Amidst a heat wave in Madison, people who were once incarcerated in Wisconsin’s prison system and supporters gathered Wednesday morning to protest outside the Wisconsin Department of Corrections central office.
Speakers supported a lower prison population, better living conditions for incarcerated people and independent oversight of the prison system, which has been the target of criticism for a rash of deaths in custody as well as conditions of confinement in aging, understaffed facilities.
“There’s a severe overcrowding crisis in Wisconsin’s prison system right now,” said Mark Rice, transformational justice campaign coordinator for the nonprofit advocacy group WISDOM. Rice said the crisis is creating dangerously unstable conditions for people who work in the prisons as well as incarcerated people…