Lincoln Hills Youth Prison Faces Another Lawsuit

Former Inmate Alleges Lasting Harm From Pepper Spray, Solitary Confinement At Troubled Facility

By
Cooper Lake and Lincoln Hills
Gilman Halsted/WPR

A 17-year-old boy who was an inmate at Wisconsin’s embattled youth prison is suing the facility, alleging he suffered substantial physical and emotional abuse while there.

The Wisconsin State Journal reported Tuesday that the boy’s lawsuit filed this month alleges he was body slammed, pepper sprayed so much that he has permanent vision damage and kept in solitary confinement for weeks at Lincoln Hills in Irma.

Conditions at the facility are already under federal investigation. Another lawsuit filed earlier this year by several former inmates alleges an overuse of solitary confinement and pepper spray there.

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Wisconsin Department of Corrections officials named as defendants in the boy’s lawsuit began limiting the use of solitary confinement months ago. DOC spokesman Tristan Cook declined to comment.