Take action to stop a prison pandemic in Wisconsin

Friend –

Right now, Wisconsin state prisons are on the brink of becoming a public health catastrophe – and we need your help to stop it.

In Wisconsin's overcrowded state prisons, social distancing is impossible. Multiple people are housed in a single cell without even basic medical care or sanitation supplies.

An outbreak of COVID-19 in our prisons would further strain our hospital system because people who get very sick in prison must be transported to hospitals in the surrounding community – threatening public health and claiming even more lives.

A prison pandemic would also disproportionately impact people of color, as Black Wisconsinites are 12 times more likely to be incarcerated than whites.

Tell Governor Evers that a prison sentence should never become a death sentence.

Other states have taken bold steps, releasing thousands of people from prisons and into settings where they can safely practice social distancing and help stop the spread of this disease.

But here in Wisconsin, Governor Evers' administration has reduced the prison population by just 1.3 percent – a tiny fraction of what's necessary to protect public health.

That's why we filed suit last week in the Wisconsin Supreme Court, but we also need to make our voices heard.

Call Governor Evers NOW and ask him to save lives and stop a prison pandemic.

Governor Evers himself pledged to reduce the state's prison population by half – and now is the time to do it.

Thanks for sticking with us,

ACLU of Wisconsin