Contact: Rep. David Crowley 608.266.5580; 920.915.0479

MILWAUKEE, WI – Rep. David Crowley (D-Milwaukee) issued the following statement on the passage of the Senate Substitute Amendment to Assembly Bill 953 (AB953):

“I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished today on juvenile justice reform. AB953 is the culmination of years of hard work by many of my dedicated colleagues. It has been an absolute honor and a privilege to have helped bring together the actors that produced the product that we have passed today.

“AB953 was born of necessity and reforms a crisis riddled and broken youth corrections system. With the closure of Lincoln Hills, no longer will our troubled youth be shipped away from their families, communities, and support systems to a disgraced detention center hundreds of miles away from home. After six long years of inaction, the failure of justice called Lincoln Hills will finally begin to be phased out.

“What will replace Lincoln Hills is the true success of this legislation. This bill authorizes the creation of smaller county-run juvenile facilities. These facilities will keep our youth in their communities which has proven to sharply decrease recidivism. This is a strong step forward in reforming the youth justice system in Milwaukee and across Wisconsin.

“This bill is a long time coming and I am cautiously optimistic that we can continue to build on the work done here to reform not only our juvenile corrections but the entire criminal justice system.”

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