CloseMSDF has been working for months to close the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility, saying the conditions are poor and the facility is heavily overcrowded.
When Mark Rice first arrived at the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility (MSDF), he had to sleep on the floor, next to a toilet, with three other men, in a cell that was designed for one person. As the weeks went on, Rice watched as men he knew severely mutilated themselves and attempted to commit suicide.
Rice, Milwaukee Campaign Coordinator at JustLeadershipUSA, arrived at the MSDF after his probation officer forced him to spend six months there to await a revocation hearing, following his arrest for a disorderly conduct charge, a charge that both the judge and prosecutor dismissed. “It was very traumatic and stressful experience for me,” he said. “I became very depressed because I couldn't understand why the state or anyone would think that anyone should be incarcerated after the charge is dropped. It shows the injustice of Wisconsin’s justice system.”
Mark Rice spent time at the MSDF. He is now part of the organizing effort for CloseMSDF.
Stories like this have become commonplace for many formerly incarcerated men and women across Milwaukee, leading many to start the CloseMSDF movement. Supporters often mention overcrowding, no access to sunlight or fresh air, no time for recreation, overheating and not enough resources for those suffering with mental illnesses. Just three years ago, the leader of Ex-Incarcerated People Organizing (EXPO) died in the facility because of the extreme heat, and the inability for him to receive medications he needed while he was there.
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“We are trying to close it down because people are suffering mentally,” said Charleston Smith, who said the three weeks he spent at the facility was one of the hardest things he has ever done. “People are not treated right, and we have a 20-hour lockdown… it’s just terrible and it’s a terrible place for anyone. It’s a building inside of a building.”
CloseMSDF, started by many EXPO leaders, organized a protest in front of the Milwaukee State Office Building Tuesday morning, where many Department of Corrections community supervision officials, including probation and parole officers, work.
“We want to raise awareness about the mantle of mass supervision in Wisconsin,” said Rice. “Wisconsin has started to give people excessive community supervision sentences. It’s a trap, and a driver of mass incarceration. People are being sent back to jail because of conviction-less rule violations each year.”
According to the Prison Policy Initiative, over 45,000 people in Wisconsin are under probation, while 19,000 individuals are under parole. Wisconsin also struggles with racial disparities in prisons, as Wisconsin has the fifth highest prison black to white disparity in America, according to The Sentencing Project. The Wisconsin State Budget Project reported that “The state spent $1.2 billion on corrections services in 2017, more tax dollars than the state spent on the University of Wisconsin System.”
About 20 individuals from the movement marched to the MSDF, located at 1015 N. 10th St., in order to attempt to attend a public meeting inside the facility. Although the meeting could not be found online, members of the movement provided an email from the Dept. of Corrections that said they could attend the meeting. According to members of the facility, community members had to RSVP to the meeting beforehand.
Members of CloseMSDF talk to a security guard at the MSDF, after some members were denied access to a Dept. of Corrections Southeast Regional Community Relations Board meeting.
“We have to look into research to see if this is a violation of open record laws,” said Ben Turk. “We are going to file a complaint. We have gone to other open meetings in Madison and we didn't have a problem there.”
A Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility employee was contacted for a response to the meeting and the CloseMSDF platform, but a response was not received by the time this story was published. CloseMSDF hosts a monthly meeting the third Tuesday of every month at 2821 N. 4th St.
Update (5:31 p.m.):
Tristan Cook, communications director for the Dept. of Corrections, released this statement following the incident:
“The Department of Corrections is committed to openness and transparency and welcomes citizen and stakeholder input regarding Department operations. As the meeting was held within a secure area at MSDF, we required an RSVP in advance of the meeting to maintain facility security.”
