In early January of this year, Governor Walker announced a plan for future reforms in our adult and juvenile corrections systems. Essentially, it would be to close down the troubled Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake juvenile facilities, and to convert them into an adult facility specializing in AODA treatment. This would help alleviate the backlog of people awaiting AODA treatment in the system, many of whom would become eligible for early release if they get treatment. It would also relieve some overcrowding in the prisons.
The Governor’s plan is a good one, and one that is urgently needed. While the Governor wants to wait until 2019 to launch this plan, the good news is that we don’t have to wait. Legislation to enact the plan the Governor announced, written by Rep. Evan Goyke, has already been proposed and is pending in the State Assembly. You can find Rep. Goyke’s analysis and plan, called “Inmate 501,” here. A video of the presentation may be found here. Instead of waiting two years, we need to call on Representatives Schraa and Hutton, and the Assembly Corrections Committee, to hold hearings on Assembly Bill 791 (see it here) and move the process forward quickly.
Come hear Dr. Tom Tatlock, a member of First Congregational UCC, Appleton, speak about his experiences both professionally and personally with traumatic brain injury.
Date: Monday, March 6, 2017 - 6:00pm - 7:30pm Location: St. Marks Lutheran Church, 140 South Green Bay Road, Neenah
Dr. Tatlock was a practicing psychiatrist until he sustained a traumatic brain injury in a fall from a ladder in 1999. His career spanned over three decades and includes many honors such as the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award in 1993 and being named one of “The Best Doctors in America” in 1998.
Dr. Tatlock continues to advocate passionately for brain injury awareness, especially in prisons and jails, where the condition is often unrecognized. His presentation is set for March 6, during Brain Injury Awareness Month.
Monday, December 5, 2016, 6:00 pm
Free admission; open to the public
St. Mark's Lutheran Church
140 South Green Bay Road
Neenah, WI
Come hear Circuit Court Judge John Des Jardins and Criminal Justice Treatment Services Director Bernie Vetrone explain Outagamie County’s Smart on Crime Initiative, one of only 25 such projects in the nation.
On Wednesday, April 27, from 6:30-8:00 pm, the Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is hosting Mariposa & the Saint, From Solitary Confinement: A Play Through Letters. The play recreates Mariposa's experience in solitary through letters written to a friend. The initial performances were held in New York under auspices of the NY Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement. Admission is free; a goodwill offering is appreciated.
Judge John Des Jardins and Treatment Services Director Bernie Vetrone will describe ongoing work leading towards a system-wide, evidence-based approach to evaluation, treatment, and incarceration of criminal defendants in Outagamie County, Wisconsin.
Thursday, May 5, 7:00 pm
Appleton Public Library, Room C
Outagamie County is one of eighteen counties in the nation chosen to participate in this National Institute of Corrections-sponsored project.
David Liners, State Director for WISDOM, will be speaking in Appleon on March 2, 2016 under sponsorship of the Noonhour Philosophers program of Trinity Lutheran Church, Appleton. His topic will be ROC Wisconsin, an ongoing project of WISDOM, working alongside its affiliates and partners (including EXPO—Ex-Prisoners Organizing), to reform the criminal justice system in our state so that it helps to build up our communities instead of tearing them down.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
12:00-1:00 p.m.
Trinity Lutheran Church
209 S. Allen St., Appleton
Free and open to all; no advance registration required
On October 1, 2014, members of WISDOM, Wisconsin’s statewide network of faith-based social justice organizations, gathered on the Capitol steps in Madison for an extraordinary event calling attention to the abusive overuse of solitary confinement in Wisconsin’s prisons, including practices that most of the world considers torture. (Click on the image to view Tim Coursen's video of this event.)
Jessica Geschke, President, Stop Heroin Now, facilitates a panel of speakers on their journeys from addiction to recovery.
Come hear Dr. Tom Tatlock, a member of First Congregational UCC, Appleton, speak about his experiences both professionally and personally with traumatic brain injury.
Monday, December 5, 2016, 6:00 pm
On Wednesday, April 27, from 6:30-8:00 pm, the Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is hosting Mariposa & the Saint, From Solitary Confinement: A Play Through Letters. The play recreates Mariposa's experience in solitary through letters written to a friend. The initial performances were held in New York under auspices of the NY Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement. Admission is free; a goodwill offering is appreciated.
David Liners, State Director for WISDOM, will be speaking in Appleon on March 2, 2016 under sponsorship of the 
