Former guards and inmate families urge lawmakers to fix Wisconsin prisons

Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Former prison guards in Wisconsin and family members of people incarcerated there are urging lawmakers fix what they’re calling systemic problems in the state’s prisons. Witnesses at a legislative hearing Tuesday detailed allegations of sexual harassment by supervisors, retaliation against guards and inmate abuse going back years. The hearing came two weeks after a guard was killed at the state’s youth prison and a month after multiple staffers at a maximum security adult prison were charged in connection with two inmate deaths. Lawmakers say they are looking at the possibility of changes they could enact in response.