Report: Wisconsin Ahead Of The Curve In Preventing Assault Of Youth Inmates

A new report on what states are doing to protect juveniles in prison from sexual assault has found that Wisconsin is one of many states making slow progress toward complying with the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act.

The report by the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign for Youth Justice found there are currently 27 youth held in Wisconsin state prisons. Study author Carmen Dougherty said Wisconsin statutes protecting them are stronger than those in other states.

“I think Wisconsin does a better job in ensuring that there are safety valves in place for kids who do have to come over to the adult side,” said Dougherty.

The Prison Rape Elimination Act, passed in 2003, requires inmates under 18 to be separated by sight and sound from adults in the same institution. Dougherty said the best way for the state to comply with federal law would be to change the state law that automatically sends any youth offenders under 17 to adult prison.

“The cheapest and the smartest thing to do is to move them into juvenile facilities,” she said.

There’s a bipartisan effort underway in the state Legislature now to do just that, but Jim Moeser of the Wisconsin Council for Children and Families while that law would reduce the number of youth placed in adult jails and prisons, it will only affect nonviolent offenders.

The study also raises concerns about protecting juveniles held in county jails, where there is often no way to separate young offenders from adults. Doughtery said local jails often end up housing youth in solitary cells, which she said violates recommendations within the 2003 law.

“The act’s Youthful Inmate Standard recommends or highly suggests that states do not use solitary confinement in this way,” she said.

The state Department of Corrections website does include data on the number of alleged sexual assaults in state prisons, but it doesn’t include any information specifying the age of the victims. It also does not include information on how county jails are complying with the requirement to keep juveniles separated from adults.