Lawmakers, advocates stress need for Wisconsin prison system reform

 

MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- After a series of troubling incidents at Wisconsin's youth prison and others, lawmakers and advocates gathered in Madison Tuesday to offer up solutions. 

The Assembly Committee on Corrections held an informational hearing just weeks after a youth counselor at Lincoln Hills died when an inmate assaulted him. Four inmates also died while in custody at the prison in Waupun this year. 

Lawmakers and advocates stressed the need for reforming the state's prison system. 

One newly retired correctional sergeant with nearly three decades of experience pointed to accountability from those who run the prisons as a needed change. 

"A person can complain or bring an issue to management, but without accountability anymore, it gets flushed down the toilet, like an inmate complaint that no one wants to address. As far as staff concerns go, it doesn't appear anyone is listening because we see a lot of these same things these families are seeing and there's nothing we can do about it," said Paul Oosterhouse. 

The hearing took place the same day lawmakers on the Joint Finance Committee approved a $2.5 million request to help cover the costs of holding minors with an adult sentence at the state's youth prison.