Overview of our prison population

 

        A LOOK AT OUR PRISON POPULATION

  

1)the MENTALLY ILL 

Officially over 40% of WI prisoners are mentally ill- unofficially, it is more like 70% > Very few get treatment , most end up in what is called "RHU's" restrictive housing units'

The forgotten ones- RHUs -And the mentally ill stuck in them.

 There are no words that adequately express the daily horrors these forgotten prisoners endure. We have filed a plea for  investigation with the USDOJ and are working on a class a action to get complete change of rules around dealing with prisoner confused needing therapy and the building of a mental health treatment center for the men. There is a treatment center for WI women prisoners which was once well functioning, but we are told has lost its mission along with the rest of the system.

        A glimpse of conditions in our RHUs-Prisoners in these gulags get no tools to deal with anger and frustration and hunger strikes or self harm become main ways for prisoners to relieve stress. The hunger strikes and desperate letters and reports of self harm are also the prisoner’s only way to reach us in a way that forces is to finally act- they  get little phone and no corrlinks and our mail now takes a month to reach them  (  text behind). When they “act out” due to their frustrations and mental illness, they are given more time through a bizzare”evaluation” system that allows the prison to charge them with new felonies. OR they are reclassified as “malingering” and sent to AC where they can spend decades,

Here is a link to a DOC Power point document which proudly shows  the successes of the new mental health treatment center for women in Taychedah, ( Fond du Lac, WI)  . There are lots of photos also,  I have had conversations with two former psychologist who state it was well run and “not like a prison”.This  power point document was made about a decade ago and we need a center like it for the men. Is it possible to propose the building of such a center for men to the legislature? It would solve a basic problem.

WI doc Power point Report on the then new Mental Health Treatment center at TCI

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wCACP5xbKjmrf4cu2D85N38TmwmSW55M/view?usp=share_lin 

2)REVOKED FOR RULE VIOLATIIONS, non-felonies 

These are half the admissions each year. “Set up to fail” is the saying among prisoners- no support before or upon release and then swept back into the system for minor infractions. Parole officers have ultimate power and some try to help, most don’t and some have a zero “success” rate and are proud of it. There are guidelines that are not followed. Guidelines need to be reviewed and Effective guidelines turned into enforced rules or laws. 

2) THE ELDERLY :when is enough time for  punishment? Why are we building nursing home and hospice units in our prisons instead of letting these elderly go home. Most are OLD LAW prisoners which means they have been eligible for release , sometime for decades.

Ron Schilling

Ron Schilling, is 71 now. He is one of hundreds of elderly who are not threat to anyone and should be home. His  two blogs, linked below, were put together around 10 years ago and are  still relevant- Ron has had a  heart attack and has many other serious health conditions  As an old law prisoner , he was eligible for release after serving 1/4 of his sentence,

here he still sits. 

his blogs:
https://freeronschilling.blogspot.com/2007/07/the-parole-fiasco-and-ron-schilling.htm
https://schillingessays.blogspot.com/

3)Juvenile offenders

4)  ordered by the court to be deported but still here.

5)TIS truth in sentencing- a broken system