Here & Now

Lincoln Hills Barber Details Life Inside Juvenile Detention

Frederica Freyberg:

In tonight’s closer look, a federal judge in Madison has ordered changes in use of solitary confinement and pepper spray at Wisconsin’s juvenile prison. The ruling came last week as the result of one of the lawsuits filed on behalf of inmates at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lakes School. Even as a federal investigation into the operation of the institution continues, one Madison man takes his skills both professional and personal on the road each week, traveling more than five hours round trip to the institution in northern Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:

As dawn breaks, Lamar Skinner packs up for the long trip north. Every week, Skinner takes his skills on the road to Irma. He’s been hired as a barber at the Lincoln Hills Copper Lake School, Wisconsin's juvenile detention center.

Lamar Skinner:

There's a guy that’s been working there for about 30 years. He’s like, “Man, I'm glad you’re here. I’m glad you’re here. They just didn’t understand. You gotta have an African-American to cut these African-American kids’ hair.”

Frederica Freyberg:

Skinner came to take the job after one of his regulars saw a need.

Lamar Skinner:

Who comes in? Well, we got Everett Mitchell. We got Reverend Larry right here, Jackson in the chair.

Frederica Freyberg:

It was Dane County Judge Everett Mitchell who thought of his own barber back in Madison.

Lamar Skinner:

Well, he just took a visit and he saw some kids that needed some haircuts.

Frederica Freyberg:

Skinner's adult clientele reads like a who’s who of community leaders.

Lamar Skinner:

We build during these times. We joke a little bit. That’s what it’s about for me. It’s always good to have an elder around. I can pick Larry's brain all day.

Frederica Freyberg:

Those elders approve of their barber’s work at the youth prison.

Larry Jackson:

By Lamar being there as an African-American, just his presence will encourage a lot of them. Just by him being African-American in there doing something positive.

Lamar Skinner:

Just like he said, I'm just living proof that you can actually achieve something without being negative about it.

Frederica Freyberg:

For his part, Skinner says 30 haircuts a day is hard work. It’s emotionally draining, too.

Lamar Skinner:

They're far away from home. Far away from everything they know and love. So I know it’s bittersweet, I guess is the best way to describe it. You got young people, some of them are facing a lot of time. And some of them are going to get a chance to go home.

Frederica Freyberg:

Skinner says he tries to be a role model as a businessman, a parent for the young people sitting in his chair inside the facility.

Lamar Skinner:

I just try to put a little positivity in there, shed a little light on something that they could be doing, maybe get them to think in a different way. It’s about all I can do. I’m pretty much there for the haircut, but if I can insert little bits and pieces of things they can use, I do that.

Frederica Freyberg:

As Skinner plies his trade with a different clientele week by week, haircut by haircut, he hopes he’s making a difference in some young lives. He says there is a connection: respect.

Lamar Skinner:

When I'm there, they sweep up the hair. They thank me. They shake my hand. They’re polite. You know, just regular kids. They got in some trouble. I didn’t know I was going to like it that much until I got into it. Just seeing the kids smile, you know. That’s good enough for me.

Frederica Freyberg:

Still, on the long road trip back to Madison and his Park street barbershop, Skinner reflects on his own fortunes compared to those he leaves behind the gates.

Lamar Skinner:

It can get sad, not for me, because I get to go home, you know. I get to go home. So for them, I can kind of see, you know, where they can have some days where it’s frustrating and it’s not, you know, it’s not the place they want to be.

Frederica Freyberg:

The federal judge in Madison gave parties in the Lincoln Hills lawsuit until July 7 to come up with a plan reducing the use of solitary confinement and pepper spray at the juvenile correctional facility.