from green Bay. I'm Aditi Debnath for "Here& Now"
>> In the wake of the death of a guard at the Lincoln Hills
Juvenile Correctional Facility earlier this summer, for which
two youths there have been charged. A federal judge this
week declined to allow the continued use of pepper spray to
restrain incarcerated juveniles. juveniles over years at Lincoln
Hills prohibits the use of pepper spray, mechanical
restraints and solitary confinement. But weren't the
Northern Wisconsin Juvenile Correctional Facility supposed
We turn to Democratic state Senator LaTonya Johnson of
Milwaukee, ranking member of the Judiciary and Public Safety
Committee, and member of joint finance. And Senator, thanks
very much for being here. >> Thank you for having me.
>> So the juvenile facilities for boys and girls in Wisconsin
seem to be places of despair and danger. What has taken so long
to close them? >> Well, what's taken an
exceptionally long time is the fact that Joint Finance
Committee refuses to release all of the funds that are needed to
build these facilities in order to close Lincoln Hills, for
example, they made their first request in 2019. In October,
December, November? No response. Then it was finally denied in
February 2020. And that was for about $73 million to create two
type one facilities in order for Lincoln Hills to close.
>> We should mention that we did invite a Republican member of
Joint Finance, Senator Mary Koski, to join this discussion,
but we did not hear back. But to you, what do you say to officers
or counselors there whom a court ordered monitored this week
reported, expressed fear for their safety?
>> I understand their fear, and they have every right to be
fearful. They lost a colleague. Their colleague died trying to
do his job. And that's exceptionally understandable.
But I think as the state legislature, we have to take
accountability for our part. And that was the failure to get the
Department of, corrections, the funds that were needed to have
Lincoln Hills closed. Lincoln Hills is mandated to close from
a juvenile detention center. And we know in order to do that, we
have to have other smaller facilities closer to home. For
example, Dane County needs the facility as well. There was a
request made of $83 million, and that was in 2023. So they could
start the creation of their third, type one facility. That
was denied and only about $12 million was approved. No, $6
million was approved. And that was for an exploratory, event
for them to find the land and to start the procedures. So with
that timeline, we know that Lincoln Hills won't be set to
close at least until 2029. >> So what do you say to
families whose children are held there with that kind of timelin?
>> They deserve better. Lincoln Hills should have been closed.
Their children should have been closer to home a long time ago,
and had those funds been approved, Lincoln Hills would
have been closed and their children would have been much
closer to home. in the beating death of the
guard was supposed to be transferred, I understand, to
the expanded secure mental health facility at Mendota, but
there was no space. So is this emblematic of the larger
correctional system with staffing?
>> So as far as that's concerned, we weren't that
wasn't confirmed or denied to us because of HIPAA laws, but I do
know that a request was made in January of this year, and that
was for additional dollars, for the closure of Lincoln Hills and
the expansion of Mendota. So Lincoln Hills cannot close
without without Mendota expansion going from, I believe,
29 beds to over 90. That too was denied, that funding wasn't
given to the Department of Corrections until later after
Corrie's death, it was approved. And these are the type of things
that we can't continue to see, because it just further
postpones the closing of the closure of Lincoln Hills, the
Department of Corrections, they know their jobs and they know
what money is needed. And the longer it takes for us to
approve this, the more inflationary costs we get. For
example, the request that was originally made for the facility
in Milwaukee was originally requested at $45 million, and
that was in 2020. That cost is now costing us $76 million in
2024. So not only is it costing us time, it's costing us money.
And I would I think it's fair to say that it has now cost a life.
>> We need to leave it there. >> We need to leave it there.