Reporters Go Inside Sex Offender Lockup

Reporters Go Inside Sex Offender Lockup

We did an Insider in November on how Wisconsin handles its sex offenders deemed by a court to be “sexually violent persons” – meaning experts have determined that they’re more likely to re-offend than not. Essentially, these men get locked up at the Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center, and most never come back out again. A few regain their freedom through a program of carefully supervised release that state officials say allows them to avoid constitutional challenges. Now, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism and Wisconsin Public Radio have gotten inside Sand Ridge to interview a few of the SVPs being held…

We did an Insider in November on how Wisconsin handles its sex offenders deemed by a court to be “sexually violent persons”  meaning experts have determined that they’re more likely to re-offend than not. Essentially, these men get locked up at the Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center, and most never come back out again. A few regain their freedom through a program of carefully supervised release that state officials say allows them to avoid constitutional challenges.

Now, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism and Wisconsin Public Radio have gotten inside Sand Ridge to interview a few of the SVPs being held there  and they’re none too happy about their circumstances.

Read more here. The story is part of the larger “Rethinking Sex Offenders” series.

Matt has written for Milwaukee Magazine since 2006, when he was a lowly intern. Since then, he’s held the posts of assistant news editor and, most recently, senior editor. He’s lived in South Carolina, Tennessee, Connecticut, Iowa, and Indiana but mostly in Wisconsin. He wants to do more fishing but has a hard time finding worms. For the magazine, Matt has written about city government, schools, religion, coffee roasters and Congress.