1
00:00:06,607 --> 00:00:09,810
>> A major overhaul of
Wisconsin's prison system

2
00:00:09,877 --> 00:00:13,380
got off the starting blocks
this week, when the State

3
00:00:13,447 --> 00:00:16,717
Building Commission voted
to approve $15 million to

4
00:00:16,783 --> 00:00:19,653
start the planning phase,
as Here and Now, reporter

5
00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:23,090
Steven Potter tells us.
Governor Tony Evers six

6
00:00:23,156 --> 00:00:26,894
year, $500 million plan is
wide ranging and touches

7
00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:29,596
multiple institutions
across the state.

8
00:00:29,663 --> 00:00:33,534
>> We need to ensure that
folks that are currently

9
00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:37,571
incarcerated need to have
adequate conditions. At

10
00:00:37,638 --> 00:00:39,740
least that's the bare
minimum.

11
00:00:39,806 --> 00:00:42,643
>> In a proposal from
Governor Tony Evers. That's

12
00:00:42,709 --> 00:00:45,445
supported by his fellow
Democrats in the state

13
00:00:45,512 --> 00:00:47,614
legislature. Several
significant upgrades and

14
00:00:47,681 --> 00:00:50,484
changes would be made to
the state prison system.

15
00:00:50,551 --> 00:00:52,853
>> We're the only path
forward, and I certainly

16
00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:56,356
hope that we can still find
a way forward is through

17
00:00:56,423 --> 00:00:59,459
bipartisan consensus.
>> Recently, Evers again

18
00:00:59,526 --> 00:01:02,196
urged the State Building
Commission, which met

19
00:01:02,262 --> 00:01:04,398
earlier this week, to
approve spending $15

20
00:01:04,464 --> 00:01:07,401
million to set in motion
what he calls a

21
00:01:07,467 --> 00:01:10,704
comprehensive correctional
facilities plan. The

22
00:01:10,771 --> 00:01:13,640
governor first unveiled
this plan, which he calls a,

23
00:01:13,707 --> 00:01:18,679
quote, Domino series of
projects across six dock

24
00:01:18,745 --> 00:01:20,747
facilities during the state
budget process earlier this

25
00:01:20,814 --> 00:01:23,650
year.
>> These steps are each a

26
00:01:23,717 --> 00:01:26,320
critical part, a crucial
part of this comprehensive

27
00:01:26,386 --> 00:01:28,956
plan. And they have to
happen together.

28
00:01:29,022 --> 00:01:31,425
>> Primary among these
changes is closing the

29
00:01:31,491 --> 00:01:34,528
green Bay Correctional
Institution 125 year old

30
00:01:34,595 --> 00:01:38,098
facility, which has seen
severe understaffing and

31
00:01:38,165 --> 00:01:41,602
overcrowding issues, as
well as inmate violence and

32
00:01:41,668 --> 00:01:44,371
lengthy prisoner lockdowns.
Another change would be to

33
00:01:44,438 --> 00:01:47,641
transform the Waupan
Correctional Institution

34
00:01:47,708 --> 00:01:50,544
into a, quote, vocational
village that would create

35
00:01:50,611 --> 00:01:52,713
skills training and
workforce readiness

36
00:01:52,779 --> 00:01:56,149
programs for inmates to
help them land jobs after

37
00:01:56,216 --> 00:01:58,952
their release. Other
changes include converting

38
00:01:59,019 --> 00:02:01,321
the Stanley Correctional
Institution into a larger

39
00:02:01,388 --> 00:02:04,558
capacity maximum security
facility, and converting

40
00:02:04,625 --> 00:02:08,662
the John Burke Correctional
Center, also in Waupan,

41
00:02:08,729 --> 00:02:11,598
into a female institution
and adding hundreds of more

42
00:02:11,665 --> 00:02:15,536
beds there. The Evers Plan
also calls for adding more

43
00:02:15,602 --> 00:02:18,639
minimum security beds to
the Sanger B. Powers

44
00:02:18,705 --> 00:02:20,607
Correctional Center in
Outagamie County, and to

45
00:02:20,674 --> 00:02:23,544
convert the long troubled
youth prisons of Lincoln

46
00:02:23,610 --> 00:02:26,647
Hills and Copper Lake in
far northern Wisconsin into

47
00:02:26,713 --> 00:02:29,483
adult facilities.
>> There's not an

48
00:02:29,550 --> 00:02:32,920
alternative to my plan that
is safer, faster and

49
00:02:32,986 --> 00:02:36,857
cheaper. Period. Except for
doing nothing.

50
00:02:36,924 --> 00:02:40,627
>> State Senator Dora Drake,
who represents parts of and

51
00:02:40,694 --> 00:02:43,263
some suburbs of northern
Milwaukee, wants to see the

52
00:02:43,330 --> 00:02:45,732
funding for the plan move
forward.

53
00:02:45,799 --> 00:02:48,569
>> Put funding where it
needs to go so we can close

54
00:02:48,635 --> 00:02:52,306
down some of our facilities
that we know are severely

55
00:02:52,372 --> 00:02:54,708
for folks that are
incarcerated, and the

56
00:02:54,775 --> 00:02:56,677
workers provide a different
system where we are

57
00:02:56,743 --> 00:02:59,313
providing vocational
opportunities.

58
00:02:59,379 --> 00:03:01,682
>> Separate. And aside from
this push for Governor

59
00:03:01,748 --> 00:03:04,852
Evers new prison plans,
there is already major

60
00:03:04,918 --> 00:03:08,021
change underway for where
the state houses minors

61
00:03:08,088 --> 00:03:12,059
convicted of serious crimes.
And that's through the

62
00:03:12,125 --> 00:03:14,461
construction of a brand new
youth prison for boys in

63
00:03:14,528 --> 00:03:17,264
Milwaukee, being built in
Senator Drake's district

64
00:03:17,331 --> 00:03:19,499
with money already
allocated. The new youth

65
00:03:19,566 --> 00:03:22,736
prison in Milwaukee is
expected to cost $78

66
00:03:22,803 --> 00:03:26,740
million. It will include
educational, vocational,

67
00:03:26,807 --> 00:03:30,043
counseling and recreational
programs aimed at lowering

68
00:03:30,110 --> 00:03:32,513
the recidivism rate for
young people in the

69
00:03:32,579 --> 00:03:34,848
juvenile justice system.
>> It's needed is because

70
00:03:34,915 --> 00:03:37,718
our children need to be
closer to home. If we're

71
00:03:37,784 --> 00:03:40,521
serious about uplifting our
young people, then all of

72
00:03:40,587 --> 00:03:43,590
us have a part to play in
that. Point blank period.

73
00:03:43,657 --> 00:03:45,526
>> Drake points out that
the state corrections

74
00:03:45,592 --> 00:03:48,662
system needs all of these
changes, and even more

75
00:03:48,729 --> 00:03:51,265
adjustments to better help
the majority of prisoners

76
00:03:51,331 --> 00:03:54,501
who will ultimately be
released.

77
00:03:54,568 --> 00:03:57,437
>> Whether you're a child
or an adult, you are coming

78
00:03:57,504 --> 00:04:01,108
home. And so what are we
doing to ensure that you

79
00:04:01,175 --> 00:04:03,577
get the wraparound services
to not only come back home

80
00:04:03,644 --> 00:04:06,880
and have a fair shot at
being successful, but what

81
00:04:06,947 --> 00:04:11,418
can we be doing as a state
can we be doing as a state