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| Wis. Ban on Sex with Inmates Advances |
| By Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |
| Published: 05/12/2003 |
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Legislation bringing Wisconsin into line with much of the rest of the nation by criminalizing sex between prison officers and inmates easily cleared the state Assembly Tuesday. Lawmakers passed the bill, which provides penalties of up to a $100,000 fine and 40 years in prison, on a 96-0 vote and sent it to the Senate. 'We were only one of four states that didn't have a law like this, so we've finally caught up with the rest of the nation,' said state Rep. Bonnie Ladwig (R-Mount Pleasant), the bill's chief author. The Assembly bill was introduced after the Journal Sentinel reported the plight of four female inmates placed in solitary confinement for having a personal relationship with officers overseeing them or for trying to report sexual misconduct. All were released from solitary after the newspaper stories were published. The penalties will pose a strong deterrent to the abuse of power by correctional workers, Ladwig said. 'There is no such thing as consensual sex between a person in power and a person in a position of vulnerability,' she said. Two previous attempts to make such contact a felony failed after the union that represents prison officers opposed the efforts. Now it's likely the Senate and Gov. Jim Doyle will sign off on the legislation. Sen. Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau), author of a similar bill in the Senate, predicted that the bill would pass his house easily, perhaps by the end of May. Rather than take up his measure, he said he would urge the Senate to adopt the Assembly bill and send it to the governor. Doyle aide Dan Leistikow said that if the Senate gave the bill final legislative approval, the governor would sign it, especially in light of what happened at Taycheedah Correctional Institution. 'The incident at Taycheedah was deeply troubling, and the governor supports this legislation to make sure that any future incidents are fully prosecuted,' Leistikow said. One of the women at Taycheedah, Jackie Noyes, was impregnated by a prison guard overseeing her and had been ordered to serve nearly a year of solitary confinement. The guard, Matthew Emery, was fired. Charged with 'sexual conduct, soliciting staff,' the ticket against Noyes, who was mentally ill, has been expunged from her prison record, authorities confirmed Tuesday. She will be paroled in June to a drug and alcohol treatment program for pregnant women and infants in Madison. Noyes has not given birth yet. Maggie Thurs, public awareness coordinator for the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault, said the bill is long overdue and recognizes the power imbalance between correctional staff and those under their supervision. 'We recognize the epidemic that rape in prison is and the lack of attention that's paid to it,' Thurs said. 'Just because you're in prison doesn't mean it's OK to be raped or assaulted.' As for the other three female inmates who were punished for trying to report sexual misconduct or for having a relationship with a guard, authorities expunged the record of one inmate, one was moved from Taycheedah to a minimum-security facility, and the case of the third inmate is still under review. |
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