CLOSEmsdf Picket

Why do we picket?

1. To educate people on the inhumane conditions at MSDF

2. To memorialize the 17 people who have died in MSDF since it opened.

3. To let WI taxpayers know that each day someone spends in MSDF for a crimeless rule violation it costs us $100.84 vs $40 to treat that person in the community where their job, housing & support systems stay secure.

4. Former Governor Tommy Thompson has said building MSDF was a mistake. Its time the state corrects that error.

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Please join us during the lunch hour on February 20 on the 10th Street side of the courthouse. Partway through the picket, we might march over to the state office building on 6th and Wells, where the DOC has offices. Parking is metered or nearby public lots. If you don’t mind walking a couple blocks, it’s often easier to find free parking on the other side of the freeway. We’ve been holding down this monthly picket since the spring of 2017. A coalition of Milwaukee organizations have joined up to shut down MSDF. This facility is a building within a building, where captives have no access to fresh air or sunlight. They are triple-bunked in lockdown cells for over 20 hours a day. There is no outdoor rec. The facility was built and is run using funds that should be used for diversionary programs to keep people out of jail, instead it’s being used to keep them on supervision under arbitrary and vindictive probation and parole officers. We are organizing this protest on every 23rd (unless that lands on a weekend when there’s less foot traffic). The National Religious Campaign Against Torture has called for actions on the 23rd of every month (to bring attention to 23 hour a day lockdowns). http://www.nrcat.org/about-us/take-action-current-legislation/563-together-to-end-solitary

Can’t come? SIGN THE PETITION!!!!If you haven’t signed the petition yet yourself, please do here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/its-time-to-close-milwaukee-secure-detention-facility-msdf