Former Corrections Sec. Wall on Walker: "Suddenly there was a bravado...this feeling of entitlement and it felt almost like revenge."

I think former Corrections Secretary Ed Wall said it best about Scott Walker and his band of plundering Republican pirates when they overthrew the government. WKOW-TV:

Wall: "Suddenly there was a bravado amongst people, and this feeling of entitlement,  and it almost felt like revenge. And they were going to make big bold changes and they didn't care if anyone agreed.

Revenge-Entitlement: So it's not hard to imagine Republicans ignoring 100,000 Wisconsinites protesting and the more than 1 million signatures to recall Scott Walker. The Republican majority was hell-bent on pushing through their no-compromise ideologically driven policies, so it was pretty damn obvious "entitlement" ruled the day.

Ed Wall is now putting the finishing touches on a book dealing with his experience as Secretary of Corrections, and it confirms everything we ever thought about Walker's handling of it, and just how bad his bumbling lackey in the AG office is, Brad Schimel:

Gov. Scott Walker’s former corrections secretary said the attorney general had “completely botched” a probe into abuses at Wisconsin’s teen prison by failing to review incident reports or check medical records after months of investigation. Former Corrections Secretary Ed Wall said Attorney General Brad Schimel passed off the investigation to the FBI a year after it began as a “Hail Mary pass” to “get it out of their lap.” Wall also contended Walker had not taken problems at Lincoln Hills School for Boys seriously enough, saying the matter had been “shuffled off by the governor’s office.”

Retaliation? Isn't it funny how all criticism aimed at Republicans, from Scott Walker, Brad Schimel, to Trump...it's all just sour grapes and retaliation? Who knew Republicans were infallible?

A spokesman for the GOP attorney general on Tuesday contended Wall was attempting to "retaliate" against Schimel with "misinformation" but did not answer whether Wall's claims that investigators failed to review medical records were true.

AG Schimel's only talent is kissing up to Walker, and he's really good at that, but he sure doesn't know how to do an investigation or solve important legal problems:

Wall said he found out in November 2015 that Department of Justice investigators had not gathered medical records or prison reports about incidents in which teen inmates said their arms had been broken by staff. Wall expressed alarm that investigators had not taken those basic steps to try to verify the claims."What’s more important than (investigating) hurting kids?" Wall said during his WKOW interview.

It's all Wall's fault: Isn't it always someone else's fault, the "other," the immigrant, the Democrats, those liberals, minorities...never a whiny Republicans fault. But wait, Lincoln Hills is still a problem...so Wall is still at fault too?

Schimel spokesman Johnny Koremenos (said) "Unfortunately, in a sad attempt to retaliate, Wall is peddling misinformation to distract from his failure as secretary of the Department of Corrections..."

...and I loved this:

"...the fact that law enforcement needed to be brought in to conduct a criminal investigation into the institutions that he was responsible to oversee," Koremenos said in his statement.

Remember when Wall said "Schimel passed off the investigation to the FBI a year after it began as a 'Hail Mary pass' to 'get it out of their lap.'” Why did Schimel end the investigation? Scott Walker conveniently and deliberately eliminated it, and has since not paid a price for Lincoln Hills:

The state John Doe probe of Wisconsin's juvenile prison ended Monday under a law Gov. Scott Walker signed last year limiting how such investigations can be conducted. The John Doe probe of Lincoln Hills would hit the six-month mark on Friday. Attorney General Brad Schimel and Lincoln County District Attorney Don Dunphy did not seek an extension, and Russell closed the John Doe probe, saying the state had asked to end it.

You can't make this stuff up. Here's the full interview:



Wall still might have to explain this...

CCI staff have often said that when concerns about safety and security are brought up to management, the response from Warden Mike Dittman and DOC Secretary Edward Wall is “there are 1,000 people in line to take your job.” In one meeting with legislators in October, Wall reportedly responded to a comment that more staff would be leaving in the next year by saying, “I don’t care. Let them go.”

Jakes Economic TA Funhouse posted a story about how Walker's Act 10 brought about the problems at Lincoln Hills, which is another reason why Walker's steered clear of whole mess. First...:

Lincoln Hills- even worse than you thought. And definitely a Walker failure. Nov. 12, 2017 (6,570 pageviews).

Walker doesn't have time for Lincoln Hills Juvenile Riffraff, time to go to Mexico.

The buck stops with Scott Walker, it's that simple. 

Walker either doesn't care, doesn't know what to do next, or is just too busy to take the Lincoln Hills debacle seriously. After all, he's taking a trip to Mexico.

Crowding, an amputation, staffing problems, criminal abuse, sexual assaults, beatings and child neglect are all shocking problems that you would think would be a Walker top priority...nope.

Now we’re finding out ordinary guards are dispensing prescription drugs instead of medical personal. JS:

No time for the riffraff!!! 

A 15-year-old held in Wisconsin's problem-plagued juvenile prison was given the wrong psychotropic medication twice in April despite the incoming head of the facility promising the mistake wouldn't happen again after the first incident, the boy's family says. Together with other incidents in which another inmate didn't get his prescription medicine at all, the problems raise questions about a system in which ordinary guards, not medical personnel, dispense potent drugs at the Northwoods facility.

Kenneth Robbins, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said "I don't know of any place other than the Department of Corrections where a potentially nontrained and nonclinical person would be administering medication." 

It appears Walker’s not about to help those he considers undesirable Wisconsinites. It’s an intentional pattern of behavior reflected in other policy, like punishing the hungry and unemployed by making benefits difficult to get, not to mention stigmatizing recipients as drug addled freeloaders.

The buck stops with Walker, no doubt about it. I haven't seen one story where he even acknowledged this recent Lincoln Hills horror:

Residents of the facility and their families have also alleged staff have been slow to respond to suicide attempts. In one incident detailed this month by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a teenage inmate held up his roommate to keep him from dangling from a makeshift noose, struggling to keep him aloft as he waited for guards to intervene.

After an amputation under Superintendent John Ourada, Walker took an administration crony (another brilliant choice) state Corrections Sec. Ed Wall, and put him in charge. That predictably ended in disaster, and Wayne Olson took over for only 3 months. If that wasn't bad enough, facility staff were shocked and disheartened at the appointment of incompetent Deputy Sup. Wendy Peterson.

Workers at the institution reacted strongly to the announcement that Peterson would now run the facility, Bauch said. "They've completely destroyed morale. There's no goodwill left," Bauch said of the administration.

Just a note, Ed Wall was so bad that he was fired from the Justice Department after taking over his old job there.

Walker wants this whole story to disappear so much that he conveniently ended the John Doe probe...odd coincidence? 

The state John Doe probe of Wisconsin's juvenile prison ended Monday under a law Gov. Scott Walker signed last year limiting how such investigations can be conducted.

AG Schimel lets Lincoln Hills John Doe Probe of Youth Abuse expire, protecting Scott Walker!!!

Scott Walker’s AG lapdog Brad Schimel apparently never asked for an extension to end the abuse of boys and girls…in fact, Walker and Schimel asked a judge to shut down the investigation. JS:

The do-nothing AG

Under a law Gov. Scott Walker signed last year limiting how such investigations can be conducted…made them automatically shut down after six months unless an extension was approved by a panel of 10 judges.

Walker just did away with at least one threat that would have held him accountable for his inaction on the horrific abuses at Lincoln Hills for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls in local media. The FBI is still involved:

Prosecutors for more than a year have been looking into claims of child neglect, prisoner abuse, sexual assault and record destruction at Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls.

And that's why the John Doe law was changed. Worse? Anybody watching the AG race knew why Schimel had to be AG, and conservative voters made it happen:

"It's not because of the law," Walker said of winding down the John Doe probe within six months. "The reason they (AG) gave to us (for shutting down the John Doe probe) was that he felt they were complete with the work they did and that they were deferring to federal authorities."

Of course Schimel would say that. He promised, said with absolute clarity, that he would uphold whatever law Walker and the Republican majority passed.

Walker not governing, Fails to solve Lincoln Hills misconduct; poor treatment, racial slurs, inappropriate use of restraints, slow medical care...

What happens when you put people in charge of managing government who hate managing government? You get the kind of negligence and incompetence we’re seeing from the Walker administration.

If you didn’t already know what was really happening, then this headline today might be deceiving:

"State Officials Reaffirm That Protecting Youth At LincolnHills Is A Top Priority" … amid news that placement of troubled youth from Milwaukee at the northern Wisconsin site hasn't slowed much.

AG Brad Schimel, the bumbling Scott Walker lackey who oddly promised total allegiance to him when he ran for office (see video below), lied about improvements at Lincoln Hills:

Doh!

"Schimel said concerned relatives should know the state's priority is youth safety. We have no higher responsibility as government that to take care of juveniles who are in our care."

But a little over a week ago the Journal Sentinel reported the following story that got little attention:

"Chief judge says poor treatment of youths continues at Lincoln Hills" … despite staffing and policy changes at the facility amid an ongoing federal probe of alleged abuses.

Walker, who's off flying around the country right now, apparently doesn't have time to be troubled by the less desirable youths of our state. Little has changed, as witnessed by health officials: 

Members of the county's mental health professional team interviewed Milwaukee County youths in the facility. White says the team either witnessed or received reports from youths about staff's use of racial slurs to youth; lack of therapy provided to at least one youth who has repeatedly requested it; overuse of solitary confinement, particularly for youths with mental health issues; lack of timely medical attention; and inappropriate use of restraints.

Walker's changes at Lincoln Hills were more rhetorical than real:

Corrections officials said the department has not been able to substantiate any of the incidents in her letter. "If Chief Judge White can provide additional details regarding her allegations to the Department of Corrections, DOC will investigate fully," department spokesman Tristan D. Cook said in an email.

Department spokesperson Cook isn't trying to hard:

One county team member was interviewing a DOC staff member when a youth reported hearing another inmate potentially overdose on pills. The staffer indicated a supervisor would be notified. About 15 minutes after the county member finished the interview, she heard another youth call out about the same possible overdose. The county team member said it didn't appear any DOC staff responded to the incident. Other observers have reported slow responses from staff at the youth prison. 

Here's Brad Schimel's jaw dropping promise to actively and politically carry out Walker's agenda. His challenger, Susan Happ, sadly reminds us what a real grasp of the issues was like once upon a time in Wisconsin: