Prison News | Louisiana

• Education & Rehabilitation
• Executions, Death Row, & the Death Penalty
• Gangs in Prison
• Health & Medical Treatment
• Prison Classification, Placement, and Release
• Prison Conditions & Corruption
• Prison Life & Prison Culture
• Riots, Lockdowns & Escapes
• Suicides in Prison
• Workplace & Industry News and Science & Tech

Education & Rehabilitation

• State opens probe of work release program
  
  COVINGTON, La. (AP) - The state inspector general's office has opened an investigation into Northshore Workforce LLC, a privately run work-release program that was shut down by St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain in March....[more]
  Associated Press, Saturday, April 12, 2014
  
  

Executions, Death Row & the Death Penalty

• Man dies days after being sentenced for racist, post-Hurricane Katrina shooting in Algiers
  
  A white man who admitted shooting three black men in a racist attack in Algiers shortly after Hurricane Katrina died Feb. 19, less than a week after he was sentenced to spend 10 years in federal prison, officials said Wednesday.

  ...[more]

  The New Orleans Advocate, Wednesday, February 27, 2019
  
  

Gangs in Prison

• Pardon Board denies appeal
  
  The Louisiana Pardon Board turned down a plea Wednesday from Mississippi...[more]
  2TheAdvocate, Thursday, January 18, 2007
  
  

Health & Medical Treatment

• Orleans sheriff plan OKd for mentally ill inmates
  
  U.S. District Judge Lance Africk's order calls for the city to spend more than $400,000 on the plan initially for renovations and supplies at the state's Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel, where the inmates will be housed. The city also will be required to supply more than $200,000 monthly for security and mental health staff at Hunt, and food for inmates.

  Africk's ruling is the latest in the court-ordered jail reform effort. The city, which funds the jail, and the sheriff, who manages it, have been at odds over how to fund the changes....[more]

  Associated Press, Wednesday, August 13, 2014
  
  
• Vision-impaired inmate sues for large-print docs
  
  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A 42-year-old vision-impaired inmate serving a life sentence for second-degree murder has filed a federal lawsuit in an effort to force the Louisiana Department of Corrections to accommodate his requests for large-print documents....[more]
  Associated Press, Saturday, September 28, 2013
  
  
• Sick inmates at Lafayette Parish Correctional Center putting squeeze on budget
  
  LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) - Sick inmates who need HIV treatment, lab tests, dental care, obstetrics services and other medical care are putting a squeeze on the budget for the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center....[more]
  Associated Press, Friday, August 9, 2013
  
  
• Corrections department keeps LSU for prisoner telemedicine care across south Louisiana
  
  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Louisiana's corrections department has tweaked its plan to hire a Texas company to provide medical care for inmates in state prisoners, limiting the firm's work to north Louisiana......[more]
  Associated Press, Tuesday, July 9, 2013
  
  

Prison Classification, Placement, & Release

• Early voting begins Saturday for jail tax
  
  THIBODEAUX, La. (AP) - Early voting will begin Saturday on a proposal that would add a sales tax for the construction of a $30 million jail in Lafourche Parish....[more]
  Associated Press, Thursday, April 17, 2014
  
  
• New deal on Orleans Parish Prison consent decree costs in the offing
  
  The standoff between Mayor Mitch Landrieu and Sheriff Marlin Gusman over how to pay to recondition the notorious Orleans Parish Prison may reach a temporary détente this week as both sides prepare to appear in federal court on Thursday....[more]
  Times-Picayune, Thursday, April 17, 2014
  
  
• Battle continues over Orleans jail funding
  
  NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An attorney for New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu heavily criticized Orleans Sheriff Marlin Gusman in federal court, saying the sheriff does not appear to be "genuinely interested" in fulfilling a court-mandated overhaul of Orleans Parish Prison....[more]
  Associated Press, Friday, March 21, 2014
  
  
• At Louisiana's Most Notorious Prison, a Clash of Testament
  
  By any reasonable measure it has been a difficult period for those in charge of the notorious state prison in Angola, Louisiana--for the state lawmakers who oversee and authorize the funding of the endeavor, for the governor who proudly presides over the Department of Corrections, and for all of those in that state who care about how the rest of the world perceives their criminal justice system....[more]
  The Atlantic, Friday, October 11, 2013
  
  
• Holder's drug sentencing policies could mean changes for N.O. area; More defendants might get rehab
  
  A major shift in criminal justice policy announced Monday by Attorney General Eric Holder could mean major changes in the prosecution of drug cases in metro New Orleans....[more]
  Times-Picayune, Tuesday, August 13, 2013
  
  

Prison Conditions & Corruption

• FBI launches civil rights probe after woman's death in St. Bernard jail
  
  Nimali Henry needed medication for a rare blood disorder and her relatives said they were unable to get her the attention she required during her 10-day stay in parish custody....[more]
  Times-Picayune, Sunday, May 4, 2014
  
  
• Former Orleans Parish Prison jailer accused of smuggling phones, pot to federal inmates
  
  A contraband conspiracy at the Orleans Parish Prison that came to light nearly six years ago has produced a federal case against an ex-jailer accused of smuggling cell phones and marijuana to inmates in exchange for cash....[more]
  Times-Picayune, Thursday, April 17, 2014
  
  
• Inmates, prison officials await ruling in lawsuit challenging heat conditions on La. death row
  
  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A lawsuit challenging heat conditions on death row as unsafe for inmates at the state penitentiary was filed during the thick of Louisiana's hot and humid summer. The federal judge assigned to the case suggested he would rule quickly because of the health concerns involved....[more]
  Associated Press, Saturday, December 7, 2013
  
  
• Inmate witness in Rogers LaCaze case claims OPP guard beat, choked him
  
  A key witness in death-row inmate Rogers LaCaze's bid for a new trial is claiming an Orleans Parish Prison guard on Sunday beat him, choked him, slammed his head against the floor and dragged him face-down. ...[more]
  Times-Picayune, Wednesday, December 4, 2013
  
  
• Angola conditions may be cruel and unusual, the feds are told
  
  Conditions at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola and other state prisons should be investigated by the U.S. Justice Department's civil rights division, four congressmen said Friday....[more]
  Times-Picayune, Sunday, July 14, 2013
  
  

Prison Life & Culture

• Church bell at Angola prison has its own criminal past, a Lake Charles newspaper reports
  
  The bell that hangs in the chapel of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola has a criminal record to match that of the inmates who pray here, according to a Lake Charles newspaper....[more]
  Times-Picayune, Sunday, June 15, 2014
  
  
• Louisiana's Angola Prison Rodeo marks 50 years
  
  ANGOLA, La. (AP) - They're often thrown like rag dolls and risk being stepped on or gored by bucking bulls and broncos. But in those few seconds in the spotlight of the Angola Prison Rodeo, the inmates feel like they are part of the world again....[more]
  Associated Press, Sunday, April 27, 2014
  
  
• Exonerated Angola death row inmate tells Senate about 'horrors' of solitary confinement
  
  WASHINGTON -- When the request came to testify this week to a Senate committee about solitary confinement, Damon Thibodeaux said he decided it was a great opportunity to share information -- though painful -- with people who "can actually make things better."...[more]
  Times-Picayune, Sunday, March 2, 2014
  
  
• Herman Wallace, Held 41 Years in Solitary, Dies at 71
  
  Herman Wallace’s world for much of the last 41 years had been a solitary prison cell, 6 feet by 9 feet, when he left a Louisiana prison on Tuesday, freed by a federal judge who ruled that his original indictment in the killing of a prison guard had been unconstitutional....[more]
  New York Times, Friday, October 4, 2013
  
  
• Tower and Cell, Signifying Much More Than a Prison: Relics From Angola Are to Tell Black History at New Museum
  
  To some people, the name of Angola, the Louisiana State Penitentiary, brings to mind the country’s oldest prison rodeo, which draws thousands of tourists while raising money for charity. Others think of it as a repository for fearsome ......[more]
  New York Times, Thursday, July 11, 2013
  
  

Riots, Lockdowns & Escapes

• Louisiana Inmate Dies Following Fight With Another Inmate
  
  ANGOLA, La. (AP) — A man being held in a Louisiana prison died after a fight with another inmate, authorities said Sunday....[more]
  US News, Sunday, January 5, 2020
  
  
• Louisiana tried to crack down on police misconduct. It hasn’t worked.
  
  In 2017, the state of Louisiana changed how it regulated police misconduct to make it easier to permanently ban rogue cops from the force....[more]
  Daily Advertiser, Tuesday, November 19, 2019
  
  
• Suit alleges man beaten to death in parish jail
  
  FRANKLIN, La. (AP) — A lawsuit filed in St. Mary Parish district court alleges that a 41-year-old Baldwin man was beaten to death in the parish jail in April 2013....[more]
  Associated Press, Sunday, May 4, 2014
  
  

Suicides in Prison

• Orleans Parish Prison inmate's suicide was preventable, civil rights lawsuit claims
  
  The wrongful death lawsuit, filed in federal court on Monday, claims Gusman's office was on notice about inadequate handling of mentally ill inmates by the time Clifton Morgan killed himself in the troubled lockup. A consent decree mandating widespread changes was in place three months before Morgan's Sept. 28, 2013 death....[more]
  Times-Picayune, Thursday, July 31, 2014
  
  

Workplace & Industry News, and Science & Tech News

• Orleans sheriff overcharged city for ankle monitoring program, inspector general finds
  
  Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman overcharged the city for an ankle-monitoring program for criminal defendants and Mayor Mitch Landrieu's administration did not catch the errors, according to a report released Wednesday by the city's inspector general....[more]
  Times-Picayune, Wednesday, April 2, 2014