Lake Effect Special, 11/21/23: Deaths and dire conditions continue at Waupun Correctional Institution

Published November 21, 2023 at 8:00 AM CST

Prisoners at the Waupun Correctional Institute have been kept in lockdown for months.

Three prisoners have died at the Waupun Correctional Institution, where lockdown conditions remain and prisoners say they’re continuing to suffer.

In this special edition of Lake Effect, we’ll explore the crisis facing Wisconsin jails and prisons. Joy Powers will examine proposals from the governor and the legislature – and their limitations. Sam Woods looks into what conditions currently look like for prisoners at Waupun Correctional Institution and speaks with a man formerly incarcerated there.

Local podcasts reimagines the incarceration system

Tracy King

Stock Adobe

New report from Wisconsin Policy Forum analyzes state incarceration

Wisconsin prisons are overspending, overpopulated, understaffed, and house the highest Black imprisonment rate in the country. The Wisconsin Policy Forum explores why and discusses potential policy solutions.

Talib Akbar speaks during an Oct. 10, 2023, protest at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis. WISDOM, a statewide faith-based social justice organization, organized the protest. Akbar was incarcerated for 20 years before his release in 2013 and spent at least 10 stints in solitary confinement, including a stretch lasting nearly a year. WISDOM and partner organizations called on the short-staffed Wisconsin Department of Corrections to lift restrictions on prisoner movement, reduce the prison population and invest in community-based programs that aid prisoner rehabilitation. (Meryl Hubbard / Wisconsin Watch)

Meryl Hubbard / Wisconsin Watch/Meryl Hubbard / Wisconsin Watch

Second prisoner dies during Waupun Correctional Institution lockdown; restrictions linger at two additional prisons

Staffing shortages limit prisoner movement in Waupun, Green Bay and Stanley correctional institutions — more facilities than previously disclosed.

Wisconsin Policy Forum analyzes state prison trends with new report, "Prison Blues"

Global Image Archive

WUWM

Gov. Evers proposes major changes to address crisis at Wisconsin prisons, but lockdowns persist

Significant changes proposed by Governor Tony Evers and a package of bills introduced in the Wisconsin Legislature seek to improve conditions for prisoners in the state. How successful will these measures be?

Chuck Quirmbach

WUWM

Should prisons be places of retribution or rehabilitation?

James Morgan, now a community organizer in Madison, was incarcerated in Wisconsin state prisons for 24 years. He says the state's prisons are built strictly for punishment when they should be used for rehabilitation.