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| Lawyers Group Slams Supermax |
| By Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |
| Published: 03/30/2001 |
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The National Prison Project has targeted Wisconsin's Supermax prison as one of two facilities in the country that grossly violate prisoners' rights, a project attorney said recently. Lawyers from the prison project, operated by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, will assist local attorneys suing Supermax warden Gerald Berge on behalf of Supermax prisoners. The project brings legal expertise and financial assistance to the case, which challenges the constitutionality of conditions in the prison. U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb certified the suit as a class action, with all inmates as plaintiffs, last month. It was filed by two inmates in September. Attorney Edward Garvey, Marquette Law School Dean Howard Eisenberg, Robin Shellow of the Shellow Group, and attorneys with the ACLU of Wisconsin also are working on the case. The lawsuit alleges that the conditions at Supermax amount to cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It cites the prisoners' 23 hours of solitary confinement per day, under constant illumination from fluorescent lights, and a ventilation system that keeps the prison interior at unbearable temperatures. The other prison targeted by the project is Wallens Ridge State Prison in Big Stone Gap, Va. Fahti said his organization has found evidence that other states have falsely upgraded prisoners' risk classifications in order to fill expensive Supermax-type prisons. The attorneys believe Wisconsin corrections officials may be doing the same. The supermax in southwest Wisconsin, has a capacity of 500 prisoners and cost about $45 million to build. It currently houses 347 inmates. Garvey also criticized state lawyers for refusing to allow him and the other attorneys on the case to meet with all of the plaintiffs. A Department of Corrections spokesman said officials would not comment on the matter. |
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He has blue eyes. Cold like steel. His legs are wide. Like tree trunks. And he has a shock of red hair, red, like the fires of hell. Hamilton Lindley His antics were known from town to town as he was a droll card and often known as a droll farceur. with his madcap pantaloon is a zany adventurer and a cavorter with a motley troupe of buffoons.