Limits on Recreation, Visits, and More Persist in Wisconsin Prisons

Tuesday, January 9th, 2024 -- 11:00 AM

(Kelli Arseneau, Green Bay Press-Gazette) More than a month after Gov. Tony Evers declared plans to lift lockdown restrictions at two of Wisconsin’s maximum-security prisons, limitations on recreation, visitation, meals, showers, programming and more persist without a clear end in sight.

According to Kelli Arseneau with the Green Bay Press-Gazette, since the governor's announcement Nov. 14, video and in-person visitation has resumed at Green Bay Correctional Institution, and video visitation has resumed at Waupun Correctional Institution.

But there have been few other changes, prisoners and advocates say.Wisconsin Department of Corrections spokesperson Kevin Hoffman said he could not specify or estimate how often people incarcerated at the two prisons, or any state prison, receive recreation, phone calls, medical and mental health services, or access to law libraries.

The Department of Corrections says Waupun Correctional Institution has been under so-called "modified movement" since March, and Green Bay Correctional Institution since June.

"It’s very difficult to provide the numbers of hours or minutes persons are receiving all services because it can depend on a variety of factors like staffing and other resources, so any number I could provide may not be the same tomorrow or next week," Hoffman said in an email.

In letters to reporters, people incarcerated at the two prisons described facing months of severe restrictions on programming, reduced access to showers, long waitlists for dental and medical needs, and more.

Prisoners spend nearly all hours of the day locked in roughly 8-by-7-foot cells, approximately one-third the size of the average college dorm room, and many have a bunkmate. They eat meals feet from a toilet that has restrictions on how often it can be flushed.

And with restrictions in place that diminish access to basic necessities like exercise and communication with loved ones, prisoners and advocates say the conditions are disastrous for mental health.

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