Sweeping deal with teen inmates will see Wisconsin end use of pepper spray and restrict solitary at teen prisons

MADISON - The state reached a sweeping settlement Friday over its treatment of juvenile inmates that would end the use of pepper spray, greatly restrict solitary confinement and reduce strip searches.

The agreement would overhaul conditions at the troubled Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls and establish policies for new juvenile lockups that are to be built in the coming years. An independent monitor would help enforce the agreement and have the power to inspect the facilities, including the new ones.

As part of the deal, Gov. Scott Walker’s administration agreed to pay fees that will likely top $1 million. Those payments would cover the cost of the independent monitor and the legal fees of the inmates who brought the class-action lawsuit.

Those expenses come on top of nearly $19 million the state recently agreed to pay to a former inmate who suffered severe brain damage after a suicide attempt. At least four other inmate lawsuits are pending that could result in further payouts.

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Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake, which share a campus 30 miles north of Wausau, for more than three years have been the subject of a criminal investigation into prisoner abuse and child neglect. Two former guards have been notified they could be charged.

Walker and lawmakers in March approved a plan to close the facilities by 2021 and replace them with smaller facilities around the state.

Inmates represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin and Juvenile Law Center last year sued over conditions at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake. U.S. District Judge James Peterson last summer issued an injunction curbing the use of pepper spray, solitary confinement and handcuffs at the prison complex.

Friday’s settlement would put even tighter limits on those practices. Peterson will consider the settlement and whether to sign off on it in the coming weeks.

"I am happy that the children will no longer be subject to such cruel treatment," Gloria Norwood, the grandmother a Lincoln Hills inmate said in a statement released by the ACLU.

Under the settlement:

Juvenile inmates could not be placed in solitary confinement as a form of punishment. In the past, some inmates have spent weeks alone in 7-foot-by-10-foot cells.

Juvenile inmates could be confined to their rooms when there is a high risk they could harm others, but only for brief periods. In many cases, they could be confined for a maximum of four hours.

Pepper spray and other chemical agents would be banned.

Handcuffs and other restraints could be used only in limited circumstances, such as when inmates pose a risk to themselves or others or are being transported.

Strip searches of juveniles would be conducted only when there was probable cause to believe they possessed drugs or weapons that could not be found with metal detectors or pat-down searches.

The new rules would be in effect for Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake, as well as the new facilities that are being established.

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The provisions of the agreement would be phased in over about a year. Initially, pepper spray would be allowed and inmates could be held in solitary confinement for up to seven days as a form of punishment.

“While biggest step forward for youth is the closure of Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake, today’s settlement is also an important win,” said a statement from Jessica Feierman, associate director of Juvenile Law Center.

Corrections Secretary Jon Litscher in a statement said his agency would train Lincoln Hills workers to make sure they follow the new policies.

“Staff and youth safety is paramount to the Department of Corrections and we believe this settlement will maintain options which allow us to safely manage youth," said Litscher, who recently announced he will step down this month.

Litscher took over the department about a year into the criminal investigation, as the legal troubles for Lincoln Hills began to mount. He oversaw efforts to provide inmates with more programming and mental health services and give workers higher pay and more training.

Under the settlement, the facilities would be monitored by Teresa Abreu, an attorney and prison consultant who previously helped run a juvenile detention center in Cook County, Ill.

Abreu would have broad access to Department of Corrections records and the power to visit Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake at least four times the first year and at least twice a year after that. She would also be able to inspect the new juvenile facilities once they are up and running.

Abreu's fees are expected to cost Wisconsin taxpayers $130,000 the first year and $100,000 a year after that. In addition, the state will cover the inmates' legal fees, which are expected to be about $1 million, according to the ACLU.