The conditions inside Wisconsin prisons are cruel and unacceptable. Far too often, people incarcerated in correctional facilities across the state are denied even the bare necessities to survive, and are subject to unfathomable cruelty.
Incarcerated people are often locked in solitary confinement for days, weeks, and even months on end with no knowledge of when they will be removed, something that most people would consider torture. When incarcerated people are sick or in need of medical treatment, they are often refused timely care, if they receive treatment at all. Even the most basic things – like looking out the window to look at the sky and sun, or talk briefly to a friend or loved one on the phone – are often out of reach.
The daily indignities that incarcerated people suffer – and the callousness of people in power who know what’s happening, choose to look away and allow it to continue – should outrage all of us. Being incarcerated shouldn’t warrant inhumane treatment. And it most certainly should never be a death sentence.
The human cost and economic cost of incarceration for families is profound. It all adds up: the cost of phone calls, video calls, and electronic messages with loved ones; cost of basic hygiene items in commissary besides your tiny bar of soap, tiny tube of toothpaste, and single stamped envelope every two weeks; accessibility of in-person visits and transportation to those visits. And remember, over half the people incarcerated in DOC are paid less than 10 cents an hour for their work assignments.
You can’t even get a physical letter from someone anymore. If your child hand draws something for you, you don’t get the original copy that your child held and created. You get a sterile photocopy that threatens to erase an essential aspect of what keeps people hopeful, motivated, and connected to the outside world.
The Conditions of Confinement package of bills recognizes the humanity of people who are incarcerated. People end up in the carceral system for many reasons, and we must remember that we are all more than our worst day or worst mistake. Incarcerated people should not be forced to face unlivable environments. The ultimate goal of incarceration is rehabilitation, which means giving people access to basic needs, including hygiene products, natural light, the outdoors, recreational programming, and free connection to their loved ones, including phone calls. These bills would allow people placed in solitary confinement to read books and to write, participate in structured programming, and ensure that pregnant people continue to get prenatal care. They would guarantee a minimum wage of $2.33 per hour.
These proposals are not asking for anything radical – they just seek to give incarcerated folks a basic standard of living that every human being deserves. When incarcerated people are treated with respect and decency, they are more likely to have better outcomes when they return home. If we are actually a state that believes in the dignity of all people, we must pass these reforms. Incarcerated people are our family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. They deserve better.
