Wisconsin Will Close Two Juvenile Facilities Under Federal Investigation

"A year ago, the Juvenile Law Center and the ACLU filed a class-action lawsuit against the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) over conditions at the Lincoln Hills School for Boys and the Copper Lake School for Girls.

The facilities had already been under investigation by the Justice Department since 2015. The central issues in the lawsuit: somewhere between 15 and 20 percent of the juveniles held in the facilities were living in solitary confinement, and there was rampant use of chemical restraints to control behavior.

Advocates who joined the litigators in announcing the lawsuit held out no hope for reform of the facilities; they wanted them closed. One year later, it appears they will get their wish."