Lawsuit Accuses Wisconsin Prison of Cruel and Unusual Punishment

A class action lawsuit involving nearly a dozen named prisoners at Waupun Correctional Institution in Wisconsin alleges that prison officials have not adequately provided proper health care to prisoners amid an ongoing seven month long lockdown, Drake Bentley reports for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The prisoners’ attorney writes that prisoners are being subjected to “cruel and unusual conditions of confinement” and are at risk of “pain and suffering, including deaths.” The attorney says that the conditions violate both the Wisconsin Department of Corrections own policies and the Eighth Amendment, which protects against cruel and unusual punishment. Prisoners state they are often locked in their cells with no window to the outside and the light remains on 24 hours a day. Some report mental deterioration and chronic sleep deprivation, with some prisoners attempting suicide or dying by suicide during the lockdown.