Wisconsin Families for a Second Chance -YOU ARE INVITED !

"prison assembly line" from old magazine

                 Wisconsin  Families for a Second Chance

                      we meet twice a week 

for more information, email : pgswan3@aol.com

Wisconsin Families for a Second Chance is a new group made up of families and friends of prisoners, activists and  advocates. We are coming together after many years of  battling alone for healing. We are  dedicated to bringing fairness and  balance to our Justice System. Much of  each weekly meeting is spent brain- storming strategies for individual prisoners, and we learn much from each other,  But we also believe that the WI Department of Corrections (WIDOC) needs to change fundamentally and so, have filed a report with the US Department of Justice ( USDOJ), asking for an investigation of the WIDOC. We are also working on a lawsuit to mandate real mental health treatment in our prisons and the building of a mental health treatment facility and are working with legislators and the media.

 And we need your help, We need you to stop listening to the constant fear mongering incessantly applied to prisoners. We need you to spend a bit of time learning just who you are incarcerating and what your billions of dollars are being spent on. We are developing a website to show you in detail who the State of Wisconsin holds in your name, including their stories and writings, but for now we ask you to think about these three groups of he wrongfully held people:

1) Officially 40 % of the population are mentally ill.( we have been told by a public defender that is it more like 70 % ). They are here  because prisons are our defacto mental health institutions- we have confused and alienated people out here- problems escalate until they land in there. Many end up acting out in general population while in prison and then are put into segregation, called “restrictive housing units” or RHUs-. Which is 24/7 solitary confinement. The prison will deny they have “solitary confinement”   but this is playing with words. They are given a rubber pencil or a crayon to write with and virtually no other tools with which to express themselves in a healthy way ; self harming is common. They are punished for this behavior and often receive more prison time for other behavior they have no control over., Our families group includes distraught parents of prisoner who desperately need treatment, but are caught in this endless cycle. Those who escape increased sentencing, are released upon their court mandated release date,- untreated, untrained and severely traumatized.

 2) The reason you don’t know about the above group is because of a second factor- Half of the prison admissions each year are for rule violations- NON felonies. It is a neat little trick, that once a prisoner is released, often with virtually NO Support, he or she is carefully monitored by his or her parole agent and for even minor rule infractions, they are easily revoked. The balance of the unserved sentencing is used to return these “offenders” to prison without charges appearing on CCAP, nor processing through the courts. Administrative Law Judges within the DOC render the decisions which return these men and women to the prisons.

The practice of incarcerating for rule violations is one of the reasons for prison overcrowding and must be stopped. Instead, prisoners need treatment and training while in prison and help with  maintaining and building a strong support system  when they get out. .

.3) The third group is the most astounding- Why  are we building geriatric and hospice units for  the elderly, sick and infirm rather than letting them go home to their loved ones? And did you know that there are at least 2000  prisoners who can be released at ANY time, those incarcerated before 2000/ What is called OLD LAW prisoners?- Most have been eligible for decades. And why not let them go home? We recently tried to gain release for an old law prisoner who  was dying of cancer- compassionate release, letters etc failed, and a lawsuit was too late. All he wanted to do was to be with his family when he died. Dominique Marak. He died in prison. He loved to do collages of portraits of prisoners using pictures of garbage- I include one here- in his honor.

And with that  glimpse, I will end with this.  Prisoners often say that once they enter prison, they are no longer considered human.  I ask you to learn something about the prisoners we are warehousing. People change, they are not their crime. Also, please consider joining us in our weekly meetings.

For more information or to join our weekly group:

Email: Peg Swan: pgswan3@aol.com  (  or write 29631 Wild Rose Drive, Blue River, WI 53518);

Tony Zilstra: timothy.zylstra@yahoo.com

Kandis Volaske kandis.voelske@gmail.com

Rob Slamkabob slamkabob@gmail.com

TAXPAYER ALERT:Some astounding, maddening statistics

 Taxpayer Alert

 We feel it is important that Wisconsin Taxpayers be aware of these staggering facts and how your tax money is spent:

 1. Were you aware the Wisconsin Department of Corrections gets 5.1 billion dollars from the years 2023 till 2025?

2. 22.4% of inmates are incarcerated for Drug Charges.

3. 9.8% of inmates are incarcerated for OWI Offenses,

4. 24.9% of inmates are incarcerated for Sex Offenses.

5.A Whopping 32.4%  of inmates are incarcerated for rule violations and no new charges..

6. Sad fact is the court sent inmates to Receive Treatment to return to Society as Productive Citizens. WI DOC  due to staff shortages and lack of transparency, does not even Honor Court’s mandate to give inmates treatment.

 

 Now comes the inexcusable statistic: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, which is tasked to educate your children,only receives one half of the prison budget- 2.5 billion for the same time.

 

1. Don't your children deserve better from your elected officials?

2. Many students come from poverty conditions and there is only 120.32 million allocated for Nutritious meal programs.

3 .235,8 Million is allocated for mental health programs.

4. 10 million over 2 years for the public library system

 

 This is a total misuse of your tax dollars. Please reach out to your legislators and demand they allocate more for your children and less for Corrections and ensure prison population is slashed, inmates receive needed drug alcohol and treatment outside the prison system and outdated prisons that drain the taxpayers’ resources are closed.

 

All the statistics above were gleaned from government websites  by a member of the group FAMILIES FOR A SECOND CHANCE. We meet by zoom and phone weekly and are a group of activists, advocates, families and friends of prisoners dedicated to  restoring balance and justice to our “Just -us” system.  We hope you can join us. For more information contact:

Peg Swan: pgswan3@aol.com  (  or write 29631 Wild Rose Drive, Blue River, WI 53518 OR leave a message at 608-536-3993);

Tony Zilstra: timothy.zylstra@yahoo.com

Kandis Volaske kandis.voelske@gmail.com

Rob Slamkabob slamkabob@gmail.com

Websitez; www.prisonforum.org

 

 

Jake Mashl needs out bad

 

Jake Mashl 685667 GBCI BD 2000, 23 yo/ out date 1 16 24 

Jake  has asbergers and is not making it. His mother is heroic in her efforts to try to get him into a better situation. Below is the situation about 2 months ago. We have been working with Jake's mother and the situation is ever changing. update coming, 

Jake has asbergers, ADD and  multiple other syndromes  in which he is explosive and disruptive at time. His mother , Nikki, says when he is on his meds he is appropriate and easy to get along with. He lives with his mother and has the maturity of a teenager. He was in Medium security but was transferred to GBCI. I note that most of the people in GBCI are young Blacks and many here are gang members because that is their family as so many fathers are n prison ( see study in footnote 2pg1 ). It is Jake’s hard to handle asbergers that put him in GBCI and he was harassed and threatened immediately and ended in their solitary after only two days .

Jake’s story is ever changing as his mother finds out more . All his meds were taken away and his only contact, his mother, gets a phone call once a month, It seems he was saving pills so he could take more of them at one time- he felt the dosage was too small . Although he has ten months to release., we are all afraid he will be permanently traumatized,   He at one point was banging his head against the wall trying to get someone to come.

The big thing is that although his mother is  constantly calling the prison and Madison powers pleading that they give him his meds back, allow calls etc, as of this writing, SHE HAS HAD NO CONTACT with her son since  before thanksgiving,   Her contact has been through the social worker and complaint calls she makes.  Jake was on a program ( SO2) that he looked forward to before he was put in RHU and would like to take that program- This is first for him and shows that under the right conditions, he could learn a lot, .

Bill Brockett

 

William L Brockett 272754 CCI /

BD 1975, 47/MR 9 16 23/MX 11 11 35/ parole eligibility date11 20 21

  William is an what is called an old law prisoner and has been in prison for 25 years for armed robbery. He has taken every progam available to him and has been recommended for parole several time but each time the politics of the day squashed the plan.

this is by his fiance Brandi: “Billy(William)is incarcerated under the old law for Robbery with a firearm. He made a bad decision in his early 20s and robbed an armory in the hopes that he could make some fast money to feed his kids.  As a result he has done 25 years so far under the old law.  He has taken every class offered and has two certificates/degrees. Yet every year the PRC has some other excuse not to let him go. Parole Chairman John Tate, 2 years ago had told him that he was going to be released but then he stepped down or resigned and after he left office they would not honor the promise and basically said that they didn't have to honor it. 

            I have went through our old letters and found a stack of awards and certificates of completion for at least 20 different programs ... This is just so heart breaking.  He took parenting classes in 2004 several different ones....but yet he has missed raising both his kids entirely.  His daughter was completely heartbroken when they rejected his release plan again last year... She was married in October and all she had ever wanted was for her dad to walk her down the isle.  She wrote him a letter that just broke him...she stated that he had missed every single milestone in her life, including the birth of his first grandchild.  This man is one of the best people I know and when I first met him in 2015 I had an attitude about prisoners and I was seriously harsh on him.  He made me eat every word and I am ashamed at my judgement but with patience and understanding he showed me who he was.  He has begged and pleaded and cried in Prc meetings and I mean outwardly showed emotion and sincerity....only for them to deny him over and over.  He amazes me everyday though...everything he has been through he is still positive and hopeful.  I have lost faith in WIDOC.  Their purpose is to rehabilitate...he is rehabilitated...let the poor man enjoy the years he has left.  Sentenced to 35 years for a burglary/theft with weapon. Non violent crime..”

Wake up Wisconsin-! you are being duped- A look at who is in your prisons

        A LOOK AT OUR PRISON POPULATION

  

1)the MENTALLY ILL 

Officially over 40% of WI prisoners are mentally ill- unofficially, it is more like 70% > Very few get treatment , most end up in what is called "RHU's" restrictive housing units'

The forgotten ones- RHUs -And the mentally ill stuck in them.

 There are no words that adequately express the daily horrors these forgotten prisoners endure. We have filed a plea for  investigation with the USDOJ and are working on a class a action to get complete change of rules around dealing with prisoner confused needing therapy and the building of a mental health treatment center for the men. There is a treatment center for WI women prisoners which was once well functioning, but we are told has lost its mission along with the rest of the system.

        A glimpse of conditions in our RHUs-Prisoners in these gulags get no tools to deal with anger and frustration and hunger strikes or self harm become main ways for prisoners to relieve stress. The hunger strikes and desperate letters and reports of self harm are also the prisoner’s only way to reach us in a way that forces is to finally act- they  get little phone and no corrlinks and our mail now takes a month to reach them  (  text behind). When they “act out” due to their frustrations and mental illness, they are given more time through a bizzare”evaluation” system that allows the prison to charge them with new felonies. OR they are reclassified as “malingering” and sent to AC where they can spend decades,

Here is a link to a DOC Power point document which proudly shows  the successes of the new mental health treatment center for women in Taychedah, ( Fond du Lac, WI)  . There are lots of photos also,  I have had conversations with two former psychologist who state it was well run and “not like a prison”.This  power point document was made about a decade ago and we need a center like it for the men. Is it possible to propose the building of such a center for men to the legislature? It would solve a basic problem.

WI doc Power point Report on the then new Mental Health Treatment center at TCI

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wCACP5xbKjmrf4cu2D85N38TmwmSW55M/view?usp=share_lin 

2)REVOKED FOR RULE VIOLATIIONS, non-felonies 

These are half the admissions each year. “Set up to fail” is the saying among prisoners- no support before or upon release and then swept back into the system for minor infractions. Parole officers have ultimate power and some try to help, most don’t and some have a zero “success” rate and are proud of it. There are guidelines that are not followed. Guidelines need to be reviewed and Effective guidelines turned into enforced rules or laws. 

2) THE ELDERLY :when is enough time for  punishment? Why are we building nursing home and hospice units instead of letting these elderly go home. Most are OLD LAW prisoners which means they have been eligible for release , sometime for decades.

Ron Schilling
Ron Schilling, is 71 now. His  two blogs, linked below,
were put together around 10 years ago and are
 still relevant- Ron has had a
 heart attack ,has been eligible for release  as an
old law prisoner , after serving 1/4 o f his sentence,
after 12 years for Ron and here he still sits. 

https://freeronschilling.blogspot.com/2007/07/the-parole-fiasco-and-ron-schilling.html

https://schillingessays.blogspot.com/

3)Juvenile offenders

4)  ordered by the court to be deported but still here.

5)TIS truth in sentencing- a broken system

Michael Evans- pleas for mental health treatment

 Michael  Evans 344627 GBCI /BD 1980, 42

Michael' story is heart rending. He had mental health problems since the age of 8. He was convicted of reckless homicide at age 18. He had been beat up by a group, was handed a gun and in rage went after them and shot and killed one man and injured another. He confessed to all and took full responsibility. .Below are the final recommendations taken from a three page 1999 report  recommending a short sentence, treatment and academic training as Michael was accepting punishment and wanting to be helped. The whole report which relates details of his life and the shoorting .is in the following link= worth the read. 

     

Last bit sentence recommnedation:

Michael Evans sentence recommendations in entirety, good reading:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L6bA-bqHfkvs_syyBjYiY7CR2UeTZPET/view?usp=drive_link

NOTE: as an OLD LAW PRISONER, (  convicted of a crime committed BEFORE 2000), Michael was eligible for parole after serving 1/4 of his sentence. 

Twenty three years later:

       Michael Evans first wrote me when he was on hunger strike because he wasgetting no mental health treatment and was feeling suicidal .His letter below, handwritten original and typed versions, speaks of his efforts to get help and his frustrations with the system , He makes clear that being in general population creates much anxiety, 

  My response to him was that hunger strikes in the Wi system do nothing except hurt the strikers ,as he most prisons do not  follow their own rules and we cannot follow him or advocate effectively for him.

He agreed to join us in our effort to get a mental health treatment center and complete change in policies relating  to those with mental health problems. . Over 40  percent of the prison population is mentally ill and the prison mostly warehouses them in isolation cells which causes life long trauma.

Here is his letter , handwritten

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lAFSIZRw5OMpsjbOCdT-KPfcNUViI5r7/view?usp=drive_link

  letter typed:

February 20,2023

                                                            EFFORT

One sad thing about this world is that the acts that take the most out of you are usually the ones that other people will never know about. by Ann Tyler, “ My  Story”

 

On November 11^th, 1993  I answer the guilty plea to one count of first degree- Reckless homicide,  PTAC, while armed and one count of first degree Reckless endangering safety, PTAC, while armed and sentenced to 14 years to 54 years  on January 19th 1999, sentencing recommendation from:Dr Suzanne Lisowski, who perform psychological evaluation,based upon ALL of the above listed information, read the following: sentencing memorandum enclosed

 

    I'm on a hunger strike, due to the lack of mental health treatment ,which started today February 20th 2023. since my return from WRC( October 2020), I was assigned to PSU clinical staff Dr Martha  Breen- Smith, who have a bullying personality, need for dominance, humiliation,intimidation ,Power and balance, un -empathetic, with smugness and arrogance characterize Behavior; I have wrote PSU boss,  Dr Hamilton many times regarding Dr Breen- Smith's Behavior, since my return, I have not received adequate medical care for my mental health treatment; in 2021 (Of ?) I started on hunger strikes, due to lack of treatment from PSU, going from 215 lb  to 169 lb at times, I have lost so much weight that at 200 plus pounds now, I look like I weigh about 180 lb, my muscular mass is bone.

  This lasted through 2021 to 2022; in April of 2022,  I lost a childhood girlfriend die, I lost it, after trying to get help from Doctor Breen- Smith with my mental health diagnoses, which are antisocial personality disorder,  unspecified depressive disorder,  nightmare disorder, impulsive- control and conduct disorder. 

 PSU undermined all my diagnoses, I went to the hole May 29th 2022, everything went downhill from there, before that, I passed out in the cell Hall from hunger strike after 4 days without food or water, on June 20th 22, I was released from the hole, I went back on the same day on suicide watch, released, on 6-23-22 with NO Treatment Plan, on 6 24 22 I went back to the hole for trying to assault staff with a, phone, I received 120, during my hole time I received no treatment for my mental health issues, PSU staff only would see me at the door stating” they not have the official hearing room”, Dr Breen- Smith  only pulled me out once  for a “one-on-one”, I was on hunger strike, went on and off auicide watch; on 8/11/20, I wrote the deputy warden Michelle R Hacse regarding my intention to commit suicide upon release from the whole( rhu), PSU staff sent to my door, I was not pulled out of my cell, PSU staff stayed at my door for about 5 minutes; I told PSU staff ”I can't commit suicide in the hole!” On 8th 1822 I was released from the hole to GP; less than 24 hours later, after morning meds I went to the highest tier in the cell hall( H tier), I climbed over H-Tier, waiting for the cameras to come to jump, before video camera could arrive, the unit Sergeant run up on me, grab my shirt and tried to pull me back over the tier. I started to assault the sergeant, other staff arrived, LG M e g i a relieved the sergeant of his duty, after failed talking to come down, I was ambushed by (7) staff, I was fighting for release.

                                       APATHY

A society of sheep must in time beget a government of  wolves. 

 ,,,My right wrist was cuffed to the top railing by Lt. Me g i a, after a few minutes I gave up and came over the railing, I was placed on suicide watch from F r i m o n, during the whole time, I received no mental health treatment, I was taking off of suicide watch placed on TLU for assaulting staff, received a 120, I started going on hunger strikes, suicidal watch. I was placed in the treatment center on October 17,2022, during my stay, I was not given any treatment one on one )went back to the hole three times, 1121/22, I wrote the warden(Dylan Radtke) with my intention to self harm on 11 25,2022,on  11:22/22, with my mental diagnoses- I self -harmed, after being taken to HSU for treatment ,I was placed on suicidal watch again, released with no treatment plan, so I wrote my own treatment plan for PSU which still has not been considered.

  I spoke to Dr helmets( boss of PSU) on to 2:31 2022, I spoon- fed me on a treatment plan that will work only if I'm out of the hole, I agreed to work with him! not Dr Breen; I was released from the hole on 1 4-23; since I've been in GP, I've not received any treatment, no one-on-one. Dr Breen tried to send me a pass twice, after I wrote an ICE and CCE and notify the warden and my intention to sue PSU staff for deliberate indifference to my mental health needs, I refused and put a DOC 1803: inmate request for separation, for PSU staff Dr Breen- Smith and follow it with an inmate complaint examiner’s office regarding my assigned clinician; intimidation, threatened, harassment, causing me to suffer serious emotional distress.

  Nothing have been done about my mental health, I have received a response today from Dr Hamilton, again, it's always next week or two or three weeks to be seen by PSU doctor Hamilton is a supervisor of PSU.

 I have a lot distress and anxious in general pop; if I commit suicide, please!!!! make sure these people get held responsible: Warden Dylan Kay Radke, Deputy Warden  Michelle R H a e s e, Dr Martha J Breen- Smith, Dr Todd L Hamilton, PSU-. M.S Hillary J Berg, Security Director John a kind.

  The art project I wanted to work on is a model kit AMT 1967 Chevy Impala SS it's my dream car and I ever make it out of prison alive the model 981 is $25.99 color royal and 3463 and 284 Sparkle glitter glue - maybe this project will give me hope                                 

 Hope

 take Hope from the heart of man and you make him a beast of prey.

Enclosed document

1) DOC 3035B- Psychological Service request

1) DAI 2023- 49223,From  John A Kind,Security director

1) DAI  2023- 49239,  from Michelle R Ha e s e, Deputy Warden

1) four pages of sentencing memorandum- January 15th 1999/  missing2 pages(4&5) 

 

 Thank you for caring, God bless, Michael L Evans

AND finally , below are two documents show Michael's efforts to receive treatment. The wardens  response is typical .The complaint and appeal process is completely rigged.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T5zninxqrORwmUFtbJS6ALjydUaCcWP4/view?usp=drive_link

The forgotten ones- RHUs -And the mentally ill stuck in them.

 Officially over 40% of WI prisoners are mentally ill- unofficially, it is more like 70% > Very few get treatment , most end up in what is called "RHU's" restrictive housing units'

The forgotten ones- RHUs -And the mentally ill stuck in them.

 There are no words that adequately express the daily horrors these forgotten prisoners endure. We have filed a plea for  investigation with the USDOJ and are working on a class a action to get complete change of rules around dealing with prisoner confused needing therapy and the building of a mental health treatment center for the men. There is a treatment center for WI women prisoners which was once well functioning, but we are told has lost its mission along with the rest of the system.

        A glimpse of conditions in our RHUs-Prisoners in these gulags get no tools to deal with anger and frustration and hunger strikes or self harm become main ways for prisoners to relieve stress. The hunger strikes and desperate letters and reports of self harm are also the prisoner’s only way to reach us in a way that forces is to finally act- they  get little phone and no corrlinks and our mail now takes a month to reach them  (  text behind). When they “act out” due to their frustrations and mental illness, they are given more time through a bizzare”evaluation” system that allows the prison to charge them with new felonies. OR they are reclassified as “malingering” and sent to AC where they can spend decades,

Here is a link to a DOC Power point document which proudly shows  the successes of the new mental health treatment center for women in Taychedah, ( Fond du Lac, WI)  . There are lots of photos also,  I have had conversations with two former psychologist who state it was well run and “not like a prison”. This  power point document was made about a decade ago and we need a center like it for the men. We will propose the building of such a center for men to the legislature? It would solve a basic problem.

1)WI doc Power point Report on the then new Mental Health Treatment center at TCI

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wCACP5xbKjmrf4cu2D85N38TmwmSW55M/view?usp=share_link

2)psychiatrists, psychologists, International organizations report on the effects of solitary confinement 

https://toolongalone.blogspot.com/2012/02/grassianeffects-of-solitary.html

3)Blog we are  updating featuring many prisoners in Solitary forever.

https://stuckinnewbedlam.blogspot.com/

4) Blog post of some cases we are workrig on now, several in our families group

http://www.prisonforum.org/2023/03/mental-health-and-abuse-and-overuse-of.html