Waupun Correctional Institution, a maximum security Wisconsin penitentiary located about three hours northwest of Chicago, some 1,000 prisoners have been confined mostly to their cells for more than four months. In an extensive Aug. 19 report on the horrendous conditions, The New York Times alleged “walls speckled with feces and blood,” birds flying around cells, an absence of toilet paper, the cancellation of any and all visits with family and no meaningful time whatsoever in the fresh air.
Officials argued that staff shortages and threats of significant disorder and disruption at the prison had forced their hand — but that is no excuse for such inhumane official treatments of human beings over so long a spell. Whatever their offense. Governmental inability to recruit staff should not mean worse conditions for inmates, and the situation at Waupun sounds like it borders on cruel and unusual punishment.
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