During the proceedings, lawyers representing the children and their families presented compelling evidence that the minors were consistently subjected to solitary confinement and denied their fundamental right to education, proper treatment, and other vital rehabilitative services while enduring inhumane conditions.
By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia
Chief Judge Shelly Dick has ordered Louisiana officials to cease housing children, predominantly Black boys, in the former death row section of the Louisiana State Penitentiary, commonly referred to as Angola. The order dictates the swift removal of the children from the facility by September 15, ending nearly ten months of what the judge deemed abusive conditions.
Following a rigorous seven-day hearing in August, Judge Dick verbally delivered the decision. During the proceedings, lawyers representing the children and their families presented compelling evidence that the minors were consistently subjected to solitary confinement and denied their fundamental right to education, proper treatment, and other vital rehabilitative services while enduring inhumane conditions.
The situation mirrors that of Angola’s long and racist history. State officials built the prison on land that was once an 8,000-acre farm in West Feliciana Parish, a remote part of Louisiana. The farm was named Angola after the country where its former slaves came from. It was first used as a prison in 1880 when prisoners lived in the old slave quarters and worked on the farm. The state took over Angola in 1901, reportedly because of unhinged brutality against inmates. By 2008, Angola State Prison was the size of Manhattan, with 18,000 acres. In the maximum-security jail, almost all the inmates are African American, and all the officers who watch over them are white. The prison officers are called “Freemen,” not guards. Today, Angola houses about 6,300 prisoners, more than 75% of whom will be Black.
Judge…
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