Wisconsin’s Department of Corrections bans a wide variety of books inside Wisconsin prisons, including martial arts and gunsmithing. Unfortunately, the bans go far beyond weapons and violence, extending into topics such as fantasy, gaming, coding, web design, and search engine optimization. The latter makes it harder for prisoners to keep current on subjects that help reestablish a career after serving their time. Learn more here.
Wisconsin in the midst of a constitutional crisis. Those accused of crimes without resources to hire an attorney regularly languish in jail waiting for legal representation as the State works to clear a backlog of an estimated 35,000 pending cases. Overcriminalization and a prosecution-oriented approach to public safety across the state have overwhelmed an already troubled system.
Read more here.
Unfortunately, the drop in prison population is not due to things like compassionate release or sentencing reform. One of the primary reasons is criminal cases taking longer in the courts and other delays associated with the pandemic.
Nearly $6 million in public and private grants have been added to the effort to make education more accessible to Wisconsin inmates. According to University of Wisconsin System interim president Tommy Thompson, the initiative’s goal is to “break the back of recidivism”.
https://www.wpr.org/public-private-grants-add-momentum-uw-system-prison-education-initiative
