A Milwaukee activist group is calling on local judges to refuse to send offenders to the Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake juvenile prisons.

The plea from Youth Justice Milwaukee came during a Thursday morning press conference after yet another week of reported violence and disturbances behind bars.

"In the absence of leadership from Governor Walker and the Department of Corrections," began Jeff Roman who helped start the group. "We are asking Judges and our local and county leaders to stop sending Milwaukeeans to these terrible facilities."

Youth Justice says it wants to see both facilities shut down.

Roman says they have to go to these extremes because, in their view, nobody seems to be addressing the problem which has been the subject of investigation for the better part of a year.

A 16 year old girl also spoke up about her time at the Copper Lake facility. She says even though both are referred to as schools, she claims teachers rarely showed up at Copper Lake.

She says when a teacher would arrive, offenders of all ages were crammed into one classroom.

Look for continuing coverage on the CBS 58 News at 4.

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