Inmates at the state’s youth prison have kicked in glass windows, stolen pepper spray and threatened to rape female staff members since a federal judge told state Department of Corrections officials to make drastic changes to how they manage behavior of the prison’s inmates, records show.
Ten staff members at the Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls in Irma told Sen. Tom Tiffany, R-Hazelhurst, through interviews with his staff that they fear for their lives and that the facility is no longer safe.
The comments came after U.S. Judge James Peterson ordered prison officials in July to no longer keep inmates in solitary confinement around the clock for weeks, excessively pepper spray inmates and put them in shackles regularly.
“Kids now believe they have nothing to lose” one staff member told Tiffany’s aides.