|
The American
Civil Liberties Union and Juvenile Law Center filed the lawsuit
against Wisconsin Department of Corrections officials on behalf
of four unnamed youths at the Lincoln Hills School for Boys and
the Copper Lake School for Girls in Irma, Wisconsin.
The civil rights class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District
Court for the Western District of Wisconsin named two department
of corrections officials as defendants, as well as the
supervisor of the facilities and the security director.
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections will review the suit,
spokesman Tristan Cook said by email Monday evening.
Some 15 to 20 percent of detainees at the facilities are kept in
solitary confinement for 22 or 23 hours a day, the complaint
said.
"Many of these children are forced to spend their only free hour
of time per day outside of a solitary confinement cell in
handcuffs and chained to a table," the complaint said.
"Officers also repeatedly and excessively use Bear Mace and
other pepper sprays against the youth, causing them excruciating
pain and impairing their breathing."
The complaint added that, "these practices constitute serious
violations of the children’s constitutional rights."
The four plaintiffs are not named in the lawsuit because they
are minors. They are represented by their parents.
Two are currently in custody at Lincoln Hills and one is in
Copper Lake, the complaint said. The fourth was previously in
custody at Lincoln Hills but is now at another facility.
Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake, which share a campus around 215
miles (346 km) north of Milwaukee, Wisconsin have been the
subject of multiple complaints and investigations in recent
years.
An investigation into allegations including child neglect and
sexual assault at the facilities was launched by State Attorney
General Brad Schimel in January 2015, according to local media.
The FBI joined the investigation in December 2015.
A report by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published late last
year detailed numerous issues at the facilities stemming from
systemic breakdowns, lax management and staff shortages.
In one incident, a teenager's toes were partially amputated
after his foot was crushed in a cell door and authorities waited
nearly two hours to transport him to the hospital, the newspaper
reported.
(Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Editing by Cynthia
Osterman)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
