Treat, Staffing, Jail Specific

Milwaukee County Office of the Comptroller Audit Services Division--Improved Staffing From Armor, Assignment of Contract Manager With Clinical Exp. along with Contract Revisions Would Improve Inmate Medical Services, WI, 2018 Office of the Comptroller Audit Services Division �i{wauk.ge County Jennifer L. Folliard • Director of Audits To the Honorable Chairman …

Seventh Circuit Permits Gender Dysphoria Federal Civil Rights Case to Proceed

Article • July 22, 2018

Filed under: Medication, Failure to Treat, Transgender Medical Procedures

Seventh Circuit Permits Gender Dysphoria Federal Civil Rights Case to Proceed by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned the district court’s dismissal of a federal civil rights case under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, brought by a former prisoner in the Wisconsin Department of …

Wisconsin Paid Former Prison Employees $105,000 to Settle Harassment Cases

Article • July 6, 2018 • from PLN July, 2018

Filed under: Staff-Staff Harassment, Employee Litigation

Wisconsin Paid Former Prison Employees $105,000 to Settle Harassment Cases by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna Last year, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) paid $105,000 to settle a pair of federal civil rights lawsuits filed by two former employees. Both of the women claimed they were fired in retaliation …

Lieberman v. Portage County, WI, Class Action Complaint, Violation of Electronic Surveillance Act, 2018

Brief • June 12, 2018

Filed under: Electronic Surveillance

Lieberman v. Portage County, WI, Class Action Complaint, Violation of Electronic Surveillance Act, 2018 Case: 3:18-cv-00450-jdp Document #: 1 Filed: 06/12/18 Page 1 of 58 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN BRETT LIEBERMAN, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, ) ) …

Wisconsin Settles State Prisoner’s Lawsuits for $13,000

Article • June 8, 2018 • from PLN June, 2018

Filed under: Retaliation for Use of Medical Services, Dental Care, Showers, Toilets, Hygiene Supplies, Restraints, Prisoner Property, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Mental Health

Wisconsin Settles State Prisoner’s Lawsuits for $13,000 by On February 2, 2017, Wisconsin officials agreed to pay $13,000 to settle two pro se federal lawsuits. Samuel S. Upthegrove, a Wisconsin state prisoner with mental health issues, filed two suits related to conditions of his confinement. One of his complaints alleged …

In the Public Interest - An Examination of Private Financing for Correctional and Immigration Detention Facilities, 2018

Publication • June 1, 2018

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Staff-Staff Assault, Private Prisons, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, GEO Group/Wackenhut, Prison Industries, Workplace Injury, Work Conditions/Safety, Prison Gangs, Staffing, Security Systems, Guard Brutality/Beatings

In the Public Interest - An Examination of Private Financing for Correctional and Immigration Detention Facilities, 2018 An examination of private financing for correctional and immigration detention facilities Report · In the Public Interest · June 2018 While governments have traditionally used municipal bonds to finance the construction of correctional …

Jones v. State of Wisconsin, WI, Complaint, Retaliation, 2018

Brief • May 22, 2018

Filed under: Retaliation

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Estate of Michael Madden v. Milwaukee County, WI, Complaint, Wrongful Death, 2018

Brief • May 17, 2018

Filed under: Wrongful Death

Estate of Michael Madden v. Milwaukee County, WI, Complaint, Wrongful Death, 2018 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN ________________________________________________________________________ GAIL STOCKTON, Individually, and as Special Administrator of the ESTATE OF MICHAEL MADDEN, deceased, Civil Action No. 2:18-cv-758 Plaintiffs, v. MILWAUKEE COUNTY, a municipal corporation, DAVID A. CLARKE, JR., …

Confusion Over Insanity Defense Leads One Jury to Issue Two Verdicts in Triple Murder

Article • May 9, 2018 • from PLN May, 2018

Filed under: Defenses, Jury Instructions, Juries, Mental Health

Confusion Over Insanity Defense Leads One Jury to Issue Two Verdicts in Triple Murder by Christopher Zoukis by Christopher Zoukis A jury’s decision that a defendant on trial for murder was mentally ill but should go to prison led a judge to initially withhold judgment in the case. Dan Popp, …

Seventh Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity in Jail Suicide Suit

Article • May 7, 2018 • from PLN May, 2018

Filed under: Qualified Immunity, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Suicides

Seventh Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity in Jail Suicide Suit by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On July 26, 2017, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a Wisconsin federal district court’s denial of qualified immunity to a jail guard and privately-contracted nurse after they ignored a prisoner’s risk …

Benson v. Meisner, WI, Complaint, Revealing Prison Informant, 2018

Brief • April 6, 2018

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, False Charges (Disciplinary Hearings), Failure to Protect (General), Eighth Amendment, Telephone Access, First Amendment, rights

Benson v. Meisner, WI, Complaint, Revealing Prison Informant, 2018 Case 2:18-cv-00538-DEJ Filed 04/06/18 Page 1 of 12 Document 1 Case 2:18-cv-00538-DEJ Filed 04/06/18 Page 2 of 12 Document 1 Case 2:18-cv-00538-DEJ Filed 04/06/18 Page 3 of 12 Document 1 Case 2:18-cv-00538-DEJ Filed 04/06/18 Page 4 of 12 Document 1 Case …

Washington v. Boughton, WI, Opinion, Pro Se, Ineffective Counsel, 2018

Brief • March 8, 2018

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Appointment of Counsel, Self-representation, Denial of Due Process

Washington v. Boughton, WI, Opinion, Pro Se, Ineffective Counsel, 2018 In the United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit ____________________ No. 16‐3253 RODNEY WASHINGTON, Petitioner‐Appellant, v. GARY A. BOUGHTON, Warden, Wisconsin Secure Program Facility, Respondent‐Appellee. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of …

Federal Lawsuit Filed in Dehydration Death at Wisconsin Jail; Three Jailers Charged

Article • March 6, 2018 • from PLN March, 2018

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Water, Federal Statutory Law, Wrongful Death

Federal Lawsuit Filed in Dehydration Death at Wisconsin Jail; Three Jailers Charged by by Derek Gilna A federal civil rights suit was filed in federal court in Wisconsin on August 14, 2017, after a prisoner died at the Milwaukee County Jail (MCJ) – reportedly after being deprived of water for …

Summary Judgment Reversed for Delay in Treating Prisoner in Extreme Pain

Article • March 6, 2018 • from PLN March, 2018

Filed under: Failure to Treat, Summary Judgment

Summary Judgment Reversed for Delay in Treating Prisoner in Extreme Pain by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment in favor of a guard and a nurse in a civil rights action alleging they were deliberately indifferent to a prisoner’s serious medical needs and unnecessarily prolonged his suffering. …