Contact: Phil Anderson
Chair, Libertarian Party of Wisconsin
Phone: 608-361-8608
Email: chair@lpwi.org

Libertarian Party of Wisconsin: Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility must be closed!

The Libertarian Party of Wisconsin demands that MSDF, the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility, be closed.

“Wisconsin incarcerates way too many people as it is,” says Phil Anderson, Chair of LPWI. “On top of that, incarcerating anyone at MSDF is cruel and unusual punishment.”

The state-run MSDF was built in 2001, primarily to imprison people on parole/probation violations. It is located just off 10th and State, overlooking the freeway, and was designed as a “building within a building.” Passers-by can be forgiven if they mistake the facility as just another drab-looking office tower. But the medium-security MSDF has garnered a national reputation as an inhumane facility on par with New York City’s infamous Rikers Island. There is no direct sunlight for MSDF inmates, no fresh air, poor ventilation, no outdoor exercise, and no in-person visits from family or friends. Prisoners are kept in their cells for 20 hours a day or more, and overcrowding is rampant. Only a few small sections are air-conditioned, according to a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel investigation.

“This sort of imprisonment is barbaric, and must end,” continues Anderson. “This abuse does not align with Wisconsin values, nor even basic human decency.”

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