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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Louisiana prison farm sob story
2023-09-17
[AP] BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Men incarcerated at Louisiana State Penitentiary filed a class-action lawsuit Saturday, contending they have been forced to work in the prison’s fields for little or no pay, even when temperatures soar past 100 degrees. They described the conditions as cruel, degrading and often dangerous.

The men, most of whom are Black, work on the farm of the 18,000-acre maximum-security prison known as Angola -- the site of a former slave plantation -- hoeing, weeding and picking crops by hand, often surrounded by armed guards, the suit said. If they refuse to work or fail to meet quotas, they can be sent to solitary confinement or otherwise punished, according to disciplinary guidelines.

"This labor serves no legitimate penological or institutional purpose," the suit said. "It’s purely punitive, designed to ’break’ incarcerated men and ensure their submission."

It names as defendants Angola’s warden, Timothy Hooper, and officials with Louisiana’s department of corrections and its money-making arm, Prison Enterprises.

Related: How the Angola prison rodeo brings together inmates, community members
Posted by:Besoeker

#8  Bet they run to get off the plane first, too.
Posted by: Skidmark   2023-09-17 23:42  

#7  I assume the crops are either fed to the prisoners to reduce running costs or sold to the budget for running the prison. Either way, the prison workers are receiving benefits from their labour.
Posted by: trailing wife   2023-09-17 22:48  

#6  Bring back the death penalty
Posted by: Choper Hupusing2889   2023-09-17 19:48  

#5  No work, no eat. The Iron Law from the dawn of time. Only recently has society broken that law and, in consequence, a lot of other laws get broken.
Posted by: Enver Slager8035   2023-09-17 16:17  

#4  The men, most of whom are Black
Strange, that
Posted by: Frank G   2023-09-17 16:06  

#3  Somewhere a group of lawyers are rubbing their hands with glee!
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839   2023-09-17 15:45  

#2  Breakin' rocks in the hot sun
I fought the law and the law won
Posted by: M. Murcek   2023-09-17 14:40  

#1  "This labor serves no legitimate penological or institutional purpose," the suit said. "It’s purely punitive, designed to ’break’ incarcerated men and ensure their submission."
Sounds like a plan. Maybe make prison unpleasant.
Posted by: ed in texas   2023-09-17 14:21  

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