Lincoln Hills juvenile prison reaches improvement goals as monitoring ends
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge James Peterson ended mandated oversight of the Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake youth prisons. A court-mandated monitoring program for the juvenile detention facilities found them to be in “substantial compliance” with reforms sought in a 2018 class action settlement, marking a new chapter in their troubled history.
Teresa Abreu, the court-appointed monitor, praised the progress both facilities have made in the latest report. “This accomplishment reflects years of deliberate and meaningful reform, including the elimination of OC spray, the removal of punitive room confinement, the reduction of restraint usage and confinement in general, the use of MANDT, the implementation of a robust behavior management system and programming efforts to reduce idleness, and a strong emphasis on staff wellness.”
For years, the Lincoln Hills School for Boys and the Copper Lake School for Girls were notorious among the nation’s largest juvenile prisons. Children and teens incarcerated there, most of them from Milwaukee, described being subjected to pepper spray, solitary confinement, and man-handling by guards. Guards also reported experiencing violence and injuries caused by incarcerated youth.
Those reports culminated in a lawsuit filed in 2017 by the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, the Juvenile Law Center, and Quarles & Brandy LLP over conditions in both corrections facilities. A settlement agreement was eventually reached, and included a consent decree which mandated that policies, practices, and conditions improve at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake, while also appointing a monitor to ensure that the facilities came into compliance with the settlement.
