INMATES TAKEN TO SPEECH AT BAR

Agency Reviewing Trip by Addicts From St. Croix Boot Camp
Facility

Madison - Five state correctional officers - with the approval of
their bosses - took 22 inmates from a boot camp for alcoholics and
drug addicts to see a motivational speaker at a venue where alcohol
was served to other patrons.

An internal investigation of the matter is being conducted after a
drug treatment counselor complained that allowing the inmates to get
near alcohol was a setback to their treatment.

The counselor, Mark Nelson, 47, of Prairie Farm, alleges he was pushed
out of his job shortly after he filed his complaint about the
incident. A Department of Corrections spokesman said officials did not
retaliate against him.

Nelson said he was told he had resigned after he left work early after
a confrontational meeting with his bosses. The confrontation came
shortly after he complained about the outing with inmates.

Nelson said it was unethical for officers to take alcoholic inmates on
June 17 to an establishment that serves alcohol because most of them
will be barred from going into similar places when they are released.

Top officials at the St. Croix Correctional Center approved taking the
inmates to the event, saying inmates were closely supervised and could
not get alcohol. They said they wanted inmates to hear an uplifting
speech by motivational speaker Dick Hoyt.

Nelson is unmoved by their argument.

"Quite frankly, I don't care if Mother Teresa is speaking," he said.
"You don't take inmates to a bar."

He said when inmates are released from the center and put on extended
supervision, they are given strict rules they must follow. For
alcoholics and addicts, that usually includes staying out of
establishments that serve beer and liquor. Violating the rules can
land offenders back in prison.

At issue is an event at Ready Randy's Sports Bar & Grill in New
Richmond sponsored by the local Rotary Club. The event featured Hoyt,
a Massachusetts-based motivational speaker who for 25 years has run
marathons while pushing or pulling his quadriplegic son, Rick, in a
wheelchair. Decision defended

The Rotary offered free tickets to the center, a boot camp for inmates
with drug and alcohol addictions. Warden Mickey McCash and
Superintendent Jo Skalski approved taking inmates to the event.

"This was a rare, special opportunity for a motivational speaker,"
Skalski said. "(The inmates) are very thankful. It was very inspiring
to them."

But Nelson said inmates gave him a different reaction in a group
treatment session, saying they felt their willpower was tested at the
event because patrons around them were drinking.

One inmate who has eight drunken driving convictions couldn't focus on
the program because she was so distracted by the drinks around her,
Nelson said.

Skalski said the inmates were closely monitored at all times. The
event was held in a banquet hall away from the bar, but other patrons
were allowed to carry their drinks into the hall.

Inmates had to pass through a room with a cash bar to get to the
bathroom, but they were each escorted by two officers whenever they
went to the restrooms, Skalski said.

That doesn't matter, Nelson said.

"They're not to be around (alcohol), and there's a reason -- it's a
huge trigger," he said.

Complaint Stirs Tension

He filed an internal complaint on June 27. On June 30, Nelson was
called into a meeting with Capt. Scott Grady and Marie Hall, Nelson's
clinical supervisor with the L.E. Phillips-Libertas Treatment Center,
the contractor for counseling services at St. Croix. Nelson was an
employee of the contractor, not the state.

Nelson said the two became confrontational and that Grady made
comments that he took as references to his filing the complaint.
Nelson told them, "I'm done here," returned to his office briefly and
then left the center, departing about two hours before his shift
ended. He said he had planned to return to work the next day.

He said he was later told his early departure was viewed as a
resignation and that Grady would not allow him back in the facility.

"I feel like I got retaliated against, absolutely," Nelson
said.

Nelson had earned about $15.50 an hour during the seven months he
worked for the contractor, he said.

Department of Corrections spokesman Alec Loftus said the agency did
not retaliate against Nelson. He and Skalski declined to give the
department's account of what happened in the meeting.

Loftus would not make Grady available for an interview. Hall and
others with the contractor could not be reached.

Based on Nelson's complaint, the agency is conducting an internal
review.

"We are taking another look to make sure everything was done
appropriately," department spokesman John Dipko said. "At this point,
we have not seen any indication that a different decision should have
been made."

All inmates at St. Croix participate in a six-month program of
military-style drills and addiction treatment. Those who pass the
program are released from prison early.

The department would not release the names of the inmates who attended
the event, saying their names are confidential because they are in a
treatment facility.