3-15-18 juvenile justice overhaul bill in jeopardy

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A bipartisan compromise to close the troubled Lincoln Hills prison as part of a broad overhaul of Wisconsin’s juvenile justice system was in jeopardy Wednesday due to a split among Republicans who control the Senate and the state Assembly.  Authors of the bill that unanimously passed the Assembly said their measure appears dead thanks to Senate changes.  A Republican-controlled Senate committee voted 3-2 along party lines Wednesday to approve a scaled-back proposal that would still close Lincoln Hills by 2021 but does not say what would replace it. Instead, a committee would be created to study the issue and spend $15 million to expand a mental health hospital in Madison.  The $80 million Assembly bill called for the creation of smaller, regional prisons to house juveniles across the state.  Rep. Michael Schraa, a Republican from Oshkosh who co-authored the Assembly bill, called the action by fellow Republicans in the Senate a “death sentence.”