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Coalition pushes for closure of Wisconsin’s Green Bay prison
By Shereen Siewert,
21 days ago
A coalition of politicians, members of law enforcement and formerly incarcerated people took to the state Capitol last week to urge the governor and state lawmakers to shut down one of Wisconsin’s oldest prisons.
The group’s goal is to get Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to commit to closing the Green Bay Correctional Institution, or GBCI, in Wisconsin’s next two-year budget, Rep. David Steffen, R-Green Bay, said during a forum in Madison.
He was joined by numerous local elected officials, including Allouez Village President Jim Rafter, who’s running for the state Senate as a Republican.
A 2020 report detailed numerous problems at the 126-year-old maximum-security facility in Allouez, including security concerns, leaky plumbing and noncompliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“All of the major prison codes relating to construction and operation, it has failed,” Steffen said. “It is in a dire state, and it’s waiting for a major issue to happen.”
At the same time, progressive proponents of criminal justice have opposed building another prison. Instead, they’ve argued for reducing Wisconsin’s incarcerated population so replacement is not necessary.
“It’s not understaffing, it’s overcrowding,” JOSHUA Co-President Steve Warner said of GBCI’s problems during the forum in Madison. “We have way too many people in our prison system in this state.”
JOSHUA, a progressive faith-based organization, is part of the coalition advocating for Green Bay’s closure.
That’s forced men to double-up in cells designed for a single person, noted Randy Knapp, whose 23-year-old son is incarcerated at Green Bay.
“When they eat their meals, morning, noon and night, they’re within about 2 feet of the toilet,” Knapp said. “What a table.”
Departments of Corrections Spokesperson Beth Hardtke said inmates began eating meals in their cells in 2020 to limit the spread of COVID-19. She said that practice continues at some prisons, including Green Bay, because of understaffing.
During the forum in Madison, several panelists argued pay alone isn’t enough to recruit and maintain staff at the dilapidated prison, which has earned the nickname “Gladiator School.”
Brown County Sheriff Todd Delain said the outdated design of the prison makes it inefficient to patrol and puts staff at risk. And, he said, the facility’s layout isn’t conducive to rehabilitating inmates so they can return to society.
“That kind of goes back to an overall frustration of being housed in a small, tight environment for extended periods of time,” DeLain said. “The staff does the very best they can. But the facility limits their ability to be able to allow inmates to move to different areas and have recreation and different programming.”
The cells at Green Bay measure roughly 56 square feet and the 2020 report found they didn’t meet modern American Correctional Association standards at single occupancy, let alone double occupancy.
Citing safety concerns amid severe short-staffing staffing, DOC officials have been limiting the movement and activities of prisoners at Green Bay for the last 10 months.
In a statement Friday, an Evers spokesperson says there’s been “no change in the governor’s positions” on closing or replacing Green Bay.
“Any plan to close an adult correctional institution must be comprehensive and considered holistically based on the needs of Wisconsin’s adult corrections program,” spokesperson Britt Cudaback wrote in an email.
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