Judge rejects GOP call to give Wisconsin youth prison counselors more freedom to punish inmates

MADISON, Wis. — A federal judge has rejected Republican legislators' calls to give counselors at Wisconsin's troubled youth prison more leeway in controlling and punishing inmates after a counselor was killed during a fight at the facility this summer.

U.S. District Judge James Peterson sent a letter Tuesday to state Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Van Wanggaard and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers telling them if they want changes at Lincoln Hills-Copper Lake Schools they should file a formal legal motion and need to show current restrictions on counselors are endangering staff and inmates.

The youth prison in northern Wisconsin has been plagued by allegations of staff-on-inmate abuse, including excessive use of pepper spray, restraints and strip searches.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit in 2017 demanding improvements at the prison. Then-Gov. Scott Walker's administration settled the case in 2018 by agreeing to a consent decree that prohibits punitive confinement, restricts confinement to 12 hours, limits the use of mechanical restraints to handcuffs and prohibits the use of pepper spray.

A group of GOP lawmakers led by Wanggaard have been pushing to relax the consent decree since counselor Corey Proulx was killed in June. According to a criminal complaint, Proulx fell and hit his head on concrete pavement after a 16-year-old male inmate punched him in the face. He was pronounced brain-dead two days later.

Wanggaard and other Republicans sent a letter on Aug. 16 to Evers, Corrections Secretary Jared Hoy and U.S. District Judge James Peterson complaining that the consent decree's restrictions have made the youth prison more dangerous for staff and inmates. The Republicans asked Hoy to ask Peterson to reconsider the prohibitions.

Evers wrote his own letter to Peterson on Aug. 14 urging the judge to leave the consent decree alone. He reminded Peterson that brutal staff-on-youth punishments led to the restrictions in the first place and said conditions at the prison have been slowly improving since Proulx's death. After learning of the governor's letter, Wanggaard sent another letter on Aug. 16 to Peterson saying the governor's letter was political rhetoric.

Peterson wrote in his letter Tuesday that the consent decree has been in place for six years and it's unfortunate that Proulx had to die to get state officials' attention.

He went on to say that the way to demand change is through a legal motion, which would give all parties involved in the case a chance to weigh in.

The judge warned anyone who might consider filing such a motion that the U.S. Constitution sets minimum standards for treating inmates “beyond which lie cruelty and barbarism.” He noted that the consent decree does allow the use of handcuffs and confinement to protect anyone from harm and he'd like to see evidence that the restrictions pose a risk to youth or staff.

Wanggaard said in an email to The Associated Press on Wednesday morning that he'll continue to push for “responsible training and tools” at the youth prison and criticized Evers for not authorizing Hoy to demand Peterson revisit the consent decree.

Asked if GOP legislators might file a motion themselves, Wanggaard aide Scott Kelly said that the Legislature isn't a party in the case and Wanggaard hadn't discussed with him or other lawmakers joining it. Kelly threw the problem back at Evers, saying the governor could direct Hoy to seek revisions to the consent decree and improve policies at the youth prison.

Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback and Department of Corrections spokesperson Beth Hardtke didn't immediately respond to messages Wednesday morning.