By: Associated Press//April 19, 2017//
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Wisconsin juvenile-advocacy groups are asking a federal court to order the state to stop using solitary confinement at its youth correctional facilities.
The ACLU of Wisconsin and the Juvenile Law Center filed the request Wednesday as part of a pending lawsuit alleging juveniles have been treated poorly at the Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake facilities.
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections said it can’t comment on the pending litigation.
The advocacy groups say as many as 20 percent of the juveniles at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake are in solitary confinement at any given time. The centers house between 150 to 200 youth.
The groups’ lawsuit also alleges juveniles are pepper-sprayed and shackled to tables. Wednesday’s filing calls for a halt to those practices as well.