A significant legal resolution has emerged involving the family of Donald Maier, a Wisconsin inmate who tragically succumbed to dehydration and malnutrition at Waupun prison. This settlement highlights ongoing concerns about prison conditions and the treatment of inmates.
The State of Wisconsin has agreed to a $3.75 million settlement with Maier’s family, effectively dismissing a federal lawsuit filed earlier. This agreement was confirmed by the Jeff Scott Olson Law Firm, representing the family.
The lawsuit was initiated by Maier’s mother, Jeannette, who in the previous spring brought the case to federal court. It accused prison staff of showing “deliberate indifference” to Maier’s medical distress before his death at age 62 in February 2024.
According to the complaint, Maier spent his final days in solitary confinement where he was denied meals and routine well-being checks. The statement detailed a decline in Maier’s mental health, exacerbated by the lack of medication for his mental illness. Additionally, after flooding his cell, Maier’s water was cut off, and he was reportedly not informed when it was restored.
In a desperate act, Maier resorted to drinking from the toilet and expressed a dire need for water, telling a prison doctor he desired “water, water, water, all the water in the world.”
Attorney Jeff Scott Olson commented on the case, stating, “It wasn’t just Don Maier’s death that was a horrific tragedy. It was the last few days of his life, when his grip on reality drained away to the point that he was unable to communicate his needs, and his life became a living hell.”
Olson further highlighted systemic issues, attributing Maier’s ordeal partly to understaffing and poor morale at the prison. He pointed to a 2011 law signed by then-Governor Scott Walker, which limited the collective bargaining rights of public employees, including those in corrections, as a contributing factor.
“In the 15 years since then, the legislature has stood by as correctional physical facilities and working conditions have steadily deteriorated,” Olson remarked. “This has hurt both prison inmates and prison employees, and without serious reform at the legislative level to take the pressure off, tragedies like the death of Don Maier will continue to be inevitable.”
While the Department of Corrections has yet to comment on the settlement, legal actions in 2024 saw Dodge County prosecutors charge nine former Waupun staff members over the deaths of Maier and another inmate, Cameron Williams, who died of a stroke due to alleged neglect.
Several defendants have accepted plea deals, while others have had charges dropped. The family, in a news release, expressed gratitude to the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office for their thorough investigation. They expressed hope that the case prompts changes in inmate treatment, ensuring that signs of distress are no longer overlooked and that reforms are implemented in Wisconsin’s correctional facilities.
