Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Youth Facilities Found in Compliance, Triggering End to Court-Ordered Monitoring Set in Place by 2017 Lawsuit

Madison, WI (January 28, 2026) – Today, the court-appointed monitor overseeing Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake submitted the second consecutive report finding “substantial compliance” with all measures. In 2018, the State agreed to regular monitoring as part of the settlement of a class action lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Wisconsin, Juvenile Law Center and Quarles & Brady LLP to address harmful conditions at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake. As the settlement allows, Defendants today filed an unopposed motion to terminate the court-ordered Consent Decree.

The report, prepared by court-appointed monitor Teresa Abreu, states:

“For the second time since the entry of the Consent Decree, the Defendants have achieved substantial compliance with all provisions. This accomplishment reflects years of deliberate and meaningful reform, including the elimination of OC spray, the removal of punitive room confinement, the reduction of restraint usage and confinement in general, the use of MANDT, the implementation of a robust behavior management system and programming, efforts to reduce idleness, and a strong emphasis on staff wellness. These measures have produced a demonstrable improvement in the safety, climate, and culture of the facilities. Sustaining these reforms and maintaining a commitment to continuous improvement must remain a top priority, not just to protect youth and staff but also to ensure continued compliance with the Consent Decree, which has now been codified in the Wisconsin Administrative Code. These code provisions govern not only LHS/CLS but also any future Type I facilities.”

In 2017, ACLU of Wisconsin, Juvenile Law Center, and Quarles & Brady LLP sued over the shocking conditions at both facilities. After a preliminary court hearing in July 2017, Judge Peterson (W.D. Wi.) noted, “Ted Kaczynski has less restricted conditions of confinement than the youths at Lincoln Hills.” In 2018, the parties reached a settlement that set forth the standards for treatment moving forward and appointed the monitor to oversee compliance.

Juvenile Law Center, ACLU of Wisconsin, and Quarles & Brady have regularly participated in monitor visits over the past eight years, seeing the facilities firsthand, talking with young people about their experiences, and sharing concerns with the monitor.

While the settlement agreement will come to a close, the protections for young people will continue. Notably, the key provisions of the Consent Decree—which prevent punitive solitary confinement and limit pepper spray, mechanical restraints, and strip searches—are now codified in the Wisconsin Administrative Code. They will govern the treatment of children at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake, as well as all new state-run secure facilities for youth, even after the Consent Decree terminates.

“When we started this lawsuit in 2017, the use of pepper spray on children, solitary confinement, shackling, and strip searches were rampant at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake. Today, those practices have been eliminated or significantly restricted at the facilities, and the reforms codified into binding regulations,” said ACLU of Wisconsin Senior Staff Attorney Tim Muth.

Research shows that incarcerating youth is counterproductive, usually leading to a greater likelihood of being arrested and confined again.

Juvenile Law Center Senior Attorney Kate Burdick commented: “The facilities today are a far cry from where we started, and we are happy to see the significant headway made over the years. Yet we know that no child should grow up in a prison — even an improved one. Across Wisconsin, the focus should be on building up alternatives to incarceration that support young people and help them thrive at home and in their own communities.”

The Monitor also instructed the facilities not to become complacent and emphasized the importance of a thoughtful plan for transitioning youth out of the facilities and ultimately moving towards closure:

“Despite this progress, critical work remains. The Defendants must establish a comprehensive, long-term strategy for youth who are not suited for a juvenile correctional setting. As the Monitor has consistently advised, greater emphasis must be placed on transferring youth from LHS/CLS to more appropriate placements or diverting them from confinement altogether. The opening of new facilities should not result in increased incarceration; rather, it should advance the vision of placing youth closer to home and ultimately closing LHS/CLS.”

The unopposed motion to terminate the Consent Decree will not be final until approved by Judge Peterson.

ACLU of Wisconsin Senior Staff Attorney Tim Muth and Juvenile Law Center Senior Attorney Kate Burdick are available for comment or questions.

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Juvenile Law Center fights for rights, dignity, equity, and opportunity for youth. We work to reduce the harm of the child welfare and justice systems, limit their reach, and ultimately abolish them so all young people can thrive. Founded in 1975, Juvenile Law Center was the first nonprofit, public interest law firm for children in the country. As an advocacy organization we now use multiple approaches to accomplish our mission: legal advocacy, policy advocacy. youth-led advocacy, and strategic communications. We strive to ensure that laws, policies, and practices affecting youth advance racial and economic equity and are consistent with children's unique developmental characteristics and human dignity. For more information about Juvenile Law Center’s work, visit www.JLC.org.

The ACLU of Wisconsin is a non-profit, non-partisan, private organization whose 24,000 members support its efforts to defend the civil rights and liberties of all Wisconsin residents. For more on the ACLU of Wisconsin, visit our website at www.aclu-wi.org.