Evers vs. Inmates? Inmates Lost

A few months ago, a co-worker sympthetically mentioned the death of an inmate at Waupun.  At that time, my reaction was 'he's a criminal, doing time, and stuff happens in prisons.'

Boy, was I wrong.

Gov. Tony Evers’ Department of Corrections has melted down in nightmarish – and deadly – fashion. Nine State of Wisconsin employees, including the warden of a major state prison in Waupun, were arrested in connection with two prison deaths, the Dodge County Sheriff announced.

And he says the problems in Corrections aren’t limited to one prison.

In one case, an inmate drank sewage water and played in the toilet, dying of probable dehydration and malnutrition, Sheriff Dale Schmidt said. The inmate’s death was ruled a homicide. Staff didn’t give him multiple meals and shut off water in his cell, Schmidt said. The inmate has been named as Donald Maier, who was convicted of stabbing a man to death as he slept in 1985....

There's plenty more.  Apparently Waupun was jam-packed full of drugs, too.  It is impossible for that quantity of drugs to have gotten into the prison without the knowledge/cooperation of the guards and/or the administration.

 ...The dramatic arrests, which made national news, came after a series of serious mismanagement problems in Evers’ Corrections Department, including soaring staffing shortages, an over-capacity prison with “deplorable” conditions, massive early releases of inmates who often re-offend, a failure to revoke thousands of offenders who commit new crimes while out on probation or parole supervision, a systemic failure to notify victims’ families of murderers’ parole releases, and high-level staff turnover.

“There needs to be some responsibility from the top down,” Schmidt said. “And it’s clear that there wasn’t.”...

The "top" in this case is Tony Evers.  And he will NEVER take responsibility.