Black legislators decry appointments to prison task force
By Jessica Lipaz | Nov. 15, 2017Four black Democratic legislators wrote a letter to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, in response to a new task force that will study the efficacy of Wisconsin prisons that solely consists of white men. The task force was created to analyze Wisconsin’s need for a new prison amid recent prison incidents involving overpopulation, neglect and violence. The letter, signed by Democratic representatives from Milwaukee, David Crowley, Jason Fields, David Bowen and Leon Young, requests Vos to reconsider his nominations in order to add at least one black member to the task force. “In Milwaukee County over half of African American males in their 30s have served time in state prison,” the letter said.