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The Louisiana State Penitentiary (known as Angola, and nicknamed the "Alcatraz of the South", "The Angola Plantation" and "The Farm"<ref name="Fishing">Sutton, Keith "Catfish". "Out There: Angola angling". ESPN Outdoors. May 31, 2006. Retrieved on August 25, 2010.</ref>) is a maximum-security prison farm in Louisiana operated by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections.
Angola is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States,<ref>Oshinsky, David. "The View From Inside". The New York Times. June 11, 2010. Retrieved on August 24, 2010.</ref> with 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff, including corrections officers, janitors, maintenance workers, deputy wardens, and the warden himself. The current warden is Darrell Vannoy, who was appointed to the role in 2024, after having previously served as warden between 2016 and 2021, following long-time warden Burl Cain's resignation. Located in West Feliciana Parish, the prison is set between oxbow lakes on the east side of a bend of the Mississippi River and thus flanked on three sides by water. It lies less than Template:Convert south of Louisiana's straight east–west border with Mississippi.
The Template:Convert of land the prison sits on was known before the American Civil War as the Angola Plantations, a slave plantation owned by slave trader Isaac Franklin. The prison is located at the end of Louisiana Highway 66, around Template:Convert northwest of St. Francisville. Death row for men and the state execution chamber for women and men are located at the Angola facility.
HistoryEdit
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Before 1835, state inmates were held in a jail in New Orleans. The first Louisiana State Penitentiary, located at the intersection of 6th and Laurel streets in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was modeled on a prison in Wethersfield, Connecticut. It was built to house 100 convicts in cells of Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1844, the state leased operation of the prison and its prisoners to McHatton Pratt and Company, a private company.Template:Citation needed
During the American Civil War, Union soldiers occupied the prison in Baton Rouge. In 1869, during the Reconstruction era, Samuel Lawrence James, a former Confederate major, received the military lease to the future prison property along the Mississippi River. He tried to produce cotton with the forced labor of African Americans.<ref name="Anghist">"History Of The Prison." Louisiana State Penitentiary. Retrieved on August 24, 2010.</ref>
The land developed as Angola Penitentiary was purchased in the 1830s from Francis Rout as four contiguous plantations by Isaac Franklin. He was a planter and slave trader, co-owner of the profitable slave trading firm Franklin and Armfield, of Alexandria, Virginia, and Natchez, Mississippi. After he died in 1846, Franklin's widow, by then known as Adelicia Cheatham, joined these plantations: Panola, Belle View, Killarney, and Angola, when she sold them all in 1880 to Samuel Lawrence James, the former CSA officer. The Angola plantation was named after the country on the west coast of Southern Africa, from which many enslaved people had come.<ref name="ftcanamercafix">Template:Cite news</ref> It contained a building called the Old Slave Quarters.<ref name="HISTORY OF ANGOLA">www.corrections.state.la.us "HISTORY OF ANGOLA" Template:Webarchive</ref>
Under the convict lease system, Major James ran his vast plantation using convicts leased from the state as his workers. He was responsible for their room and board and had total authority over them. With the incentive to earn money from prisoners, the state passed laws directed at African Americans, requiring payment of minor fees and fines as punishment for infractions. Cash-poor men in the agricultural economy were forced into jail and convict labor. Such convicts were frequently abused, underfed, and subject to unregulated violence. The state exercised little oversight of conditions. Prisoners were often worked to death under harsh conditions.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="slavery">Slavery by Any Other Name</ref>Template:Full citation needed James died in 1894.
20th century operationsEdit
The Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections says this facility opened as a state prison in 1901.<ref name="Time in Prison">"Time in Prison." Template:Webarchive Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections. 32/40. Retrieved on September 23, 2010.</ref> The state began transferring prison facilities out of the old penitentiary into Angola. The old penitentiary continued to be used as a receiving station, hospital, clothing, and shoe factory, and place for executions until it finally closed in 1917.<ref name="HardLabor">United States. General Services Administration. Hard Labor: History and Archaeology at the Old Louisiana State Penitentiary, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Government Printing Office, 1991. Retrieved from Internet Archive on November 3, 2020.</ref> The history and archaeology of the old penitentiary provides insights into inmates' structures and daily life.<ref name="HardLabor" />
In September 1928, prisoners Cleveland Owen, Steven J. Beck, and James Heard took two prison guards hostage and escaped from Camp E armed with .45 Colt automatics. Ten additional prisoners followed them out of the gates. The break was thwarted when the anticipated ferry was not positioned on the river's prison side. A gunfight between guards and prisoners ensued, leaving five prisoners dead. According to contemporary news reports, twenty-six persons were shot.<ref>"Escaping the Bars of Justice," Daily News newspaper (New York, NY)09/30/1928 pp.46-47</ref> "Trusty" prisoners who assisted the guards later sought pardons from Governor Huey Long.<ref>"Requests Pardon for Part in Angola Fight," St. Francisville Democrat newspaper (St. Francisville, LA)09/29/1928 p. 4</ref>
Charles Wolfe and Kip Lornell, authors of The Life and Legend of Leadbelly, stated that Angola was "probably as close to slavery as any person could come in 1930." Hardened criminals broke down upon being notified that they were being sent to Angola. White-black racial tensions in the society were expressed at the prison, adding to the violence: each year, one in every ten inmates was stabbed. Wolfe and Lornell stated that the staff, consisting of 90 people, "ran the prison like it was a private fiefdom."<ref name="Leadbelly100">Wolfe, Charles K. and Kip Lornell. The Life and Legend of Leadbelly. Da Capo Press, 1999. p. 100. Retrieved from Google Books on August 25, 2010. Template:ISBN, 9780306808968</ref>
The two authors stated that prisoners were viewed as the Template:"'worst of the lowest order".<ref name="Leadbelly101">Wolfe, Charles K. and Kip Lornell. The Life and Legend of Leadbelly. Da Capo Press, 1999. p. 101. Retrieved from Google Books on August 25, 2010.</ref> The state did not appropriate many funds for the operation of Angola and saved money by trying to decrease costs. Much of the remaining money ended up in the operations of other state projects; Wolfe and Lornell stated that the re-appropriation of funds occurred "mysteriously".<ref name="Leadbelly100"/>
In 1935, remains of a Native American individual were taken from Angola and were donated to the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science.<ref>"Page 77907-77908." National Park Service. December 13, 2000. Volume 65, Number 240. Retrieved on October 13, 2010.</ref>
In 1948, governor Earl Kemp Long appointed Rollo C. Lawrence, a former mayor of Pineville, as the first Angola superintendent. Long subsequently established the warden position as one of political patronage. Long appointed distant relatives as wardens of the prison.<ref name="Hoffa36">Harper, Stephen J. Crossing Hoffa: A Teamster's Story. Minnesota Historical Society, 2007. 36. Retrieved from Google Books on March 14, 2011. Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN.</ref>
In the institution's history, the electric chair, Gruesome Gertie, was stored at Angola. Because West Feliciana Parish did not want to be associated with state executions, for some time, the state transported the chair to the parish of conviction of a condemned prisoner before executing them.<ref name="Hoffa41">Harper, Stephen J. Crossing Hoffa: A Teamster's Story. Minnesota Historical Society, 2007. 41. Retrieved from Google Books on March 14, 2011. Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN.</ref>
A former Angola prisoner, William Sadler (also called "Wooden Ear" because of hearing loss he suffered after a prison attack), wrote a series of articles about Angola in the 1940s. Hell on Angola helped bring about prison reform.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In February 1951, 31 inmates, in protest of the prison's conditions, cut their own Achilles tendons. Unable to use both feet, the inmates hopped around and sang "The Heel-String Boogie", and the group was labeled the Heel String Gang.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> When the protest made headlines, Long convened a committee of 32 judges, law officers and media members to investigate conditions at the prison.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By May, the number of inmates who had slashed their Achilles tendons had risen to 55. However, the protest was successful; the committee recommended several reforms, including the abolition of corporal punishment at the prison.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In its November 22, 1952 issue, Collier's Magazine referred to Angola as "the worst prison in America".<ref name="Hoffa42">Harper, Stephen J. Crossing Hoffa: A Teamster's Story. Minnesota Historical Society, 2007. 42. Retrieved from Google Books on March 14, 2011. Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN.</ref><ref name="SteinLessons">Stein, Joel. "The Lessons of Cain." TIME. Retrieved on July 21, 2010.</ref> In addition, Margaret Dixon, managing editor of the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate for two decades, worked for prison reform, specifically, construction of other facilities to reduce the population at Angola. The new Margaret Dixon Correctional Institution opened in 1976 and was named for her.
On December 5, 1956, five men escaped by digging out of the prison grounds and swimming across the Mississippi River. They were Robert Wallace, 25; Wallace McDonald, 23; Vernon Roy Ingram, 21; Glenn Holiday, 20; and Frank Verbon Gann, 30. The Hope Star newspaper of Arkansas reported that one body (believed to be Wallace) was recovered from the river.<ref>Hope Star newspaper (Hope, AK)12/06/56 p.10 and 12/29/56 p. 3</ref>
McDonald was captured later in Texas, after returning to the United States from Mexico. McDonald said that two of his fellow escapees drowned, but warden Maurice Sigler disputed this. Sigler said that he believed no more than one inmate drowned. His men had found three clear sets of tracks climbing up the river bank.
Gann's family wrote to Sigler on multiple occasions, requesting that he declare the escaped prisoner dead to free up benefits for his children. Although the family never heard again from Gann, Sigler refused to declare him dead, saying that he was likely in Mexico. Gann had been imprisoned in Angola after escaping from the Opelousas Parish Jail on April 29, 1956, where he was serving a relatively minor charge for car theft.
In 1961, female inmates were moved from Angola to the newly opened Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women.<ref>"LOUISIANA CORRECTINS TIMELINETemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore."Template:Sic The Advocate. March 12, 2000. News 13A. Retrieved on August 29, 2010. "1961 Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women opened in an old prison farm camp at St Gabriel with female prisoners moved from Angola ..."</ref>
In 1971, the American Bar Association criticized the conditions at Angola. Linda Ashton of the Associated Press stated that the bar association described Angola as "medieval, squalid and horrifying".<ref name="Ashton2">Ashton, Linda. "Louisiana Inmates Blame Unrest on Governor : Roemer's Stinginess With Clemency Has Created 'Time Bomb,' Lifers Claim", Associated Press, at the Los Angeles Times. July 23, 1989. 2. Retrieved on March 22, 2011.</ref> In 1972, Elayne Hunt, a reforming director of corrections, was appointed by Governor Edwin Edwards. The U.S. courts in Gates v. Collier ordered Louisiana to clean up Angola once and for all, ordering the end of the Trustee-Officer and Trusty systems.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} </ref>
Efforts to reform and improve conditions at Angola have continued. In 1975, U.S. District Judge Frank Polozola of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, declared conditions at Angola to be in a state of emergency. The state installed Ross Maggio as the warden. Prisoners nicknamed Maggio "the gangster" because he strictly adhered to rules. Ashton said that, by most accounts, Maggio had improved conditions.<ref name="Ashton2"/> Maggio retired in 1984.<ref name="Ashton2"/>
In the 1980s, Kirksey Nix perpetrated the "Angola Lonely Hearts" scam from within the prison.<ref>Shapiro, Dean M. "The Angola Lonely Hearts Club," Crime Library. Retrieved on July 25, 2010.</ref>
On June 21, 1989, US District Judge Polozola declared a new state of emergency at Angola.<ref name="Ashton3">Ashton, Linda. "Louisiana Inmates Blame Unrest on Governor : Roemer's Stinginess With Clemency Has Created 'Time Bomb,' Lifers Claim" Associated Press at the Los Angeles Times. July 23, 1989. 3. Retrieved on March 22, 2011.</ref>
In 1993 Angola officers fatally shot 29-year-old escapee Tyrone Brown.<ref>"Angola escapee ignores warnings, is fatally shot", The Advocate. January 3, 1993. Retrieved on August 16, 2010.</ref>
Burl Cain served as the warden from 1995 to March 7, 2016.<ref>"After leaving Angola, Burl Cain to continue collecting $134,000 in regular paychecks through August" (Archive). The Advocate. February 21, 2016. Retrieved on February 26, 2016.</ref> He was known for numerous improvements, lowering the prison violence rate, and numerous criminal allegations.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 1999, six inmates who were serving life sentences for murder took three officers hostage in Camp D. The hostage takers bludgeoned and fatally stabbed 49-year-old Captain David Knapps. Armed officers ended the rebellion by shooting the inmates, killing 26-year-old Joel Durham, and seriously wounding another.<ref>Sack, Kevin. "2 Die in Louisiana Prison Hostage-Taking", The New York Times. December 30, 2009. Retrieved July 21, 2010.</ref>
21st centuryEdit
In 2004, Paul Harris of The Guardian wrote, "Unsurprisingly, Angola has always been famed for brutality, riots, escape and murder."<ref>Harris, Paul. "America's hell-hole jail finds God – and redemption." The Guardian. August 29, 2004. Retrieved on November 2, 2010.</ref>
On August 31, 2008, New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin stated in a press conference that anyone arrested for looting during the evacuation of the city due to Hurricane Gustav would not be housed in the city/parish jail, but instead sent directly to Angola to await trial.<ref>"Gustav bears down on Gulf Coast", Chicago Tribune. August 31, 2008. Retrieved on July 3, 2015.</ref>
As evidence that the prison had retained its notoriety, Nagin warned:
<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
Anybody who is caught looting in the city of New Orleans will go directly to Angola. Directly to Angola. You will not have a temporary stay in the city. You go directly to the big house, in general population. All right? So, I want to make sure that every looter, potential looter, understands that. You will go directly to Angola Prison. And God bless you when you go there.<ref>Transcript of CNN Newsroom, 2008-08-31</ref>{{#if:|{{#if:|}}
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In 2009, the prison reduced its budget by $12 million by "double bunking" (installing bunk beds to increase the capacity of dormitories), reducing overtime, and replacing officers with security cameras.<ref>Chacko, Sarah. "Warden, legislators look at Angola, budget." 2theadvocate. November 21, 2009. 1A. 1. Retrieved on October 19, 2010.</ref>
In 2012, 1,000 prisoners were transferred to Angola from C. Paul Phelps Correctional Center, which had closed. The state government did not increase the prison's budget or hire additional employees.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On March 11, 2014, Glenn Ford, a man wrongfully convicted of murder and Louisiana's longest-serving death row prisoner, walked free after a court overturned his conviction a day earlier when petitioned by prosecutors. Ford had spent nearly three decades at the prison, with 26 years in solitary confinement on death row.<ref>"Judge vacates conviction to set free man on death row." Louisiana State News.Net. March 12, 2014. Retrieved on March 12, 2014.</ref> The state's policy was to house death row prisoners in solitary confinement, but lengthy appeals have created new harsh conditions of extended solitary. Convicts and their defense counsels have challenged such lengthy stays in solitary confinement, which is harmful to both mental and physical health and has been considered to be "cruel and unusual punishment" under the US Constitution.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In March 2019, seven members of staff at the facility were arrested for rape, smuggling items to inmates, and maintaining personal relationships with prisoners.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2020, regarding the COVID-19 pandemic in Louisiana, ProPublica wrote that prisoners alleged that deliberately low testing rates masked an epidemic in the prison.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Prison officials denied the prisoner's allegations.<ref name=":0"/> Prisoners also allege they were treated with over-the-counter medications, and "four of the 12 prisoners who have died in the pandemic...had been denied needed medical help for days because their symptoms were not considered sufficiently serious".<ref name=":0"/> ProPublica also wrote that some sick inmates "concealed their symptoms to try to avoid losing their freedom of movement and other privileges" because of extended quarantines.<ref name=":0"/>
In 2023, U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick, ruled that the juvenile detainees in Angola were being held in conditions that were unconstitutional and ordered their removal from temporary lockup. <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Legal advocates like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center were involved in advocating for the juvenile detainees, mostly black boys, to be removed from Angola, citing concerns about their mental health, access to education, and the excessive heat in the former death row unit the boys were being held in.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ManagementEdit
Angola was designed to be as self-sufficient as possible; it functioned as a miniature community with a canning factory, a dairy, a mail system, a small ranch, repair shops, and a sugar mill. Prisoners raised food staples and cash crops. The self-sufficiency was enacted so taxpayers would spend less money and so politicians such as Governor of Louisiana Huey P. Long would have an improved public image. In the 1930s, prisoners worked from dawn until dusk.<ref name="Leadbelly101"/>
As of 2009, there are three levels of solitary confinement. "Extended lockdown" is colloquially known as "Closed Cell Restricted" or "CCR". Until a period before 2009, death row inmates had more privileges than "extended lockdown" inmates, including the privilege of watching television.<ref name="solitaryconf">Biggs, Brooke Shelby. "Camp J, Red Hats, and the Hole." Mother Jones. March 5, 2009. Retrieved on August 25, 2010.</ref>
"Extended lockdown" was initially intended as a temporary punishment. The next most restrictive level was, in 2009, "Camp J", referring to an inmate housing unit that houses solitary confinement. The most restrictive level is "administrative segregation", colloquially referred to by inmates as the "dungeon" or the "hole".<ref name="solitaryconf"/>
LocationEdit
Louisiana State Penitentiary is in unincorporated West Feliciana Parish,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> in east central Louisiana.<ref name="PenpalSweden">"Doomed Man Loses His Swedish Pen Pal." The Tuscaloosa News. Sunday, September 20, 1964. 20. Retrieved from Google News (11 of 22) on August 26, 2010.</ref> It is located at the base of the Tunica Hills, in a region described by Jenny Lee Rice of Paste as "breathtakingly beautiful".<ref name="PasteRadio2">Rice, Jenny Lee. "Prison Radio." Paste. Issue 4. 2. Retrieved on September 26, 2010.</ref>
The prison is about Template:Convert northwest of St. Francisville,<ref>"Louisiana State Penitentiary Template:Webarchive." Louisiana Department of Corrections. Retrieved on January 1, 2010.</ref> about Template:Convert northwest of Baton Rouge,<ref name="Leadbelly100"/> and Template:Convert northwest of New Orleans.<ref>Nolan, Bruce. "StoryCorps New Orleans: Angola is home to third-generation corrections officer." The Times-Picayune. Thursday, July 15, 2010. Retrieved on September 2, 2010. "When StoryCorps, the oral history initiative, came to New Orleans in the spring, staffer Jeremy Helton packed a microphone and drove 135 miles north of the city to Angola to record something of the lives of people such as Butler."</ref> Angola is about an hour's drive from Baton Rouge,<ref name="Varnado179">Varnado, Michael L. and Daniel P. Smith. Victims of Dead Man Walking. Pelican Publishing, 2003. 179. Retrieved from Google Books on November 2, 2010. Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN.</ref> and it is about a two-hour driving distance from New Orleans.<ref>Faure, Guillemette. "Jour de fête dans une prison de Louisiane." Le Figaro. October 15, 2007. Retrieved on August 30, 2010. "En pleine campagne, à deux heures de La Nouvelle-Orléans,"</ref> The Mississippi River borders the facility on three sides.<ref name="Leadbelly101"/> The prison is near the Louisiana-Mississippi border.<ref name="PenpalSweden"/> Angola is located about Template:Convert from the Dixon Correctional Institute.<ref name="CainDCI">"Auditor says state paying too much by letting Angola warden live at DCI." The Advocate. February 7, 1997. Retrieved on February 3, 2011. "Angola and DCI are about 34 miles apart." and "Cain has been under fire for renovations he has made to Angola's "Ranch House" and expenses entertaining prison guests there. The Ranch House was built as a..."</ref>
Charles Wolfe and Kip Lornell, authors of The Life and Legend of Leadbelly, stated that in the 1990s, the prison remained "far away from public awareness".<ref name="Leadbelly101"/> The prison officials sometimes provide meals for official guests because of what the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections refers to as the "extreme remote location" of Angola; the nearest non-prison dining facility is, as of 1999, Template:Convert away.<ref>"Response to Legislative Audit Report of December 18, 1998." Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. January 12, 1999. 3. Retrieved on August 26, 2010. "On occasion, it is necessary to serve meals to official guests because of the extremely remote location of the prison. The nearest dining location to the penitentiary is 30 miles away."</ref> The prison property is adjacent to the Angola Tract of the Tunica Hills Wildlife Management Area. Due to security reasons regarding Angola, the Tunica Hills WMA's Angola Tract is closed to the general public from March 1 through August 31 every year.<ref>"Tunica Hills WMA." Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Retrieved on August 25, 2010.</ref>
The main entrance is at the terminus of Louisiana Highway 66, a road described by Wolfe and Lornell as "a winding, often muddy state road".<ref name="Leadbelly100"/> From St. Francisville one would travel about Template:Convert north along U.S. Highway 61, turn left at Louisiana 66, and travel on that road for Template:Convert until it dead ends at Angola's front gate.<ref name="PrisonGolf">"Welcome to the Prison View Golf Course." Prison View Golf Course. Retrieved on August 26, 2010.</ref> The Angola Ferry provides a ferry service between Angola and a point in unincorporated Pointe Coupee Parish. The ferry is open only to employees except during special events, when members of the general public may use it.<ref>"Angola Ferry Template:Webarchive." U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Retrieved on August 26, 2010.</ref>
CompositionEdit
The Template:Convert prison property occupies a Template:Convert area.<ref>McShane, Marilyn D. and Franklin P. Williams. Encyclopedia of American Prisons. Taylor & Francis, 1996. 53. Retrieved from Google Books on February 4, 2011.</ref> The size of the prison property is larger than the size of Manhattan.<ref name="SecondsofF">Applebome, Peter. "Seconds of Freedom." The New York Times. October 18, 1998. Retrieved on August 25, 2010. "Angola covers 18,000 acres, larger than the island of Manhattan."</ref> Charles Wolfe and Kip Lornell, authors of The Life and Legend of Leadbelly, stated that Angola of the 1990s looks "more like a large working plantation than one of the most notorious prisons in the United States." Officers patrol the complex on horseback, as many prison acres are devoted to cultivating crops. By 1999, the prison's primary roads had been paved.<ref name="Leadbelly100"/>
The Tunica Hills and the Mississippi River surround the prison property. The perimeter of the property is not fenced, while the individual prisoner dormitory and recreational camps are fenced.<ref name="PasteRadio2"/> Most prison buildings are yellow with a red trim.<ref name="Varnado179"/>
Inmate quartersEdit
The state of Louisiana considers Angola to be a multi-security institution. 29% of the prison's beds are designated for maximum security inmates.<ref>"Time in Prison Template:Webarchive." Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections. 14/40. Retrieved on September 23, 2010.</ref> The inmates live in several housing units scattered across the Angola grounds. By the 1990s, air conditioning and heating units had been installed in the inmate housing units.<ref name="Leadbelly100"/>
Most inmates live in dormitories instead of cell blocks. The prison administration states that having "inmates of all ages and with long sentences live this way encourages cooperation and healthy peer relationships."<ref name="Time in Prison"/>
Main Prison ComplexEdit
The Main Prison Complex consists of the East Yard and the West Yard. The East Yard has 16 minimum and medium custody prisoner dormitories and one maximum custody extended lockdown cellblock; the cellblock houses long-term extended-lockdown prisoners, in-transit administrative segregation prisoners, inmates who need mental health attention, and protective-custody inmates.<ref name="Photoalbum">"Photo Album Template:Webarchive." (Alternate link Template:Webarchive) Louisiana State Penitentiary. Retrieved on July 20, 2010.</ref>
The West Yard has 16 minimum and medium custody prisoner dormitories, two administrative segregation cellblocks, and the prison treatment center. The treatment center houses geriatric, hospice, and ill in-transit prisoners.<ref name="Photoalbum"/> As of 1999, the main prison complex houses half of Angola's prisoners.<ref>"Chapter One God of the Rodeo." The New York Times. Retrieved on October 28, 2010.</ref>
Dormitories within the main prison include the Ash, Cypress, Hickory, Magnolia, Oak, Pine, Spruce, and Walnut dormitories. The cell blocks are A, B, C, and D. The main prison also houses the local Main Prison administration building, a gymnasium, a kitchen/dining facility, the Angola Vocational School, and the Judge Henry A. Politz Educational building.<ref name="Buildinglist">"Buildings with Replacement Cost Values Greater Than $1,000,000 as of 2/14/2005." (Archive) State of Louisiana. Retrieved on May 1, 2012.</ref>
OutcampsEdit
Angola also has several outcamps. Camp C includes eight minimum and medium custody dormitories, one cellblock with administrative segregation and working cellblock prisoners, and one extended lockdown cellblock.<ref name="Photoalbum"/> Camp C includes the Bear and Wolf dormitories and Jaguar and Tiger cellblocks.<ref name="Buildinglist"/> Camp D has the same features as Camp C, except that it has one working cellblock instead of an extended lockdown cellblock, and its other cellblock does not have working prisoners.<ref name="Photoalbum"/> Camp D houses the Eagle and Falcon dormitories and the Hawk and Raven cellblocks.<ref name="Buildinglist"/>
Camp F has four minimum custody dormitories and the "Dog Pen", which houses 11 minimum custody inmates.<ref name="Photoalbum"/> All of the prisoners housed in Camp F are "trusties", who mop floors, deliver food to fellow prisoners, and perform other support tasks.<ref name="Varnado184">Varnado, Michael L. and Daniel P. Smith. Victims of Dead Man Walking. Pelican Publishing, 2003. 184. Retrieved from Google Books on November 2, 2010. Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN.</ref> Camp F also houses Angola's execution chamber.<ref>"Officials prep for Bordelon's execution Thursday." The Advocate. January 6, 2010. Retrieved on August 24, 2010. "Laborde said Bordelon has been moved from Angola's new Death Row facility to a cell at nearby Camp F, where the execution chamber is located"</ref> Camp F has a lake where trusties fish.<ref name="Varnado184"/> A prisoner quoted in Self-governance, Normalcy and Control: Inmate-produced Media at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola described Camp F as being "off from the rest of the prison".<ref>Churcher, Kalen Mary Ann. Self-governance, Normalcy and Control: Inmate-produced Media at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. Pennsylvania State University. ProQuest, 2008. p. 90. Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN</ref>
The Close Cell Restricted (CCR) unit, an isolation unit located near the Angola main entrance, has 101 isolation cells and 40 trustee beds. Jimmy LeBlanc, the corrections secretary, said in October 2010 that the State of Louisiana could save about $1.8 million during the remaining nine months of the 2010–2011 fiscal year if it closed CCR and moved prisoners to unused death row cells and possibly some Camp D double bunks. LeBlanc said that the prisoners in isolation would remain isolated.<ref>Millhollon, Michelle. "Corrections agency may sell off prisonsTemplate:Dead link." The Advocate. October 14, 2010. Retrieved on October 27, 2010.</ref>
Camp J was in operation until its 2018 closure.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It has four extended lockdown cellblocks, which contained prisoners with disciplinary problems, and one dormitory with minimum and medium custody inmates who provide housekeeping functions for Camp J.<ref name="Photoalbum"/> Camp J housed the Alligator, Barracuda, Gar, and Shark cellblocks.<ref name="Buildinglist"/>
Reception center and death rowEdit
The Reception Center, the closest prison housing building to the main entrance, acts as a reception center for arriving prisoners. It is inside the main gate to the right of the main highway.<ref name="Varnado179"/> In addition, it contains the death row for male inmates in Louisiana, with 101 extended lockdown cells housing condemned inmates.<ref name="Photoalbum"/> The death row facility has a central room and multiple tiers. The entrance to each tier includes a locked door and color photographs of the prisoners in each tier.<ref name=Ridgeway3>Ridgeway, James. "God's Own Warden." Mother Jones. July/August 2011 Issue. p. 3. Retrieved on March 23, 2013. "And I've seen a lot of good come out of faith-based programs—which, particularly in prison, fill the void created when lawmakers nationwide slashed funding for rehabilitation. In 1994, for example, Congress dealt a crushing blow to prison education by making inmates ineligible for higher-education Pell grants. Prison college programs, which had proved the most effective tool for reducing recidivism, disappeared almost overnight. In Louisiana today, 1 percent of the corrections budget goes to rehabilitation. The imbalance "makes no rational sense from a prison management point of view," says David Fathi, who heads the ACLU's National Prison Project. "But unfortunately, it makes political sense for the next election." As a result, he says, "the religiously inspired programs are pretty much all there is.""</ref>
Death row includes eight tiers, lettered A to G. Seven tiers have 15 cells each, while one tier has 11. Each hallway has a cell for showering.<ref name="Varnado180">Varnado, Michael L., and Daniel P. Smith. Victims of Dead Man Walking. Pelican Publishing, 2003. 180. Retrieved from Google Books on November 2, 2010. Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN.</ref> The death row houses exercise areas with basketball posts.<ref name="Varnado182">Varnado, Michael L. and Daniel P. Smith. Victims of Dead Man Walking. Pelican Publishing, 2003. 182. Retrieved from Google Books on November 2, 2010. Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN.</ref> The death row facility was constructed in 2006 without air conditioning or cross ventilation.<ref name=McGaughyDeathrowstarted>McGaughy, Lauren. "Louisiana death row inmates testify to 'indescribable' heat at Angola prison." The Times Picayune. August 6, 2013. Updated August 8, 2013. Retrieved on October 7, 2013.</ref> In addition, the Reception Center has one minimum custody dormitory with inmates who provide housekeeping for the facility.<ref name="Photoalbum"/>
In June 2013, three prisoners filed a federal lawsuit against the prison in the court in Baton Rouge, alleging that the death row facility does not have adequate measures to prevent overheating.<ref name=McHaughysueext>McHaughy, Lauren. "Death row inmates sue Angola Prison over 'extreme' temperatures." The Times Picayune. June 10, 2013. Updated June 11, 2013. Retrieved on October 7, 2013.</ref> The prisoners said that due to pre-existing medical conditions, the heat may cause health problems. Brian A. Jackson, the district federal judge, ordered temperature data collection at the Angola death row for three weeks to determine the conditions. During that time, Angola officials blasted the outer walls of the prison with water cannons and installed window awnings to attempt to lower temperature data. In response, Jackson said that he was "troubled" by the possibility of manipulating the temperature data.<ref name=McGaughyDeathrowstarted/>
On Monday, August 5, 2013, , the federal trial regarding the condition of the death row in high heat started.<ref name=McGaughyDeathrowstarted/> The following day, Warden Burl Cain apologized for violating the court order regarding data collection.<ref>McGaughy, Lauren. "Angola prison warden apologizes for violating court order during death row heat lawsuit." New Orleans Times Picayune. August 6, 2013. Updated August 7, 2013. Retrieved on October 8, 2013.</ref> On Wednesday, August 7, 2013, closing arguments in the trial ended.<ref>McGaughy, Lauren. "Angola prison heat trial wraps up as judge confirms visit to Louisiana's death row." The Times-Picayune. August 7, 2013. Retrieved on October 8, 2013.</ref> In December 2013, U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson ruled that the heat index of the prison was cruel and unusual punishment, and therefore, a cooling system must be installed. By 2014, a court-ordered plan to install a cooling system was underway.<ref>Gyan, Joe Jr. "Judge approves air cooling plan for death row." The Advocate. May 23, 2014. Retrieved on September 16, 2015.</ref>
As of May 2019, the issue was close to being resolved after a 6-year-long court battle. A settlement has been reached between the death row inmates and the prison. The settlement agreement calls for daily showers for the three Angola inmates of at least 15 minutes; individual ice containers that are replenished promptly by prison staff; individual fans; water faucets in their cells; "IcyBreeze" units or so-called "Cajun coolers"; and the diversion of cool air from the death row guard pod into their cells. Even though these measures have already been put in place, the court ruling could take until November 2019 to be made final by Judge Brian Jackson.Template:Citation needed
B-LineEdit
The facility includes a group of houses called the "B-Line",<ref name="Activities"/> which function as residences for prison staff members and their families; inmates perform services for the staff members and their households. The employee housing includes recreational centers, pools, and parks.<ref name="SullivanDoubts">Sullivan, Laura. "Doubts Arise About 1972 Angola Prison Murder." National Public Radio. October 27, 2008. Retrieved on July 17, 2010.</ref> The Angola B-Line Chapel was dedicated on Friday, July 17, 2009, at 4:00 pm.<ref name="CampCBLineChap"/>
Residents on the prison grounds are zoned to West Feliciana Parish Public Schools. Primary schools serving the Angola grounds include Bains Lower Elementary School and Bains Elementary School in Bains.<ref name="Tunicaclosed">Rivas, Brittany. "West Feliciana board closes elementary school Template:Webarchive." WBRZ. May 18, 2007. Retrieved on February 18, 2012.</ref> Secondary schools serving the Angola grounds are West Feliciana Middle School and West Feliciana High School in Bains.<ref>"Schools Template:Webarchive." West Feliciana Parish Public Schools. Retrieved on August 16, 2010.</ref> The West Feliciana Parish Library is located in St. Francisville.<ref>"Directory." West Feliciana Parish Library. Retrieved on September 29, 2010.</ref> The library, previously a part of the Audubon Regional Library System, became independent in January 2004.<ref>"About Us." West Feliciana Parish Library. Retrieved on September 29, 2010.</ref> West Feliciana Parish is in the service area of Baton Rouge Community College.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Previously, elementary school children attended Tunica Elementary School in Tunica, Louisiana,<ref name="Fairenlivens">"Fair enlivens out-of-the-way school." The Advocate. May 18, 1991. Retrieved on August 16, 2010. "Tunica Elementary is only a few miles from the main gate of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, and many of its students live on the 18000acre prison"</ref> located in proximity to Angola.<ref>"Complaints build over cutbacks, board says." The Advocate. August 18, 1992. Retrieved on August 16, 2010. "John Cobb and Billy Bishop asked board members to overturn a staff decision to reassign their children to Tunica Elementary located near Angola ..."</ref> The school building, Template:Convert from Angola,<ref name="WFProfile">"West Feliciana Parish School System Profile." (Archive) West Feliciana Parish School System. 3. Retrieved on February 18, 2012.</ref> is several miles from Angola's main entrance, and many of its students live on the Angola grounds.<ref name="Fairenlivens"/> On May 18, 2011, due to budget cuts, the parish school board voted to close Tunica Elementary.<ref name="Tunicaclosed"/>
Fire stationEdit
The fire station houses the Angola Emergency Medical Services Department staff, who provide fire and emergency services to the prison.<ref name="Photoalbum"/> The Angola Fire Department is registered as department number 63001 with the Louisiana Fire Marshal's Office. The department's equipment includes one engine, tanker, and rescue truck. Within Angola, the department protects 500 buildings, including employee and prisoner housing quarters. The department has mutual aid agreements with West Feliciana Parish and with Wilkinson County, Mississippi.<ref>"Fire Department Template:Webarchive." Louisiana State Penitentiary. Retrieved on August 29, 2010.</ref>
Religious sitesEdit
The main entrance to Angola has an etched monument that refers to Epistle to the Philippians 3:15.<ref name="vonZeilbauer2">"Spinning Hope on Incarceration Station." The New York Times. April 12, 2006. 2. Retrieved on August 25, 2010.</ref>
Reflecting the historic dominance of the Catholic church in south Louisiana, St. Augustine Church was built in the early 1950s and is staffed by the Roman Catholic Church. The New Life Interfaith Chapel was dedicated in 1982.<ref name="Photoalbum"/>
In the 2000s, the main prison church, the churches for Camps C and D, and a grounds chapel were constructed as part of an effort to build chapels for every state-run prison facility. A staff and family of staff chapel was also under construction. Outside donations and ticket sales from the prison rodeo funded these churches.<ref name="Activities"/> The Camp C Chapel and the B-Line Chapel were dedicated the same day.<ref name="CampCBLineChap">"Chapel Dedications at Louisiana's Maximum-Security Prison Template:Webarchive." Louisiana State Penitentiary. Retrieved on August 24, 2010.</ref>
The most recent structure is Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel, a Template:Convert structure built with over $450,000 worth of materials donated by Latin American businessmen Jorge Valdes and Fernando Garcia. Its design resembles The Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. Built in 38 days by 50 prisoners, it opened in December 2013. The interfaith church "includes seating for more than 200 and features paintings, furniture and stained-glass windows crafted by inmates."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Recreational facilitiesEdit
Prison staff members have access to recreational facilities on the Angola property. Angola has ball fields, the Prison View Golf Course, a swimming pool, a tennis court, and a walking track.<ref name="Timeinprison34">"Time in Prison." Template:Webarchive Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections. 34/40. Retrieved on September 23, 2010.</ref> Lake Killarney, an oxbow lake of the Mississippi River located on the prison grounds, has large crappie fish. The prison administration controls access to Lake Killarney, and few people fish there. The crappie fish grow very large.<ref name="Fishing"/>
Butler Park is a recreational facility on the edge of the Angola property. It houses gazebos, picnic tables, and barbecue pits. As of 1986, a prisoner who has no major disciplinary issues for at least a year may use the property.<ref>"HILLSIDE PICNICS ARE SWEET REWARD FOR INMATES." Associated Press at The Dallas Morning News. July 28, 1986. Retrieved on March 5, 2011.</ref>
Prison View Golf CourseEdit
Prison View Golf Course, a Template:Convert, 9-hole, 36-par golf course, is located on the grounds of Angola.<ref name="PrisonGolf"/> Prison View, the only golf course on the property of an American prison,<ref name="Plaisance">Plaisance, Stacey. "Golf Channel visits La. prison course." Associated Press at the Boston Globe. June 30, 2009. Retrieved on November 3, 2010.</ref> is between the Tunica Hills and Camp J, at the intersection of B-Line Road and Camp J Road.<ref>"Course.jpg." Prison View Golf Course. Retrieved on October 27, 2010.</ref> All individuals wishing to play must provide personal information 48 hours before arrival so that the prison authorities can conduct background checks. Convicted felons and individuals on visitation lists cannot play on the golf course.<ref name="PrisonGolf"/> Current prisoners at Angola are not permitted to play on the golf course.<ref name="Plaisance"/>
The golf course, constructed on a former bull pasture site, opened in June 2004. Prisoners performed most of the work to construct the course. Prisoners that the administration considers to be the most trustworthy are permitted to work at the golf course. Warden Burl Cain said he built the course so employees would be encouraged to stay at Angola over weekends. He wanted them available to provide support in case of an emergency.<ref>Zieralski, Ed. "Golf course on prison grounds offers links to world outside." San Diego Union-Tribune. March 8, 2005. Retrieved on October 27, 2010.</ref>
Guest houseEdit
The "Ranch House" is a facility for prison guests.<ref name="CainDCI"/> James Ridgeway of Mother Jones described it as "a sort of clubhouse where the wardens and other officials get together in a convivial atmosphere for chow prepared by inmate cooks."<ref name=Ridgeway5>Ridgeway, James. "God's Own Warden." Mother Jones. July/August 2011. p. 5. Retrieved on March 23, 2013.</ref> Originally constructed to serve as a conference center to supplement the meeting room in the Angola administration building, the "Ranch House" received its name after Burl Cain was selected as Warden. Cain had the building renovated to accommodate overnight guests. The renovations, which included converting one room into a bedroom and adding a shower and fireplace, cost approximately $7,346.<ref name="CainDCI"/> Traditionally, prisoners who worked successfully in the Ranch House were later assigned to work as cooks at the Louisiana Governor's Mansion.
CemeteriesEdit
Point Lookout Cemetery is the prison cemetery, located on the north side of the Angola property, at the base of the Tunica Hills.<ref name="Photoalbum"/> Deceased prisoners from all state prisons had been buried here who were not claimed and transported elsewhere by family members.<ref name="Timeinprison33">"Time in Prison Template:Webarchive." Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections. 33/40. Retrieved on September 23, 2010.</ref> A white rail fence surrounds the cemetery. The current Point Lookout was created after a 1927 flood destroyed the previous cemetery, located between the current Camps C and D. In September 2001, a memorial was installed here dedicated to "Unknown Prisoners". The Point Lookout plot established after 1927 has 331 grave markers and an unknown number of bodies; it is considered full.<ref name="Photoalbum"/>
Point Lookout II, a cemetery annex Template:Convert east of the original Point Lookout, opened in the mid-1990s; it has a capacity of 700 grave sites. As of 2010, 90 prisoners were buried at Point Lookout II.
Angola MuseumEdit
The Angola Museum, operated by the nonprofit Louisiana State Penitentiary Museum Foundation, is the on-site prison museum. Visitors are charged a $5 per adult admission fee and $3 per adult if the group is ten or larger.<ref>"Angola Museum." Louisiana State Penitentiary Museum Foundation. Retrieved on August 25, 2010.</ref> The museum is located outside the prison's main gate,<ref name="Timeinprison34"/> in a former bank building.<ref name="Auzenne">Auzenne, Joshua. "Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola." WAFB-TV. May 14, 2010. Updated on January 7, 2011. Retrieved on April 28, 2012.</ref>
Angola AirstripEdit
The prison includes the Angola Airstrip Template:Airport codes.<ref name=AngolaFAA>Template:FAA-airport – Retrieved on October 26, 2010. (Archive)</ref> The airstrip is used by state-owned aircraft to transport prisoners to and from Angola and for transporting officials on state business to and from Angola. The airport is used during daylight and visual flight rules times.<ref>"Angola Airstrip." AirNav. Retrieved on October 26, 2010. "THIS AIRSTRIP IS USED ONLY FOR STATE-OWNED PLANES FOR INMATES TO/FROM ANGOLA & FOR VISITING OFFLS ON STATE BUS DUR DAYLGT & VFR.."</ref>
Other prison facilities and featuresEdit
The facility's main entrance has a metal-roofed guard house to review traffic to and from the prison. Michael L. Varnado and Daniel P. Smith of Victims of Dead Man Walking stated that the guard house "looks like a large carport over the road.<ref name="Varnado179"/> " The guard house has long barriers, with Stop signs, to prevent automobiles entering and leaving the compound without the permission of the officers. The officers manually raise the barriers to allow a vehicle access or egress.<ref name="Varnado179"/>
The Front Gate Visiting Processing Center, with a rated capacity of 272 persons, is the processing and security screening point for prison visitors.<ref name="Photoalbum"/> The United States Postal Service operates the Angola Post Office on the prison grounds.<ref>"Post Office Location – ANGOLA Template:Webarchive." United States Postal Service. Retrieved on July 20, 2010.</ref> It was established on October 2, 1887.<ref>"Postmaster Finder Post Offices by ZIP Code Template:Webarchive." (enter "787" – first 3 numbers of Angola, LA zip code) United States Postal Service. Retrieved on September 23, 2011.</ref>
The David C. Knapps Correctional Officer Training Academy,<ref name="Anghist"/> the state training center for correctional officers, is located at the northwest corner of Angola,<ref name="Leadbelly100"/> in front of Camp F.<ref name="Buildinglist"/> Near the training center, Angola prisoners maintain the only nature preserve located on the grounds of a penal institution.<ref name="Leadbelly100"/> The R. E. Barrow, Jr. Treatment Center is located on the Angola premises.<ref name="Anghist"/>
The C.C. Dixon K-9 Training Center is the dog-training area.<ref>"K-9 Training Center Template:Webarchive." Louisiana State Penitentiary. Retrieved on August 29, 2010.</ref> It was named in 2002 to commemorate Connie Conrad Dixon, a dog trainer, and K-9 officer, who died in 1997 aged 89.<ref>"Angola prison dedicates "dog pen" to ex-K-9 officer." The Advocate. November 8, 2002. Retrieved on March 14, 2011.</ref>
The Louisiana State Penitentiary Wastewater Treatment Plant serves the prison complex.<ref>"Public Notice DRAFT WATER DISCHARGE PERMIT LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND CORRECTIONS/LOUISIANA STATE PENITENTIARY AI Number 6634." Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. Retrieved on September 28, 2010.</ref> The prison also houses an all-purpose arena.<ref>"Returning Hearts Celebration." Louisiana State Penitentiary. June 23, 2011. Retrieved on July 4, 2011.</ref>
History of infrastructure at the prisonEdit
Camp A, the former slave quarters for the plantation, was the first building to house inmates. In the early 21st century, Camp A did not house prisoners.<ref name="Anghist"/>
Charles Wolfe and Kip Lornell, authors of The Life and Legend of Leadbelly (1992), stated that during the 1930s, Angola was "even further removed from decent civilization" than it was in the 1990s. The two added, "That's the way the state of Louisiana wanted it, for Angola held some of the meanest inmates."<ref name="Leadbelly101"/>Template:Page needed
In 1930, about 130 women, most of them black, were imprisoned in Camp D. In 1930, Camp A, which held around 700 black inmates, was close to the center of the Angola institution. Inmates worked on levee control as the springtime high water threatened Angola. The Mississippi River was nearly Template:Convert wide in this area. Many inmates who tried to swim across drowned; few of their bodies were recovered.<ref name="Leadbelly101"/>Template:Page needed
The prison hospital opened in the 1940s. The campus had only one permanent nurse and no permanent doctor.<ref name="Hoffa36"/>
In the 1980s, the main road to Angola had not been paved.<ref name="Ashton1">Ashton, Linda. (Associated Press) "Louisiana Inmates Blame Unrest on Governor : Roemer's Stinginess With Clemency Has Created 'Time Bomb,' Lifers Claim", Los Angeles Times. July 23, 1989. 1. Retrieved on March 22, 2011.</ref> It has since been blacktopped.Template:Citation needed
The outcamp buildings, constructed in 1939 as a WPA project during the Great Depression, were renovated in the 1970s. In May 1993, the buildings' fire safety violations were reported. In June of that year, Richard Stalder, the Secretary of Corrections, said that Angola would close the buildings if LDP S&C did not find millions of dollars to improve the buildings.<ref>"Angola violations threaten closures." The Advocate. June 5, 1993. Retrieved on November 2, 2010.</ref>
Red Hat Cell BlockEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}
The most restrictive inmate housing unit was colloquially referred to as "Red Hat Cell Block",<ref name="NPSList">"20030228.htm." National Park Service. February 28, 2003. Retrieved on March 13, 2011.</ref> after the red paint-coated straw hats that its occupants wore when they worked in the fields.<ref name="solitaryconf"/> "Red Hat", a one-story, 30-cell building at Camp E, was built in 1933.<ref>Sinclair, Billy Wayne and Jodie Sinclair. A Life in the Balance: The Billy Wayne Sinclair Story. Arcade Publishing, 2000. 51. Retrieved from Google Books on October 1, 2010. Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN.</ref> Brooke Shelby Biggs of Mother Jones reported that men who had lived in "Red Hat" "told of a dungeon crawling with rats, where dinner was served in stinking buckets splashed onto the floors."<ref name="solitaryconf"/>
Warden C. Murray Henderson phased out solitary confinement at "Red Hat".<ref name="sinclairs">Sinclair, Billy and Jodie Sinclair. A Life in the Balance: the Billy Wayne Sinclair Story. Arcade Publishing, 2000. 132. Retrieved from Google Books on October 28, 2010. Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN</ref> In 1972, his successor Elayn Hunt had "Red Hat" officially closed.<ref name="sinclairs"/>
In 1977, the administration made Camp J the most restrictive housing unit in Angola.<ref name="solitaryconf"/> On February 20, 2003, the National Park Service listed the Red Hat Cell Block on the National Register of Historic Places as #03000041.<ref name="NPSList"/>
DemographicsEdit
Louisiana State Penitentiary is the largest correctional facility in the United States by population.<ref name="PasteRadio1">Rice, Jenny Lee. "Prison Radio." Paste. Issue 4. 1. Retrieved on September 26, 2010.</ref> In 2010, the prison had 5,100 inmates and 1,700 employees.<ref>"10. Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola." Discovery Channel. Retrieved on August 29, 2010.</ref> In 2010, the racial composition of the inmates was 76% black and 24% white. 71% of inmates were serving a life sentence. 1.6% had been sentenced to death.<ref>Louisiana State Penitentiary Annual Report FY 2009/2010 pg. 45 <http://www.corrections.state.la.us/LSP/docs/2010_Annual_Report.pdf Template:Webarchive></ref> As of 2016 many inmates come from the state of Mississippi.<ref>Plante, Stephanie Grob. "Angola's Greatest Escape." Racked. June 28, 2016. Retrieved on July 11, 2016.</ref>
As of 2011, the prison has about 1,600 employees, making it one of the largest employers in Louisiana.<ref name=Ridgeway1>Ridgeway, James. "God's Own Warden." Mother Jones. July/August 2011 Issue. p. 1. Retrieved on March 23, 2013.</ref> Over 600 "free people" live on prison property. These residents are Angola's emergency response personnel and their dependents.<ref name="Timeinprison34"/> In 1986, around 200 families of employees lived within Angola property. Hilton Butler, then Angola's Warden, estimated that 250 children lived on the Angola property.<ref>"Christmas at Angola not necessarily sad song." The Advocate. December 21, 1986. Retrieved on August 16, 2010. "About 200 families live inside the fences. Butler guesses 250 children live at Angola"</ref>
Many prison employees are from families that have lived and worked at Angola for generations. Laura Sullivan of National Public Radio said, "In a place so remote, it's hard to know what's nepotism. There's simply no one else to hire."<ref name="SullivanDoubts"/>
OperationsEdit
As of 2011, the annual budget of the Louisiana State Penitentiary was more than $120 million.<ref name=Ridgeway1/> Angola still is operated as a working farm; former Warden Burl Cain once said that the key to running a peaceful maximum security prison was that "you've got to keep the inmates working all day so they're tired at night."<ref name="Erwin37">James, Erwin. "37 years of solitary confinement: the Angola three." The Guardian. Wednesday, March 10, 2010. Retrieved on August 16, 2010.</ref> In 2009 James Ridgeway of Mother Jones wrote Angola was "An 18,000-acre complex that still resembles the slave plantation it once was."<ref>Ridgeway, James. "36 years of solitude." Mother Jones at San Francisco Bay View. March 13, 2009. Retrieved on August 26, 2010.</ref>
Angola has the largest number of inmates on life sentences in the United States. As of 2009, Angola had 3,712 inmates on life sentences, making up 74% of the population that year. Some 32 inmates die each year; only four generally gain parole each year.<ref>Jervis, Rick. "Inmates assist ill and dying fellow prisoners in hospices." (alternate location Template:Webarchive) USA Today. Updated November 30, 2009. Retrieved May 29, 2010.</ref> Louisiana's tough sentencing laws result in long sentences for the inmate population, who have been convicted of armed robbery, murder, and rape. In 1998, Peter Applebome of The New York Times wrote, "It's impossible to visit the place and not feel that a prisoner could disappear off the face of the earth and no one would ever know or care."<ref name="SecondsofF"/>
Most new prisoners begin working in the cotton fields. A prisoner may spend years working there before gaining a better job.<ref name="SteinLessons"/>
In Angola parlance, a "freeman" is a correctional officer.<ref name="Kitchensises">The Kitchen Sisters. "Broncos and Boudin: The Angola Prison Rodeo." National Public Radio. April 17, 2008. Retrieved on March 12, 2011.</ref> Around 2000, the officers were among the lowest-paid in the United States. Like the prisoners they supervised, few had graduated from high school.<ref name="SteinLessons"/> As of 2009, about half of the officers were female.<ref>"Angola experiences a "Changing of the Guard" Template:Webarchive." WAFB-TV. November 11, 2009. Retrieved on May 29, 2010.</ref>
The administration uses prisoners to provide cleaning and general maintenance services for the West Feliciana Parish School Board and other government agencies and nonprofit groups within West Feliciana Parish.<ref>"General Template:Webarchive." Louisiana State Penitentiary. Retrieved on August 26, 2010.</ref>
Warden Burl Cain maintained an open-door policy with the media. He allowed the filming of the documentary The Farm: Angola, USA (1998) at the prison, which focused on the lives of six men. It won numerous awards.<ref name="HISTORY OF ANGOLA"/> Films such as Dead Man Walking,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Monster's Ball,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and I Love You Phillip Morris were partly filmed in Angola. Cain did not allow a proposed sex scene between two male inmates in I Love You Phillip Morris to be filmed at the prison.<ref name=Ridgeway2>Ridgeway, James. "God's Own Warden." Mother Jones. July/August 2011 Issue. p. 2. Retrieved on March 23, 2013.</ref>
The prison hosts a rodeo every April and October. Inmates produce the newsmagazine The Angolite, which has won numerous awards. It is available to the general public and is relatively uncensored.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The museum features among its exhibits Louisiana's old electric chair, "Gruesome Gertie", last used for the execution of Andrew Lee Jones on July 22, 1991.Template:Citation needed Angola Prison hosts the country's only inmate-operated radio station, KLSP.<ref>"Inside Angola's Incarceration Station" by Jenny Lee Rice, Paste magazine</ref>
FarmingEdit
Inmates cultivate, harvest, and process various crops that make the facility self-supporting. Crops include cabbage, corn, cotton, strawberries, okra, onions, peppers, soybeans, squash, tomatoes, and wheat. In 2013, the prison resumed growing sugarcane, a practice stopped in the 1970s.<ref> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
As of 2010, the prison had 2,000 head of cattle. Much of the herd is sold at markets for beef. Each year, the prison produces four million pounds of vegetable crops.<ref name="Auzenne"/>
Inmates also breed and train the horses used for field work at Angola. Trustees are mounted to supervise workers in the fields. In 2010, the Angola Prison Horse Sale was initiated during the annual rodeos.
Inmate educationEdit
Angola offers literacy classes for prisoners with no high school diploma and no General Equivalency Diploma (GED) from Monday through Friday in the main prison and camps C-D and F. Angola also offers GED classes in the main prison and camps C-D and F. The prison also offers ABE (Adult Basic Education) classes for prisoners who have high school diplomas or GEDs but who have inadequate Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) scores to get into vocational school. SSD (Special School District #1) provides services for special education students.<ref name="Education">"Educational Programs Template:Webarchive." Louisiana State Penitentiary. Retrieved on August 29, 2010.</ref>
Prisoners with satisfactory TABE scores may be admitted to vocational classes. Such classes include automotive technology, carpentry, culinary arts, graphic communications, horticulture, and welding.<ref name="Education"/> In 1995, a campus of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary was established in the penitentiary following an invitation from the prison warden, Burl Cain.<ref>Erik Eckholm, Bible College Helps Some at Louisiana Prison Find Peace, nytimes.com, USA, October 5, 2013</ref> The school has significantly reduced the rate of violence in the prison.
In 1994, the United States Congress voted to eliminate prisoner eligibility for Pell Grants, making religious programs such as the New Orleans Baptist program the only ones in higher education available to prisoners.<ref name=Ridgeway3/> As of Spring 2008, 95 prisoners were students in the program. Angola also offers the PREP Pre-Release Exit and Re-Entry Programs for prisoners about to be released into the outside world.<ref name="Education"/>
Inmate library services are provided by the main Prison Library and four outcamp libraries. The prison is part of the Inter-Library Loan Program with the State Library of Louisiana.<ref name="Activities">"Angola Prison Activities." National Geographic. Retrieved on July 24, 2010.</ref>
ManufacturingEdit
Angola has several manufacturing facilities. The Farm Warehouse (914) is the point of distribution of agricultural supplies. The Mattress/Broom/Mop shop makes mattresses and cleaning tools. The Printing Shop prints documents, forms, and other printed materials. The Range Herd group manages 1,600 head of cattle. The Row Crops group harvests crops. The Silk-Screen group produces plates, badges, road and highway signs, and textiles; it also manages sales of sign hardware. The Tag Plant produces license plates for Louisiana and overseas customers. The Tractor Repair shop repairs agricultural equipment. The Transportation Division delivers goods manufactured by the Prison Enterprises Division.<ref>"Prison Enterprises Template:Webarchive." Louisiana State Penitentiary. Retrieved on August 29, 2010.</ref>
MagazineEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}
The Angolite is the institution's inmate-published and edited magazine, which began in 1975 or 1976.<ref>"Rehabilitative Services / Work Programs Template:Webarchive." Louisiana State Penitentiary. Retrieved on August 29, 2010.</ref> Each year, six issues are published.<ref name="Timeinprison34"/> Louisiana prison officials believed an independently edited publication would help the prison. The Angolite gained a national reputation as a quality magazine and won international awards under two prisoner editors, Wilbert Rideau and Billy Sinclair,<ref name="TopicsofTimes">"TOPICS OF THE TIMES; Freedom Behind Bars." The New York Times. May 11, 1987. Retrieved on October 7, 2010.</ref> who became co-editors in 1978.<ref>McConnaughey, Janet. (Associated Press) "Jailhouse journalist is released," The Argus-Press. December 24, 2000. 8A. Retrieved from Google News (5 of 25) on October 7, 2010. "Under Rideau and Billy Sinclair, who became coeditor in 1978 ...</ref> Associate editor Ron Gene Wikberg joined them in 1988, moving up from a position as a staff writer. He worked on the magazine until gaining parole in 1992.
RadioEdit
Angola is the only penitentiary in the U.S. to be issued an FCC radio station license. KLSP (Louisiana State Penitentiary) is a 100-watt radio station that operates at 91.7 on the FM dial from inside the prison to approximately 6,000 potential listeners including inmates and penitentiary staff. Inmates operate the station and carry some satellite programming. Inside the walls of Angola, KLSP is called the "Incarceration Station".<ref name="KLSP">Louisiana State Penitentiary KLSP Template:Webarchive Accessed August 23, 2012</ref> The station airs a variety of programming including gospel, jazz, blues, rock-n-roll, country, and oldies music, as well as educational and religious programs.<ref name="KLSP"/> The station has 20 hours of daily airtime, and all of the music aired by the station is donated.<ref name="vonZeilbauer2"/> Music from His Radio and the Moody Ministry Broadcasting Network (MBN) airs during several hours of the day. Prisoners make the majority of broadcasting decisions.<ref name="PasteRadio2"/>
A radio station was established in 1986 originally as a means of communication within the complex. Jenny Lee Rice of Paste wrote, "the need to disseminate information rapidly is critical" because Angola is the largest prison in the United States.<ref name="PasteRadio1"/> The non-emergency uses of the station began in 1987 when Jimmy Swaggart, an evangelist, gave the prison old equipment from his radio network.<ref>"Spinning Hope on Incarceration Station." The New York Times. April 12, 2006. 1. Retrieved on August 25, 2010.</ref> In the early years, the radio station emphasized announcements and music more than religion, but it broadcast more religious programming in the early 21st century.<ref name="Churcher83">Churcher, Kalen Mary Ann. Self-governance, Normalcy and Control: Inmate-produced Media at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. Pennsylvania State University. ProQuest, 2008. p. 83. Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN</ref>
In 2001, Christian music artist Larry Howard of Chuck Colson's Prison Fellowship visited the prison. He encouraged Jim Campbell, the President of Radio Training Network, to rebuild the station, which was off the air due to antiquated and broken equipment. His Radio Network Manager, Ken Mayfield, led a team that helped rebuild the station. It included Ted McCall (HIS Radio Chief Engineer), Jerry Williams (The Joy FM), Ben Birdsong (The Wind FM), Steve Swanson (WAFJ), and Rob Dempsey (HIS Radio). The team conducted an on-air radio fundraiser to buy new radio equipment.<ref name="vonZeilbauer2"/> The fundraiser exceeded its $80,000 goal, raising more than $124,000 within three hours. Warden Burl Cain used the funds to update the radio equipment. Ken Mayfield returned several times to Angola to train prisoner DJs in using the new electronic systems.<ref name="PasteRadio2"/> New equipment, including a new transmitter, allowed KLSP to broadcast in stereo for the first time, utilize satellite to expand its daily airtime to 20 hours, and upgrade its programming.<ref name="vonZeilbauer2"/> As of 2012, KLSP had an output of 105 watts.<ref>KLSP fcc.gov. Accessed August 9, 2012</ref> Further than Template:Convert away from Angola on Louisiana Highway 61, the signal begins to fade. At Template:Convert, listeners can hear only white noise. Paul von Zielbauer of The New York Times wrote that "Still, 100 watts does not push the station's signal far beyond the prison gate."<ref name="vonZeilbauer2"/> All 24 hours are devoted to religious programming.<ref name="Timeinprison34"/> After religion became the primary focus, some inmates stopped listening to the station.<ref name="Churcher84">Churcher, Kalen Mary Ann. Self-governance, Normalcy and Control: Inmate-produced Media at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. Pennsylvania State University. ProQuest, 2008. p. 84. Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN</ref>
TelevisionEdit
The prison officials have started LSP-TV, a television station. According to Kalen Mary Ann Churcher of Pennsylvania State University, the television station follows the religious programming emphasis of the radio station more closely than it emulates reporting of The Angolite.<ref name="Churcher83"/> But its prisoner staff and technicians also films prisoner events, such as the Angola Prison Rodeo, prize fights, and football games. As it has a closed circuit system, it allows even inmates on death row to watch the broadcasts.<ref name="10Down">The Farm: 10 Down (2009), directed by Jonathan Stack</ref>
Burial of the deceasedEdit
Coffins for deceased prisoners are manufactured by inmates on the prison grounds. Previously, deceased prisoners were buried in cardboard boxes. After one body fell through the bottom of a box, Warden Burl Cain changed a policy, allowing for the manufacture of proper coffins for the deceased.<ref name="PasteRadio2"/> In April 2006, Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, held a large meeting in the arena at Angola Prison. While there, he visited the woodworking shop where inmates built the caskets. Graham ordered two - one for each of his parents. Graham's casket was placed in the Capitol Rotunda, where he lay in honor on February 28, 2018.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Death rowEdit
In 1972, in the US Supreme Court decision in Furman v. Georgia, the court found the application of the death penalty so arbitrary under existing state laws that it was unconstitutional. It suspended executions for all persons on death row in the United States (slightly more than 600, overwhelmingly male) under current state laws. It ordered state courts to judicially amend their sentences to the next lower level of severity, generally life in prison. Louisiana passed a new death penalty statute, which was overturned by the state supreme court in 1977 for its application to convictions for rape. The death penalty statute was amended again, effective September 1977. Louisiana did not execute any prisoners until 1983.
According to Louisiana Department of Corrections policy, inmates on death row are held in solitary confinement during the entire time they are incarcerated, even if appeals take years. This means that they are severely isolated and confined to their windowless cells for 23 hours per day. For one hour per day<ref name="Varnado182"/> an inmate may shower and/or move up and down the halls under escort. An inmate is permitted to use the exercise yard thrice a week. Death row inmates can have several books at a time, and each inmate may have one five-minute personal telephone call per month. They may not participate in education or work programs. Death row inmates receive unlimited visitor access.<ref name="Varnado183">Varnado, Michael L. and Daniel P. Smith. Victims of Dead Man Walking. Pelican Publishing, 2003. 183. Retrieved from Google Books on November 2, 2010. Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN.</ref> Officers patrol the death row corridors nightly as a suicide prevention tactic.
Nick Trenticosta, a New Orleans attorney with the ACLU who is involved with prison issues, has said that warden Burl Cain treated death row inmates in a more favorable manner than did wardens of other death row prisons in the United States. Trenticosta said, "It is not that these guys had super privileges. But Warden Cain was somewhat responsive to not only prisoners but to their families."<ref name="Ridgeway3"/>
In March 2017, three death row inmates at Angola filed a federal class-action suit against the prison and LDOC over its solitary confinement policy, charging that it constituted "cruel and unusual punishment" under the 8th Amendment to the US Constitution. Each of the men had been held in solitary for more than 25 years.<ref name="nytSuit">LIAM STACK, "3 Men on Death Row in Louisiana Sue Over Solitary Confinement", New York Times, March 30, 2017; accessed March 30, 2017</ref> The lawsuit describes basic conditions on death row:<ref name="Deadspin">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- sparse cells, hot in summer, with little natural light
- lack of recreation
- no hobbies
- very little religion
This lawsuit was settled in October 2021, requiring that inmates on death row are granted a minimum of four hours out of their cells to congregate with other incarcerated people in their tier each day, at least five hours of communal outdoor recreation each week, the ability to worship together, evening time out of their cells on their tier, at least one meal with other prisoners per day, group classes and contact visitations.<ref name="DRsettlement">Bobbi-Jeanne Misick, "Judge approves settlement in lawsuit that challenged the use of solitary confinement on death row", WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio, October 1, 2021; accessed September 18, 2022</ref>
ExecutionEdit
Male death row inmates are moved from the Reception Center to a cell near the execution chamber in Camp F on the day of the execution. The only person informed of when a prisoner will be transferred is the Warden; this is for security reasons and not to disrupt the prison routine. On a scheduled execution date, an execution can occur between 6 p.m. and midnight. Michael L. Varnado and Daniel P. Smith of Victims of Dead Man Walking stated that, on many occasions, the rest of Angola is not aware of the execution being carried out. In 2003, Assistant Warden of the Reception Center Lee said that once death row inmates learn of the execution, they "get a little quieter" and "[i]t suddenly becomes more real to them."<ref name="Varnado184"/>
When the State of Louisiana used electrocution as its method of capital punishment, it formally referred to the anonymous executioner as "The Electrician". When the State of Louisiana referred to the executioner by name, he was called "Sam Jones", after Sam H. Jones, the Governor of Louisiana in power when electrocution was introduced as the capital punishment.<ref name="Varnado189">Varnado, Michael L. and Daniel P. Smith. Victims of Dead Man Walking. Pelican Publishing, 2003. 189. Retrieved from Google Books on November 2, 2010. Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN.</ref>
Inmate lifeEdit
Musical cultureEdit
Template:As of, several Angola inmates practiced musical skills. The prison administration encourages prisoners to practice music and uses music to reward inmates who behave.<ref name="CannonHal">Cannon, Hal. "The Music of Louisiana's Angola State Penitentiary." NPR. August 5, 2011. Retrieved on August 15, 2011.</ref>
In the 1930s John Lomax, a folklorist, and Alan Lomax, his son, traveled throughout the U.S. South to document African-American musical culture. Since prison farms, including Angola, were isolated from general society, the Lomaxes believed that prisons had the purest African-American song culture, as popular trends did not influence it. The Lomaxes recorded several songs, which were plantation-era songs that originated during the slavery era. The Lomaxes met Lead Belly, a famous musician, in Angola.<ref name="CannonHal"/> Swamp blues musician Lightnin' Slim also served time in Angola for manslaughter in the 1930s and early 1940s.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
From 1968 to 1970, WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge aired a weekly early-morning program, Good Morning, Angola Style featuring bands made up of Angola inmates. The show was hosted by Buckskin Bill Black, who developed the idea for the program after meeting one of the prison's country music bands, The Westernaires, after performing at the 1967 Angola Prison Rodeo.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Sexual slaveryEdit
A 2010 memoir by Wilbert Rideau, an inmate at Angola from 1961 through 2005, states that "slavery was commonplace in Angola with perhaps a quarter of the population in bondage" throughout the 1960s and early 1970s.<ref name="nytimes.com">Template:Cite news</ref> The New York Times states that weak inmates served as sex slaves who were raped, gang-raped, and traded and sold like cattle. Rideau stated, "The slave's only way out was to commit suicide, escape or kill his master."<ref name="nytimes.com"/> Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox, members of the Angola 3, arrived at Angola in the late 1960s. They became active members of the prison's chapter of the Black Panther Party, where they organized petitions and hunger strikes to protest conditions at the prison and helped new inmates protect themselves from rape and enslavement.<ref>[1], Mother Jones, December 2009</ref> C. Murray Henderson, one of the wardens brought in to clean up the prison, states in one of his memoirs that the systemic sexual slavery was sanctioned and facilitated by the officers.<ref>Butler, Anne, and C. Murray Henderson. Dying to Tell. Center for Louisiana Studies, 1992.</ref>Template:Page needed
Inmate mental healthEdit
Mental health and faith at AngolaEdit
Louisiana State Penitentiary has been known for its non-traditional mental health interventions. One such initiative is a faith-based prototype program for mental healthcare and inmate rehabilitation known as the Angola Prison Seminary.<ref name=":3" /> This model focuses on introducing inmates to faith and helping them to find value and purpose through it – be that internally or externally through serving as an Inmate Minister. Through this position, inmates are trained to offer counseling to other inmates, deliver sermons at religious services, officiate funerals for fellow prisoners, and deliver care packages to ill inmates. This model proved to be particularly effective in Louisiana State Penitentiary, especially with its "sidewalk counseling" component.<ref name=":3" /> In this type of guidance, the counseling inmate asks leading questions and helps to guide the other inmate to answering their own question, without revealing any positionality. This model positively impacted both the counselor and the advisee, as the counselor felt an increased sense of self-worth by helping someone else, and the advisee felt heard and seen, maybe for the first time in his life.<ref name="Routledge">Template:Cite book</ref> The New York Times reported that this program can help inmates feel "at peace with themselves and their lives".<ref name=":3">Eckholm, Erik. "Bible college helps some at Louisiana prison find peace." The New York Times (2013): 15.</ref> Reports noted that the Bible College behind bars made the prison feel significantly more relaxed than it truly was.<ref name=":3" />
Faith is referenced many times as being a catalyst for positive change in the lives of lots of Louisiana State Penitentiary inmates. Author Mark Baker describes this connection in his book entitled You Can Change: Stories from Angola Prison and the Psychology of Personal Transformation.<ref name=":4" /> Here, Baker discusses how the high rates of reincarceration among Louisiana State Penitentiary inmates serves as an extremely demoralizing and discouraging reminder of the historical and systemic factors that landed them behind bars in the first place.<ref name=":4" /> Given the highly religious background of many of the inmates, who come largely from Louisiana, Mississippi, and other southern states, faith has proven to be a powerful motivator for many of the inmates in Angola.<ref name=":4" /> Baker discusses how inmates exposed to religious practices while incarcerated often went on to find a higher purpose in themselves and better avoid future reincarceration.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite book</ref>
This faith-based approach to mental healthcare is also seen in palliative care at the Louisiana State Penitentiary. Due to the predominantly older population of inmates at Louisiana State Penitentiary, the prison sees much higher rates of intake than releases, as many men pass away while incarcerated.<ref name=":5" /> In partnership with the University Hospital Community Hospice program based out of New Orleans, the Louisiana State Penitentiary has introduced a hospice program for terminally ill inmates.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite journal</ref> Inmate Ministers can assist in counseling with the ill inmates, as well as help them practice faith if they are interested in doing so. As seen with the other responsibilities they were assigned, this serious duty proved beneficial to not only the recipients but the Inmate Ministers as well.<ref name="Routledge"/>
Though the blend of mental healthcare and faith interventions has been controversial and yielded mixed results in many spaces,<ref>Sullivan, Steve, Jeffrey M. Pyne, Ann M. Cheney, Justin Hunt, Tiffany F. Haynes, and Greer Sullivan. "The pew versus the couch: Relationship between mental health and faith communities and lessons learned from a VA/clergy partnership project." Journal of Religion and Health 53, no. 4 (2014): 1267-1282.</ref> research like Baker's suggests it works positively in Louisiana State Penitentiary. However, it is unclear why the large role of religion, particularly Christianity, in the Southern United States could be a major factor in this occurrence.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Violations of inmate rightsEdit
In 2021, a federal judge found that the Louisiana State Penitentiary violated the Americans with Disabilities Act in treating inmates requiring rehabilitative services.<ref name=":1">Rold, William J. "Federal Judge Finds Unconstitutional Health Care and Violations of Americans with Disabilities Act at Louisiana State Penitentiary; Injunctive Relief to Follow."</ref> The judge, Chief U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick, ultimately ruled that the Louisiana State Penitentiary had committed a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and concluded her opinion by describing fifteen areas in which the prison required injunctive relief.<ref name=":1" />
Inmate organizationsEdit
Inmate organizations include Angola Men of Integrity, the Lifers Organization, the Angola Drama Club, the Wonders of Joy, the Camp C Concept Club, and the Latin American Cultural Brotherhood.<ref name="Kitchensises"/> Angola is also the only penitentiary in the United States where inmates are allowed to independently run their own churches, a practice founded in the penitentiary's history with slavery and one looked upon favorably by inmates.<ref name=":2">Hallett, Michael. "Faith at Angola Prison." Commonweal 144, no. 7 (2017): 10.</ref>
Angola RodeoEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} On one weekend in April and every Sunday in October, Angola holds the Angola Prison Rodeo. On each occasion, thousands of visitors enter the prison complex.<ref name="Timeinprison34"/> Initiated with planning in 1964,<ref name="Kitchensises"/> the rodeo held its first events in 1965.<ref name="RodeoDallas">""Angola Prison Rodeo in Louisiana", The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved on October 22, 2010.</ref> Initially, it was held for prisoner recreation but attracted increasing crowds.
The prison charges admission. Due to the rodeo's popularity, Angola built a 10,000-person stadium to support visitors; it opened in 2000.<ref name="RodeoDallas"/> As part of the prison rodeo,<ref name=McGaughydespite>McGaughy, Lauren. "Despite controversy, Angola Prison Rodeo lends inmates sense of freedom." The Times-Picayune. April 20, 2013. Updated April 21, 2013. Retrieved on October 8, 2013.</ref> the prison holds a semiannual Arts and Crafts Festival.<ref>Schrift, p. 257.</ref> In 2010, it started the Angola Prison Horse Sale, also during the rodeo.
Programs for fathersEdit
Angola has two programs for fathers who are incarcerated at Angola. Returning Hearts is an event where prisoners may spend up to eight hours with their children in a Carnival-like celebration. Returning began in 2005; by 2010, 2,500 prisoners had participated in the program. Malachi Dads is a year-long program that uses the Christian Bible to teach how to improve a prisoner's parenting skills. Malachi began in 2007; as of 2010, 119 men participated.<ref>Jervis, Rick. "Prison dads learn meaning of 'father'." USA Today. June 18, 2010. Retrieved on February 3, 2011.</ref> It is based on Malachi 4:6, "He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers ..."
Notable inmatesEdit
Executed prisonersEdit
- Gerald James Bordelon, executed in 2010 (most recent execution via lethal injection in Louisiana)<ref name="dpic">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- John A. Brown, Jr., executed in 1997<ref name="dpic" />
- Jimmy L. Glass, executed in 1987<ref name="dpic" />
- Jessie Hoffman Jr., executed on March 18, 2025 (first person executed by nitrogen hypoxia in Louisiana).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Antonio G. James, executed in 1996<ref name="dpic" />
- Andrew Lee Jones, executed in 1991 (most recent execution via electric chair in Louisiana)<ref name="dpic" />
- Leslie Lowenfield, executed in 1998<ref name="dpic" />
- Leslie Dale Martin, executed in 2002<ref name="dpic" />
- Dalton Prejean, executed in 1990<ref name="dpic" />
- Robert Wayne Sawyer, executed in 1993 (first execution via lethal injection in Louisiana)<ref name="dpic" />
- Elmo Patrick Sonnier,<ref>"CHURCH NEEDS TO AID KILLERS AS WELL AS VICTIMS' FAMILIES, NUN SAYS Template:Webarchive." Chicago Tribune. January 19, 1996. Metro Chicago 8. Retrieved on September 1, 2010. "It was at St Thomas in 1982 that an acquaintance asked her to write to Elmo "Pat " Sonnier, a stranger on Death Row."</ref> executed in 1984<ref name="dpic" />
- Feltus Taylor, Jr., executed in 2000<ref name="dpic" />
- Thomas Lee Ward, executed in 1995<ref name="dpic" />
- Dobie Gillis Williams, executed in 1999<ref name="dpic" />
- Robert Wayne Williams, executed in 1983 (first execution since 1976 in Louisiana)<ref name="dpic" />
- Robert Lee Willie, executed in 1984<ref name="dpic" />
- Jimmy C. Wingo, executed in 1987<ref name="dpic" />
Death row prisonersEdit
- Anthony Bell, convicted of the 2006 Baton Rouge church shooting
- Daniel Blank, death row inmate and convicted serial killer
- Nathaniel Code, death row inmate and convicted serial killer
- Kyle David Joekel, one of the two men who killed two police officers during a mass shooting.
- Derrick Todd Lee, serial killer. Died of heart disease before execution could be carried out.
- Larry Roy, nicknamed the" Cheneyville Slasher", who was convicted and sent to death row for a 1993 double murder.
- Christopher Sepulvado, convicted child killer and death row inmate
- Todd Wessinger, death row inmate and convicted double murderer
- Jeffrey Clark and David Brown, two members of the Angola 5 who were sentenced to death for the murder of David Knapps
Other prisonersEdit
- The Angola 3 (Robert Hillary King, Herman Wallace, and Albert Woodfox)<ref name="Erwin37" />
- Clementine Barnabet, alleged voodoo priestess and convicted axe murderer<ref name="Gauthreaux 2015">Template:Cite book</ref>
- James Booker, New Orleans R&B artist
- Lil Boosie, rapper
- C-Murder, rapper
- David Mathis, Barry Edge and Robert Carley, three members of the Angola 5 who were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of David Knapps
- Ronald Dominique, serial killer
- Clifford Etienne, professional boxer
- Jack Favor, rodeo performer<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Sean Vincent Gillis, serial killer
- Warren Harris, serial killer
- Will Hayden, reality TV host
- Patrick O'Neal Kennedy, defendant in Kennedy v. Louisiana<ref>Purpura, Paul. "Patrick Kennedy, whose conviction led to ban on executing child rapists, to remain in prison during appeal." The Times-Picayune. December 20, 2013. Retrieved on March 16, 2014.</ref>
- Lead Belly (Huddie William Ledbetter), folk and blues musician<ref name="Leadbelly101" />
- Carlos Marcello, New Orleans Mafia boss
- H. Lane Mitchell, Shreveport public works commissioner from 1934 to 1968<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- Henry Montgomery, defendant in Montgomery v. Louisiana
- Kirksey Nix, boss of the Dixie Mafia<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- Marlowe Parker, artist<ref>Baker-Zachary Bureau. "Art theft hits Angola Template:Webarchive." The Advocate. October 16, 2012. Retrieved on October 9, 2013.</ref>
- Wilbert Rideau, editor of The Angolite, winner of the George Polk Award<ref>Gold, Scott. "After 44 Years, Louisiana Man Is Freed." Los Angeles Times. January 17, 2005. Retrieved on August 29, 2010.</ref>
- Vincent Simmons, documentary subject
- Jon B. Simonis, serial rapist
- Billy Sinclair, editor of The Angolite, winner of the George Polk Award<ref name="JohnsonShared">Johnson, Allen Jr. "Shared Fate Template:Webarchive." Gambit Weekly. March 20, 2001. Retrieved on October 2, 2010.</ref>
- James Monroe Smith, former Louisiana State University president
- Gary Tyler, former death row inmate
- Robert Pete Williams, blues musician<ref>"Biography of Robert Pete Williams Template:Webarchive." East Baton Rouge Parish Library. Retrieved on August 26, 2010.</ref>
Notable employeesEdit
- Burl Cain, warden from 1995 to 2015
- Billy Cannon, Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, former prison dentist<ref name=Redemption>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- George Gray, pro wrestler, former prison guard
- James Monroe Smith, former Louisiana State University president, head of rehabilitation programs, 1948–49
- John Whitley, warden from 1990 to 1995
Cultural referencesEdit
Musical referencesEdit
Template:More citations needed section The prison has held many musicians and has been the subject of several songs. Folk singer Lead Belly served over four years of his attempted murder sentence and was released early from Angola for good behavior. Tex-Mex artist Freddy Fender was pardoned from there.
The song "Grown So Ugly" by American blues musician and ex-convict Robert Pete Williams references Angola. The song's lyrics have some basis in fact, as Williams was imprisoned there and was officially pardoned (from a murder charge) in 1964, the year the song says that he left the prison.
The classic New Orleans song "Junco Partner" includes the lines:
In the Clash's version of "Junco Partner", the lines are a little bit different:
Aaron and Charles Neville wrote "Angola Bound":
Angola is also featured in the Neville Brothers song "Sons and Daughters" on the album Brother's Keeper.
Folklorist Harry Oster recorded "Angola Prison Worksongs" for his Folklyric Records in 1959, now re-released on Arhoolie Records. According to Oster, between 1929 and 1940, 10,000 floggings were carried out in Angola.
Singer Gil Scott-Heron wrote and recorded the song "Angola, Louisiana" on his 1978 album with Brian Jackson, Secrets. The song deals with the imprisonment of inmate Gary Tyler.
Canadian blues and roots musician Rita Chiarelli filmed the documentary Music from the Big House at Angola in 2010. The film, directed by Bruce McDonald, focuses on a concert at the prison, organized by Chiarelli, that featured four bands comprising musicians incarcerated in Angola.
Comprising the entire B-Side of his album Remedies, New Orleans musician Dr. John features an extended 17:35 song titled "Angola Anthem".
Singer-songwriter Myshkin recorded "Angola" in 1998 for her album Blue Gold. The song refers to the case of former Angola warden C. Murray Henderson, who was sentenced to 50 years in prison for the attempted murder of his wife, writer Anne Butler:
New Orleans rap artist Juvenile has part of a verse in the Hot Boys song "Dirty World" that says:
New Orleans pianist James Booker mentions Angola prison in his cover of "Goodnight, Irene"; where he was sent for heroin possession:
(Booker was less than 10 years old when Lead Belly died, so they would not have been there at the same time.)
Ray Davies recorded a song entitled "Angola (Wrong Side of the Law)", which was released as a bonus track on the expanded release of Working Man's Café in February 2008.
The American folk singer David Dondero, in the song "20 years", describes the experiences of a prisoner released from Angola prison:
Jazz trumpeter Christian Scott has a track on his 2010 album Yesterday You Said Tomorrow called "Angola, LA & the 13th Amendment"
Texas Country Music artist Sam Riggs of Sam Riggs and the Night People (Austin, Texas) wrote and recorded a song called "Angola's Lament". It was released in 2013 on the Outrun the Sun album.
American folk rock duo Indigo Girls reference Angola in the song "The Rise of the Black Messiah" from their 2015 album One Lost Day. Template:Poemquote
Books about AngolaEdit
- In the Place of Justice: A Story of Punishment and Deliverance by Wilbert Rideau (Knopf, 2010)
- Cain's Redemption by Dennis Shere
- Dead Man Walking by Sister Helen Prejean
- God of the Rodeo by Daniel Bergner
- The Search for Hope, Faith, and a Six-Second Ride in Louisiana's Angola Prison – Daniel Bergner – Crown Publishers
- Life Sentences, edited by Wilbert Rideau and Ron Wikberg (Random House, 1992)
- A Life in the Balance: The Billy Wayne Sinclair Story by Billy Wayne Sinclair
- Reference in A Confederacy of Dunces by Jones when describing the racial inequality in the New Orleans judicial system
- The main character of Poppy Z. Brite's novel The Lazarus Heart is sent to Angola for the murder of his lover.
- The House That Herman Built by Herman Wallace of the Angola 3, co-written with artist Jackie Sumell
- An attempt at chemically induced social control at Angola is a major part of the plot in Walker Percy's novel The Thanatos Syndrome.
Non-fiction books about AngolaEdit
- Butler, Anne and C. Murray Henderson, Angola. Dying to Tell (Lafayette, LA: The Center for Louisiana Studies, 1992)
- Butler, Anne and C. Murray Henderson, Angola Louisiana State Penitentiary: A Half-Century of Rage and Reform (Lafayette, LA: The Center for Louisiana Studies, 1990)
- Carleton, Mark T., Politics and Punishment: The History of Louisiana State Penal System (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1971)
- Foster, Burk, Wilbert Rideau and Douglas Dennis (Editors), The Wall is Strong: Corrections in Louisiana (Lafayette, LA: The Center for Louisiana Studies, 1995)
- Howard, Robert, The other side of the coin: The spiritual life of a black man held captive in Angola prison 40 years (Austin TX: 78764, 2006)
- King, Robert Hillary King, From the bottom of the heap: The Autobiography of Black Panther Robert Hillary King (Oakland, CA: PM Press, 2009)
- Mouledous, Joseph Clarence, Sociological Perspectives on a Prison Social System Unpublished Master's Thesis, (Department of Sociology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, 1962)
- Pelot-Hobbs, Lydia "The Contested Terrain of the Louisiana Carceral State" Unpublished Dissertation, (Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, CUNY Graduate Center, New York City, 2019).
- Woodfox, Albert, Solitary: Unbroken by Four Decades in Solitary Confinement. My Story of Transformation and Hope (New York: Grove Press, 2019)
Articles about AngolaEdit
- Maya Schenwar, "America's Plantation Prisons", Global Research (August 30, 2008)
- "Witness – Death Behind Bars – Part 1". Al Jazeera
- "Witness – Death Behind Bars – Part 2". Al Jazeera
- Cindy Chang, "Louisiana Is the World's Prison", The Times-Picayune (May 13, 2012)
- Lydia Pelot-Hobbs, "Organized Inside and Out: The Angola Special Civics Project and the Crisis of Mass Incarceration", Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture and Society 15:3 (2013), 199–217.
Other referencesEdit
- Angola was featured in the documentary The Farm: Angola, USA (1998).
- Angola Prison was featured in Oliver Stone's movie JFK. The scene where Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner), along with Bill Broussard (Michael Rooker), goes to interview Willie O'Keefe (Kevin Bacon) is portrayed as having taken place at Angola Prison.
- Angola Prison was mentioned in the 2007 Coen brothers film No Country for Old Men.
- Actor William Hurt prepared for his role in the 2008 remake of The Yellow Handkerchief (2008) by spending four days at the Penitentiary, including an overnight stay, rare for a volunteer, in a maximum-security cell. In a 2010 interview, he spoke of having a three-hour sight-unseen (around the corner of the dividing wall) talk with his next-door neighbor that night. He also said, "The bed has about an inch-and-a-half-thick mattress on sheer steel. The toilet has no soft seat. The floor is marbleized concrete. It's horrible. It's unthinkable." He felt mostly sorrow for the inmates he got to know, "85 percent of the people in there are going to die there." In the film, he played an ex-con released after serving a six-year sentence in a Louisiana prison for "an accidental bit of trouble".<ref>Interview with William Hurt: Transcript, by Terry Gross for Fresh Air, February 25, 2010. Retrieved November 30, 2010.</ref>
- In season 6, episode 15 of the TV series Bones, an inmate is threatened with a transfer to Angola should he not cooperate with an investigation.
- Sister Prejean's book Dead Man Walking, about prisoners on death row, inspired numerous works, including adaptations as a film, an opera, and a play.
- The prison is the central setting for the Animal Planet documentary series Louisiana Lockdown, which debuted in 2012.
- The feature film Whiskey Bay (2013), starring Willem Dafoe and Matt Dillon, started shooting in Baton Rouge and at the Angola penitentiary on August 7, 2012.<ref>Scott, Mike. "Matt Dillon, Willem Dafoe join cast of Baton Rouge-shot 'Whiskey Bay'." The Times-Picayune. (August 16, 2012)</ref>
- Angola Prison was mentioned in season one of the TV series True Detective.<ref name="esqu_15Bu">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- The casket for Billy Graham was made by a male inmate, a senior carpenter named Richard, nicknamed "the Grasshopper", who had been convicted of murder, and in residence there for 35 years, at Angola.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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See alsoEdit
- List of law enforcement agencies in Louisiana
- List of United States state correction agencies
- Ellen Bryan Moore
ReferencesEdit
- Schrift, Melissa (Assistant Professor Anthropology, East Tennessee State University). "Angola Prison Art: Captivity, Creativity, and Consumerism." The Journal of American Folklore. Vol. 119, No. 473, Summer, 2006. pp. 257–274. 10.1353/jaf.2006.0035. Available at Jstor; Available at Project MUSE.
FootnotesEdit
Further readingEdit
- "W. Feliciana's Angola probe may be extended". The Advocate. August 31, 1989.
- "Louisiana's Angola: Proving ground for racialized capitalism". by W.T. Whitney Jr., June 25, 2018.
External linksEdit
- Louisiana State Penitentiary
- Louisiana State Penitentiary (Archive)
- Louisiana State Penitentiary (Archive)
- Prison View Golf Course
- Angola Prison Rodeo
- Angola Museum Foundation
- Stein, Joel. "Angola, La.: The Lessons of Cain". TIME. Monday, July 10, 2000. Retrieved on January 1, 2010.
- Angola Airstrip: Template:US-airport-minor
- "Map from 1858", showing the location of Angola plantation in Louisiana
- Andrew Testa photos of the rodeo and death chamber
- Angola Museum Oral History Project at The Historic New Orleans Collection
- West Feliciana Historical Society Museum
- West Feliciana Tourist Commission
Template:State prisons in Louisiana Template:Execution sites in the United States Template:West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana