Walker Says His Administration Strongly Committed To Ending Problems At Lincoln Hills

Gov. Scott Walker brushed off concerns about controversial incidents at the Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls near Wausau.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, using documents released an open records request, reported that a supervisor at the juvenile prison wasn’t disciplined after she took part in the humiliation of inmates and used pepper spray against another juvenile.

But Walker said those incidents took place before Jon Litscher took over as the state’s corrections secretary this year.

“Most of these recent stories are about things that happened before Secretary Litscher came into place. So, it’s a rehash of things in the past. But since February, Jon Litscher (has) been the new secretary,” he said. “He’s been committed to training. He’s been committed to disciplinary accountability and those are things that have been part of the process since he’s been in and we’re committed to helping him do that.”

However, the Milwaukee newspaper reports that the Walker administration has had the ability to discipline the supervisor. An advocate for a prison reform group wants the state to close the Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake facilities.