Lincoln Hills Teacher Blames Court Injunction, State For Beating

A teacher at Lincoln Hills beaten by a teenage inmate says a court order to cut back on punishment has the teens “emboldened” and “basically running the show now.” Pandora Lobacz is a longtime teacher at the state’s juvenile school for male offenders at Irma — and she tells reporters in Milwaukee and Wausau she had a heart monitor installed after a larger inmate beat her in the face last week. Lobacz blames the July court order from Federal Judge James Peterson which ordered reductions in the use of pepper spray, handcuffs, and solitary confinement. Lobacz also said it’s “horrible” that Governor Scott Walker has never visited Lincoln Hills to see the conditions for himself. The state corrections agency says officials have visited Lincoln Hills often, and major changes have been made as a federal probe treatment of inmates is about to end its third year.