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Do not fill this in! {{Short description|American maximum-security prison farm}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2020}} {{Infobox settlement |name = Louisiana State Penitentiary<br>Pénitencier d’Etat de Louisiane |settlement_type = [[Unincorporated area|Unincorporated community]] |nickname ="Angola", "Alcatraz of the South", and "The Farm" |motto = <!-- Images --> |image_skyline = LSPEntrance-.jpg |imagesize = |image_caption = The entrance to the Louisiana State Penitentiary has a guard house that controls entry into the compound<!--Cited below at "Other prison facilities and features"-->—the sign says "Louisiana State Penitentiary" and "[[Burl Cain]], Warden" |image_flag = |image_seal = <!-- Maps --> |pushpin_map = Louisiana#USA |pushpin_label_position = |pushpin_map_caption = Location in Louisiana |pushpin_mapsize = |image_map = |map_caption = Location in West Feliciana parish <!-- Location --> |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = United States |subdivision_type1 = State |subdivision_name1 = [[Louisiana]] |subdivision_type2 = [[List of parishes in Louisiana|Parish]] |subdivision_name2 = [[West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana|West Feliciana]] |government_footnotes = |government_type = |leader_title = <!-- Mayor --> |leader_name = |leader_title1 = |leader_name1 = |established_title = |established_date = <!-- Area --> |unit_pref = Imperial |area_footnotes = |area_magnitude = |area_total_km2 = |area_land_km2 = |area_water_km2 = <!-- Population --> |population_as_of = [[United States Census, 2000|2000]] |population_footnotes = |population_total = |population_density_km2 = auto <!-- General information --> |timezone = [[Central Time Zone (Americas)|Central (CST)]] |utc_offset = -6 |timezone_DST = CDT |utc_offset_DST = -5 |elevation_footnotes = <br/>Angola Landing is 43 ft |elevation_ft = 49 |coordinates = {{coord|30|57|22|N|91|35|41|W|region:US_type:city_scale:50000|display=inline,title}} <!-- Area/postal codes & others --> |postal_code_type = [[ZIP code]]s |postal_code = 70712 |area_code = [[Area code 225|225]] |blank_name = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]] |blank_info = |blank1_name = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID |blank1_info = 553304<ref name="gnis">{{cite gnis|id=553304|name=Angola, Louisiana}}</ref><br/>Angola Landing: 542930<ref name="gnisa">{{cite gnis|id=542930|name=Angola Landing, Louisiana}}</ref> |website = [https://doc.louisiana.gov/location/louisiana-state-penitentiary/ doc.louisiana.gov/location/louisiana-state-penitentiary] |footnotes = The above GNIS IDs are related to the "populated places". The GNIS ID for the Louisiana State Penientiary "locale" is 536752,<ref name="é0">{{cite gnis|id=536752|name=Louisiana State Penitentiary}}</ref> the GNIS ID for the museum is 2603238,<ref name="gnis1">{{cite gnis|id=2603238|name=Louisiana State Penitentiary Museum}}</ref> the GNIS ID for the fire department building is 2673017,<ref name="gnis1b">{{cite gnis|id=2673017|name=Louisiana State Penitentiary Fire Department}}</ref> and the GNIS ID for the adult school facility is 2434828.<ref name="gnis2">{{cite gnis|id=2434828|name=Louisiana State Penitentiary Special School District Facility}}</ref> The GNIS for the previous Louisiana State Penitenitary building in [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana|Baton Rouge]] is 552789.<ref name="gnis3">{{cite gnis|id=552789|name=Louisiana State Penitentiary (historical)}}</ref> }} [[File:AngolaBigTopo.PNG|thumb|The USGS topographic map of Louisiana State Penitentiary in 1994<!--This is indeed the whole prison. See page 3 of https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/DC20BLK/st22_la/county/c22125_west_feliciana/DC20BLK_C22125.pdf -->]] 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". "[http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/general/columns/story?columnist=sutton_keith&page=g_col_sutton_fishing_Angola Out There: Angola angling]". ''[[ESPN]] Outdoors''. May 31, 2006. Retrieved on August 25, 2010.</ref>) is a [[Types of US federal prisons|maximum-security]] [[prison farm]] in [[Louisiana]] operated by the [[Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections]]. It is named "Angola" after the former [[slave plantation]] that occupied this territory. The plantation was named after [[Angola|the country of Angola]], from which many slaves originated before arriving in Louisiana.<ref>Leeper, Clare d'Artois. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=HrUYAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Angola+Plantation%22+Louisiana+%22post+office%22 Angola]". ''Louisiana Places: A Collection of the Columns from the ''Baton Rouge Sunday Advocate'', 1960–1974''. [[Legacy Publishing Company]], 1976. Retrieved on September 24, 2011. "Angola (West Feliciana) is the name of the post office that serves the Louisiana Slate Penitentiary, and the two names are now used interchangeably."</ref> Angola is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States,<ref>Oshinsky, David. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/books/review/Oshinsky-t.html 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 [[Prison officer|corrections officers]], janitors, maintenance workers, and [[Prison warden|wardens]]. Due to these large numbers, it has been given the nickname "a [[gated community]]". 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 {{convert|2|mi|km|0|abbr=off|spell=on|sp=us}} south of Louisiana's straight east-west border with Mississippi. The {{convert|28|sqmi|acre|abbr=off}} of land the prison sits on was known before the [[American Civil War]] as the Angola Plantations, a [[Slavery in the United States|slave plantation]] owned by [[Atlantic slave trade|slave trader]] [[Isaac Franklin]]. The prison is located at the end of [[Louisiana Highway 66]], around {{convert|22|mi|km}} northwest of [[St. Francisville, Louisiana|St. Francisville]]. [[Death row]] for men and the state [[execution chamber]] for women and men are located at the Angola facility. ==History== [[File:Picking cotton, Angola State Farm (circa 1900).jpg|thumb|Picking cotton at Angola, c. 1900]] [[File:River Boat America with Convicts for Angola.jpg|alt=River Boat America with Convicts and supplies on the Mississippi River headed for Angola|thumb|Riverboat ''America'' with convicts and supplies on the Mississippi River, circa late 1800s]] [[File:Samuel_Lawrence_James.jpg|thumb|upright|Samuel Lawrence James]] [[File:Quarters C at the Louisiana State Penitentiary (circa 1901).jpg|thumb|Quarters C, 1901]] [[File:Angola Prison -- Leadbelly in the foreground.jpg|thumb|Prison camp, July 1934. In the photo is [[Lead Belly]], a singer who was jailed at Angola when recorded by [[Alan Lomax]].|alt=]] [[File:Camp H, Cellblock.jpg|thumb|Old cell block no longer in use]] [[File:Warden John Whitley.JPG|thumb|upright|[[John Whitley (prison warden)|John Whitley]], who served as a warden at Angola<!-- add years -->]] [[File:RedHatsExecutionChamber.jpg|thumb|The former Angola execution chamber at the [[Red Hat Cell Block]]. The [[electric chair]] is a replica of the original "[[Gruesome Gertie]]".]] 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|Wethersfield]], Connecticut. It was built to house 100 convicts in cells of {{convert|6|ft|m|abbr=on}} by {{convert|3.5|ft|m|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite book | title = Hard Labor: History and Archaeology at the Old Louisiana State Penitentiary, Baton Rouge, Louisiana | publisher = United States. General Services Administration | year = 1991 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LMkJG5b5ua8C&pg=PP3 | page = 3}}</ref> In 1844, the state leased operation of the prison and its prisoners to McHatton Pratt and Company, a private company.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} 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 States Army|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">"[http://angolamuseum.org/?q=History History Of The Prison]." Louisiana State Penitentiary. Retrieved on August 24, 2010.</ref> The land that has been developed as Angola Penitentiary was purchased in the 1830s from Francis Rout as four contiguous plantations by [[Isaac Franklin]]. He was a planter and [[Slavery in the United States|slave trader]], co-owner of the profitable slave trading firm [[Franklin and Armfield Office|Franklin and Armfield]], of Alexandria, Virginia, and Natchez, Mississippi. After his death in 1846, Franklin's widow, by then known as [[Adelicia Acklen|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 for [[Angola|the country on the west coast of Southern Africa]] from which many of its slaves had come.<ref name="ftcanamercafix">{{cite news|last1=Weaver|first1=Courtney|title=Can America fix its prison crisis?|url=https://www.ft.com/content/969fc008-2196-11e8-a895-1ba1f72c2c11|access-date=March 12, 2018|work=Financial Times|date=March 8, 2018}}</ref> It contained a building called the Old [[Barracoon|Slave Quarters]].<ref name="HISTORY OF ANGOLA">[http://www.corrections.state.la.us/LSP/history.htm www.corrections.state.la.us "HISTORY OF ANGOLA"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070821082734/http://www.corrections.state.la.us/LSP/history.htm |date=August 21, 2007 }}</ref> Under the [[Convict lease|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 virtually 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 [[Agriculture in the United States|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>{{cite web|url=http://www.burkfoster.com/plantationdays.htm|title=burkfoster.com – burkfoster Resources and Information.|website=www.burkfoster.com|access-date=July 10, 2017}}</ref><ref name="slavery">''Slavery by Any Other Name''</ref>{{full citation needed|date=April 2020}} James died in 1894. ===20th century operations=== The [[Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections]] says that this facility opened as a state prison in 1901.<ref name="Time in Prison">"[http://www.corrections.state.la.us/Wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Time_in_Prison11.pdf Time in Prison]." {{webarchive |url=https://www.webcitation.org/6Bdg2h6fj?url=http://www.corrections.state.la.us/Wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Time_in_Prison11.pdf |date=October 23, 2012 }} [[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. ''[[iarchive:HardLabor/mode/2up|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 provide insights into the structures and daily life of inmates at the time.<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 were 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. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2nbROPeq5zYC&dq=Angola+patrolled+horseback&pg=PA100 p. 100]. Retrieved from ''[[Google Books]]'' on August 25, 2010. {{ISBN|0-306-80896-X}}, 9780306808968</ref> The two authors stated that prisoners were viewed as the {{"'}}worst of the lowest order".<ref name="Leadbelly101">Wolfe, Charles K. and Kip Lornell. ''The Life and Legend of Leadbelly''. [[Da Capo Press]], 1999. [https://books.google.com/books?id=iJhS9BaFFjIC&dq=%22Leadbelly+was+put+to+work+almost+immediately%22&pg=PA101 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 Americans in the United States|Native American]] individual were taken from Angola and were donated to the [[Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science]].<ref>"[http://www.nps.gov/nagpra/fed_notices/nagpradir/nic0418.html 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, Louisiana|Pineville]], as the first Angola superintendent. Long subsequently established the position of warden 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. [https://books.google.com/books?id=NefJfpJWYQUC&dq=Red+Hat+prison&pg=PA36 36]. Retrieved from [[Google Books]] on March 14, 2011. {{ISBN|0-87351-580-3}}, {{ISBN|978-0-87351-580-1}}.</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 him or her.<ref name="Hoffa41">Harper, Stephen J. ''Crossing Hoffa: A Teamster's Story''. [[Minnesota Historical Society]], 2007. [https://books.google.com/books?id=NefJfpJWYQUC&dq=Angola+prison+castor+oil+pants&pg=PA41 41]. Retrieved from [[Google Books]] on March 14, 2011. {{ISBN|0-87351-580-3}}, {{ISBN|978-0-87351-580-1}}.</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>{{cite web|url=http://angolamuseum.org/?q=WoodenEar|title=HOME – Angola Museum|website=Angola Museum|language=en-US|access-date=July 10, 2017}}</ref> In 1952, 31 inmates, in protest of the prison's conditions, cut their [[Achilles tendon]]s. The protestors were referred to as the Heel String Gang. This caused national news agencies to write [[Investigative journalism|exposé]] stories about conditions at Angola.<ref name="Hoffa42">Harper, Stephen J. ''Crossing Hoffa: A Teamster's Story''. [[Minnesota Historical Society]], 2007. [https://books.google.com/books?id=NefJfpJWYQUC&dq=including+a+November+22%2C+1952&pg=PA42 42]. Retrieved from [[Google Books]] on March 14, 2011. {{ISBN|0-87351-580-3}}, {{ISBN|978-0-87351-580-1}}.</ref> In its November 22, 1952, issue, ''[[Collier's Magazine]]'' referred to Angola as "the worst prison in America".<ref name="Hoffa42"/><ref name="SteinLessons">Stein, Joel. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20000815091329/http://www.time.com/time/reports/mississippi/angola.html The Lessons of Cain]." ''[[TIME (magazine)|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 this was disputed by warden Maurice Sigler. 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>"[https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/theadvocate/access/50949662.html?dids=50949662:50949662&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:FT&type=current&date=Mar+12%2C+2000&author=&pub=Advocate&desc=LOUISIANA+CORRECTINS+TIMELINE&pqatl=google LOUISIANA CORRECTINS TIMELINE]{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}."{{sic}} ''[[The Advocate (Louisiana)|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 state of Angola. Linda Ashton of the ''Associated Press'' stated that the bar association described Angola's conditions 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. [http://articles.latimes.com/1989-07-23/news/mn-234_1_time-bomb/2 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 system (prison)|Trusty]] systems.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://angolamuseum.org/?q=History |title=History of Angola |publisher=Louisiana Department of Corrections |access-date=December 6, 2007 }} </ref> Efforts to reform and improve conditions at Angola have continued. In 1975 [[Frank Joseph Polozola|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 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. "[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/classics/dd_biloxi_confidential/11.html 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. [http://articles.latimes.com/1989-07-23/news/mn-234_1_time-bomb/3 3]. Retrieved on March 22, 2011.</ref> In 1993 Angola officers fatally shot 29-year-old escapee Tyrone Brown.<ref>[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AD&p_theme=ad&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB47724DAF242FA&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM "Angola escapee ignores warnings, is fatally shot]", ''[[The Advocate (Louisiana)|The Advocate]]''. January 3, 1993. Retrieved on August 16, 2010.</ref> [[Burl Cain]] served as the warden from 1995 to March 7, 2016.<ref>"[http://theadvocate.com/news/14884370-128/angola-wardens-long-goodbye-highlights-states-lavish-leave-policies After leaving Angola, Burl Cain to continue collecting $134,000 in regular paychecks through August]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160302203347/http://theadvocate.com/news/14884370-128/angola-wardens-long-goodbye-highlights-states-lavish-leave-policies Archive]). ''[[The Advocate (Louisiana)|The Advocate]]''. February 21, 2016. Retrieved on February 26, 2016.</ref> He was known for numerous improvements and lowering the rate of violence at the prison, but also numerous criminal allegations.<ref>{{Cite web|last=writer|first=BRYN STOLE {{!}} Staff|title=Burl Cain, storied former Angola warden, hired to head Mississippi prison system|url=https://www.nola.com/news/article_834bca42-9ad9-11ea-8f20-df863bb2fdd5.html|access-date=2021-01-20|website=NOLA.com|date=May 20, 2020 |language=en}}</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. "[https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/30/us/2-die-in-louisiana-prison-hostage-taking.html 2 Die in Louisiana Prison Hostage-Taking]", ''[[The New York Times]]''. December 30, 2009. Retrieved July 21, 2010.</ref> ===21st century=== In 2004, Paul Harris of ''The Guardian'' wrote "Unsurprisingly, Angola has always been famed for brutality, riots, escape and murder."<ref>Harris, Paul. "[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/aug/29/usa.paulharris 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>"[http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-gustav_nu_ledeall_wittsep01-story.html 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: {{blockquote|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>[http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0808/31/cnr.04.html Transcript] of [[CNN Newsroom]], 2008-08-31</ref>}} 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. [http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/70682582.html?index=1&c=y 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, nor did it hire additional employees.<ref>{{cite news|author=Shen, Aviva|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/29/angola-prison-rodeo-louisiana|title=Angola prison rodeo offers risks and rewards for Louisiana's hard-knock lifers|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=October 29, 2016|access-date=October 12, 2017|quote=[http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/11/c_paul_phelps_prison_shuts_dow.htmlA prison closure] in 2012 sent 1,000 additional inmates to Angola with no increased budget or staff, according to Francis Abbott, a corrections supervisor with the re-entry program.}} – The linked article is {{cite web|url=http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/11/c_paul_phelps_prison_shuts_dow.html|title=State closes prison in DeQuincy as cost-cutting measure|publisher=Associated Press at [[New Orleans Times-Picayune]]|date=November 1, 2012|access-date=December 10, 2017}}</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>"[https://archive.today/20140313033531/http://www.louisiana.statenews.net/index.php/sid/220408852/scat/58efbe858884606b/ht/Judge-vacates-conviction-to-set-free-man-on-death-row Judge vacates conviction to set free man on death row]." ''Louisiana State News.Net''. March 12, 2014. Retrieved on March 12, 2014.</ref><!-- expand --> 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 has been shown to be deleterious to both mental and physical health, and has been considered to be "cruel and unusual punishment" under the US Constitution.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Skene |first1=Lea |last2=Toohey |first2=Grace |title=Reports of sex, smuggling contraband, more at Angola as 7 employees resign, 4 arrested |url=https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/crime_police/article_bcce5a5a-4733-11e9-beb0-7b852489518d.html? |access-date=March 16, 2019 |publisher=The Advocate |date=March 15, 2019}}</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>{{cite news |title=Multiple Angola employees have been arrested after DOC investigation |url=https://wgno.com/2019/03/18/multiple-arrests-and-resignations-after-doc-investigation-at-angola/ |work=WGNO |date=March 18, 2019}}</ref> In 2020, regarding the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Louisiana]], ''[[ProPublica]]'' wrote that prisoners alleged that deliberate low testing rates masked an epidemic in the prison.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|last1=Rubin|first1=Anat|last2=Golden|first2=Tim|last3=Webster|first3=Richard A.|url=https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-the-uss-largest-maximum-security-prison-covid-19-raged|title=Inside the U.S.'s Largest Maximum-Security Prison, COVID-19 Raged. Outside, Officials Called Their Fight a Success.|work=[[ProPublica]]|date=2020-06-24|access-date=2020-08-30}}</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"/> ==Management== [[File:Louisiana DOC - Angola.jpg|thumb|[[Louisiana Department of Corrections]] patch with Angola Tab]] 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. "[http://motherjones.com/politics/2009/03/camp-j-red-hats-and-hole Camp J, Red Hats, and the Hole]." ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]''. March 5, 2009. Retrieved on August 25, 2010.</ref> "Extended lockdown" was originally 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"/> ==Location== [[File:AngolaFerrySign.jpg|thumb|The sign indicating the Angola Ferry]] Louisiana State Penitentiary is in unincorporated [[West Feliciana Parish]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/DC20BLK/st22_la/county/c22125_west_feliciana/DC20BLK_C22125.pdf|title=2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP (INDEX): West Feliciana Parish, LA|publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]]|accessdate=2022-08-12|page=3 (PDF p. 4/14)}}</ref> in east central Louisiana.<ref name="PenpalSweden">"[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BRwfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AZsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3659,3014700&dq=louisiana+penitentiary+mississippi-border&hl=en 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 (magazine)|Paste]]''. Issue 4. [http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article/149/feature/culture/prison_radio?page=2 2]. Retrieved on September 26, 2010.</ref> The prison is about {{convert|22|mi|km}} northwest of [[St. Francisville, Louisiana|St. Francisville]],<ref>"[http://www.doc.louisiana.gov/view.php?cat=7&id=45 Louisiana State Penitentiary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603052046/http://www.doc.louisiana.gov/view.php?cat=7&id=45 |date=2012-06-03 }}." [[Louisiana Department of Corrections]]. Retrieved on January 1, 2010.</ref> about {{convert|50|mi|km}} northwest of Baton Rouge,<ref name="Leadbelly100"/> and {{convert|135|mi|km}} northwest of [[New Orleans]].<ref>Nolan, Bruce. "[http://www.nola.com/storycorps/index.ssf/2010/07/storycorps_new_orleans_angola.html 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. [https://books.google.com/books?id=vSdXjSNM1lwC&dq=Angola+%22death+row%22+%22reception+center%22&pg=PA179 179]. Retrieved from [[Google Books]] on November 2, 2010. {{ISBN|1-58980-156-3}}, {{ISBN|978-1-58980-156-1}}.</ref> and it is about a two-hour driving distance from New Orleans.<ref>Faure, Guillemette. "[http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite/2006/12/06/01001-20061206ARTFIG90061-jour_de_fete_dans_une_prison_de_louisiane.php 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 in proximity to the Louisiana-Mississippi border.<ref name="PenpalSweden"/> Angola is located about {{convert|34|mi|km}} from the [[Dixon Correctional Institute]].<ref name="CainDCI">"[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AD&p_theme=ad&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB4784C9C4D6BB3&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Auditor says state paying too much by letting Angola warden live at DCI]." ''[[The Advocate (Louisiana)|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, {{convert|30|mi|km}} away.<ref>"[http://app1.lla.state.la.us/PublicReports.nsf/86256EA9004C005986256F19007D601C/$FILE/40cf0d19.PDF 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 extreme 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>"[http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/hunting/wmas/wmas/list.cfm?wmaid=52 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, Louisiana|St. Francisville]] one would travel about {{convert|2|mi|km}} north along [[U.S. Highway 61]], turn left at Louisiana 66, and travel on that road for {{convert|20|mi|km}} until it dead ends at Angola's front gate.<ref name="PrisonGolf">"[http://www.prisonviewgolf.com/ 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, Louisiana|Pointe Coupee Parish]]. The ferry is open only to employees except during special events, when members of the general public may use it.<ref>"[http://www.mvd.usace.army.mil/navbook/Support/pdf/River%20Navigation%20Book/page68p.pdf Angola Ferry] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622031617/http://www.mvd.usace.army.mil/navbook/Support/pdf/River%20Navigation%20Book/page68p.pdf |date=2011-06-22 }}." [[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]]. Retrieved on August 26, 2010.</ref> ==Composition== [[File:Acklen - Panola Belle View Killarney Angola plantations Louisiana 1858.jpg|thumb|Map of [[Adelicia Acklen]]'s Panola, Belle View, Killarney, and Angola plantations in Louisiana in 1858]] [[File:AngolaOverhead1998.png|thumb|An aerial view of Louisiana State Penitentiary, January 10, 1998, [[U.S. Geological Survey]]]] The {{convert|18000|acre|ha|adj=on}} prison property occupies a {{convert|28|sqmi|km2|adj=on}} area.<ref>McShane, Marilyn D. and Franklin P. Williams. ''Encyclopedia of American Prisons''. [[Taylor & Francis]], 1996. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wlje5poN3IQC&dq=%22Angola%2C+Louisiana%22+plantation&pg=PA53 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. "[https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/10/18/reviews/981018.18appelbt.html 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 of the prison acres are devoted to cultivation of crops. By 1999 the prison's primary roads had been paved.<ref name="Leadbelly100"/> The prison property is surrounded by the Tunica Hills and by the Mississippi River. The perimeter of the property is not fenced, while the individual prisoner dormitory and recreational camps are fenced.<ref name="PasteRadio2"/> Most of the prison buildings are yellow with a red trim.<ref name="Varnado179"/> [[File:Lake Killarney, Angola LA.jpg|thumb|Lake Killarney, a geographic feature of Angola]] ===Inmate quarters=== 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>"[http://www.corrections.state.la.us/Wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Time_in_Prison11.pdf Time in Prison] {{webarchive |url=https://www.webcitation.org/6Bdg2h6fj?url=http://www.corrections.state.la.us/Wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Time_in_Prison11.pdf |date=2012-10-23 }}." [[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 this is because 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 Complex==== 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">"[http://www.corrections.state.la.us/lsp/photos.php Photo Album] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101023113314/http://www.corrections.state.la.us/LSP/photos.php |date=2010-10-23 }}." ([http://www.doc.louisiana.gov/LSP/photos.php Alternate link] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101015055656/http://doc.louisiana.gov/LSP/photos.php |date=October 15, 2010 }}) 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>"[https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/b/bergner-rodeo.html Chapter One God of the Rodeo]." ''[[The New York Times]]''. Retrieved on October 28, 2010.</ref><!--Book was published in 1999--> 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">"[http://www.doa.la.gov/orm/excel/fec18_buildings_1m.xls Buildings with Replacement Cost Values Greater Than $1,000,000 as of 2/14/2005]." ([https://web.archive.org/web/20120402102637/http://www.doa.la.gov/orm/excel/fec18_buildings_1m.xls Archive]) State of Louisiana. Retrieved on May 1, 2012.</ref> ====Outcamps==== 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 "[[Trusty system (prison)|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. [https://books.google.com/books?id=vSdXjSNM1lwC&dq=%22The+death+chamber+is+housed+in+Camp+F%22&pg=PA184 184]. Retrieved from [[Google Books]] on November 2, 2010. {{ISBN|1-58980-156-3}}, {{ISBN|978-1-58980-156-1}}.</ref> Camp F also houses Angola's execution chamber.<ref>"[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AD&p_theme=ad&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=12D1441D1B923E28&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Officials prep for Bordelon's execution Thursday]." ''[[The Advocate (Louisiana)|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. {{ISBN|0-549-92173-7}}, {{ISBN|978-0-549-92173-8}}</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. "[http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/104917929.html?showAll=y&c=y Corrections agency may sell off prisons]{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}." ''[[The Advocate (Louisiana)|The Advocate]]''. October 14, 2010. Retrieved on October 27, 2010.</ref> Camp J was in operation until its 2018 closure.<ref>{{cite web|last=Toohey|first=Grace|url=https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/crime_police/article_b39f1e82-4d84-11e8-bbc2-1ff70a3227e7.html|title=Angola closes its notorious Camp J, 'a microcosm of a lot of things that are wrong' |newspaper=[[The Advocate (Louisiana)|The Advocate]]|date=2018-05-13|access-date=2020-08-30}}</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<!--What's a gar?-->, and Shark cellblocks.<ref name="Buildinglist"/> =====Reception center and death row===== The Reception Center, the closest prison housing building to the main entrance, acts as a reception center for arriving prisoners. It is located to the right of the main highway, inside the main gate.<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 located in each tier.<ref name=Ridgeway3>Ridgeway, James. "God's Own Warden." ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]''. July/August 2011 Issue. p. [https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/07/burl-cain-angola-prison?page=3 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 single 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 cells. Each hallway has a cell that is used for showering.<ref name="Varnado180">Varnado, Michael L., and Daniel P. Smith. ''Victims of Dead Man Walking''. [[Pelican Publishing]], 2003. [https://books.google.com/books?id=vSdXjSNM1lwC&dq=%22Once+inside+the+building%2C+you+have+the+office+of+the+assistant+warden%22&pg=PA180 180]. Retrieved from [[Google Books]] on November 2, 2010. {{ISBN|1-58980-156-3}}, {{ISBN|978-1-58980-156-1}}.</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. [https://books.google.com/books?id=vSdXjSNM1lwC&dq=%22each+exercise+area+looks+like+a+dog+run%22&pg=PA182 182]. Retrieved from [[Google Books]] on November 2, 2010. {{ISBN|1-58980-156-3}}, {{ISBN|978-1-58980-156-1}}.</ref> The death row facility was constructed in 2006 and there is no air conditioning or cross ventilation.<ref name=McGaughyDeathrowstarted>McGaughy, Lauren. "[http://www.nola.com/crime/baton-rouge/index.ssf/2013/08/louisiana_death_row_inmates_te.html 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. "[http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2013/06/death_row_inmates_sue_angola_p.html 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 collection of temperature data at the Angola death row for three weeks to determine the conditions. During that time, Angola officials blasted 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<!--August 6 is a Tuesday-->, 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. "[http://www.nola.com/crime/baton-rouge/index.ssf/2013/08/angola_warden_apologizes_for_v.html 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. "[http://www.nola.com/crime/baton-rouge/index.ssf/2013/08/angola_prison_heat_trial_wraps.html 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. "[http://theadvocate.com/home/9256687-125/judge-approves-air-cooling-plan Judge approves air cooling plan for death row]." ''[[The Advocate (Louisiana)|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 in a timely manner 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.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} ===B-Line=== [[File:TunicaESLouisiana.JPG|thumb|Tunica Elementary School previously served children living on the Angola property]] 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. "[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96030547 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]].<!--Everything in the parish is zoned to West Feliciana Schools--> Primary schools serving the Angola grounds include Bains Lower Elementary School and Bains Elementary School in [[Bains, Louisiana|Bains]].<ref name="Tunicaclosed">Rivas, Brittany. "[http://www.wbrz.com/news/west-feliciana-board-closes-elementary-school West Feliciana board closes elementary school] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140630225713/http://www.wbrz.com/news/west-feliciana-board-closes-elementary-school |date=2014-06-30 }}." ''[[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>"[http://www.wfpsb.org/Schools/schools.html Schools] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715053638/https://www.wfpsb.org/Schools/schools.html |date=2010-07-15 }}." [[West Feliciana Parish Public Schools]]. Retrieved on August 16, 2010.</ref> The West Feliciana Parish Library is located in St. Francisville.<ref>"[http://www.youseemore.com/westfeliciana/directory.asp 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>"[http://www.youseemore.com/westfeliciana/about.asp 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>{{cite web|url=https://www.lctcs.edu/our-colleges|title=Our Colleges|publisher=[[Louisiana's Technical and Community Colleges]]|accessdate=2021-06-03}}</ref> Previously elementary school children attended Tunica Elementary School in Tunica, Louisiana,<ref name="Fairenlivens">"Fair enlivens out-of-the-way school." ''[[The Advocate (Louisiana)|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><!--Found on Google News - the archive article link was broken. But this article obviously existed. The Advocate archive searches go to 1995--> located in proximity to Angola.<ref>"[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AD&p_theme=ad&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB476F7A6019137&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Complaints build over cutbacks, board says]." ''[[The Advocate (Louisiana)|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, {{convert|4|mi|km|0|abbr=off|spell=on|sp=us}} from Angola,<ref name="WFProfile">"[http://wfpsb.org/education/page/download.php?fileinfo=U2VjdGlvbl8zX0Rpc3RyaWN0X1Byb2ZpbGVfLnBkZjo6Oi93d3c1L3NjaG9vbHMvbGEvd2VzdGZlbGljaWFuYS9pbWFnZXMvZG9jbWdyLzQzMGZpbGUzMDQucGRm West Feliciana Parish School System Profile]." ([https://www.webcitation.org/65YbPN73A?url=http://wfpsb.org/education/page/download.php?fileinfo%3DU2VjdGlvbl8zX0Rpc3RyaWN0X1Byb2ZpbGVfLnBkZjo6Oi93d3c1L3NjaG9vbHMvbGEvd2VzdGZlbGljaWFuYS9pbWFnZXMvZG9jbWdyLzQzMGZpbGUzMDQucGRm 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 lived 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 station=== 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, one tanker, and one 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>"[http://www.corrections.state.la.us/LSP/fire_department.php Fire Department] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130409022725/http://www.corrections.state.la.us/LSP/fire_department.php |date=2013-04-09 }}." Louisiana State Penitentiary. Retrieved on August 29, 2010.</ref> ===Religious sites=== [[File:StAugustineChurchAngola0.jpg|thumb|upright|St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church]] 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. [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/12/arts/12radi.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5088&en=cb49333113b63809&ex=1302494400&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss 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<!-- by whom? --> 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 both dedicated the same day.<ref name="CampCBLineChap">"[http://corrections.state.la.us/lsp/press_release.php#chapeldedications Chapel Dedications at Louisiana's Maximum-Security Prison] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101023065112/http://www.corrections.state.la.us/LSP/press_release.php#chapeldedications |date=October 23, 2010 }}." Louisiana State Penitentiary. Retrieved on August 24, 2010.</ref> The most recent structure is Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel, a {{convert|6000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} structure built with over $450,000 worth of materials donated by Latin American <!-- from where? they have nationalities -->businessmen Jorge Valdes and Fernando Garcia. Its design resembles [[Alamo Mission in San Antonio|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>{{cite news|author=Parker, Kolten|url=http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Louisiana-inmates-remember-the-Alamo-too-5266758.php|title=Louisiana inmates remember the Alamo, too|newspaper=[[San Antonio Express-News]]|date=February 25, 2014|access-date=November 30, 2016}}</ref> {{anchor|Lake Killarney}} ===Recreational facilities=== [[File:ButlerParkAngola.jpg|thumb|Butler Park]] 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">"[http://www.corrections.state.la.us/Wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Time_in_Prison11.pdf Time in Prison]." {{webarchive |url=https://www.webcitation.org/6Bdg2h6fj?url=http://www.corrections.state.la.us/Wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Time_in_Prison11.pdf |date=October 23, 2012 }} [[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>"[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3CE85A7473CE8&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM 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 Course==== Prison View Golf Course, a {{convert|6000|yard|m|sigfig=2|adj=on}}, 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. "[http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2009/06/30/golf_channel_visits_louisiana_state_penitentiary_course/ 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>"[http://prisonviewgolf.com/images/Course.jpg Course.jpg]." Prison View Golf Course. Retrieved on October 27, 2010.</ref> All individuals wishing to play are required to provide personal information 48 hours before their arrival, so the prison authorities can conduct background checks. Convicted felons and individuals on visitation lists are not permitted to 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 the site of a former bull pasture, opened in June 2004<!--June 2004 is the previous June from March 2005-->. 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 stated that he built the course so that 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. "[http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/golf/20050308-9999-lz1s8golf.html Golf course on prison grounds offers links to world outside]." ''[[San Diego Union-Tribune]]''. March 8, 2005. Retrieved on October 27, 2010.</ref> ===Guest house=== 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 (magazine)|Mother Jones]]''. July/August 2011. p. [https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/07/burl-cain-angola-prison?page=5 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 the conversion of one room into a bedroom and the addition of a shower and fireplace, cost approximately $7,346.<ref name="CainDCI"/> Traditionally, prisoners who worked successfully as cooks in the Ranch House were later assigned to work as cooks at the Louisiana Governor's Mansion. ===Cemeteries=== [[File:PLISign.jpg|thumb|Point Lookout Cemetery, established after 1927; one of the prison cemeteries on the Angola property]] [[File:PointLookoutIILSP.jpg|thumb|Point Lookout II]] 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">"[http://www.corrections.state.la.us/Wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Time_in_Prison11.pdf Time in Prison] {{webarchive |url=https://www.webcitation.org/6Bdg2h6fj?url=http://www.corrections.state.la.us/Wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Time_in_Prison11.pdf |date=2012-10-23 }}." [[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, which was located between the current Camps C and D. In September 2001 a memorial was installed here that is 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 {{convert|100|yd|m|abbr=off|sp=us|-1}} 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 Museum=== The '''Angola Museum''', operated by the nonprofit Louisiana State Penitentiary Museum Foundation, is the on-site prison museum. Visitors are charged $5 per adult admission fee, $3 per adult if the group is 10 or larger.<ref>"[http://angolamuseum.org/ 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. "[http://www.wafb.com/story/12481475/louisiana-state-penitentiary-at-angola?clienttype=printable&redirected=true Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola]." ''[[WAFB-TV]]''. May 14, 2010. Updated on January 7, 2011. Retrieved on April 28, 2012.</ref> ===Angola Airstrip=== The prison includes the '''Angola Airstrip''' {{airport codes|||LA67}}.<ref name=AngolaFAA>{{FAA-airport|ID=LA67}} – Retrieved on October 26, 2010. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20120113042708/http://www.airnav.com/airport/LA67 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>"[http://www.airnav.com/airport/LA67 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 features=== [[File:AngolaLAPrison.jpg|thumb|The guard house at the Angola Main Entrance]] The facility's main entrance has a metal-roofed guard house for review of 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. To allow a vehicle access or egress, the officers manually raise the barriers.<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>"[http://usps.whitepages.com/service/post_office/angola-11200-main-st-angola-la-1353087 Post Office Location – ANGOLA] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612042324/http://usps.whitepages.com/service/post_office/angola-11200-main-st-angola-la-1353087 |date=2012-06-12 }}." [[United States Postal Service]]. Retrieved on July 20, 2010.</ref> It was established on October 2, 1887.<ref>"[http://webpmt.usps.gov/pmt008.cfm Postmaster Finder Post Offices by ZIP Code] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428153255/https://webpmt.usps.gov/pmt008.cfm |date=April 28, 2019 }}." (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>"[http://www.corrections.state.la.us/lsp/k-9.php K-9 Training Center] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130409022748/http://www.corrections.state.la.us/lsp/k-9.php |date=2013-04-09 }}." 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>"[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AD&p_theme=ad&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F73225D7030DE77&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Angola prison dedicates "dog pen" to ex-K-9 officer]." ''[[The Advocate (Louisiana)|The Advocate]]''. November 8, 2002. Retrieved on March 14, 2011.</ref> The Louisiana State Penitentiary Wastewater Treatment Plant serves the prison complex.<ref>"[http://www.deq.louisiana.gov/apps/pubNotice/show.asp?qPostID=5011&SearchText=&startDate=1/1/2005&endDate=9/23/2010&category= 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>"[http://angolamuseum.org/?q=node/54 Returning Hearts Celebration]." Louisiana State Penitentiary. June 23, 2011. Retrieved on July 4, 2011.</ref> ===History of infrastructure at the prison=== [[File:Camp H00.jpg|thumb|Camp H, a prisoner housing facility that is no longer in service]] 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"/>{{page needed|date=May 2017}} 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 posed a threat to Angola. The Mississippi River was nearly {{convert|1|mi|km}} wide in this area. Many inmates who tried to swim across drowned; few of their bodies were recovered.<ref name="Leadbelly101"/>{{page needed|date=May 2017}} 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. [http://articles.latimes.com/1989-07-23/news/mn-234_1_time-bomb/ 1]. Retrieved on March 22, 2011.</ref> It has since been black topped.{{Citation needed|date=February 2012}} The outcamp buildings, constructed in 1939 as a WPA project during the Great Depression, were renovated in the 1970s. During 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>"[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AD&p_theme=ad&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB4774DFB379EB7&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Angola violations threaten closures]." ''[[The Advocate (Louisiana)|The Advocate]]''. June 5, 1993. Retrieved on November 2, 2010.</ref> ====Red Hat Cell Block==== {{main|Red Hat Cell Block}} [[File:RedHatsLSP2.jpg|thumb|[[Red Hat Cell Block]]]] The most restrictive inmate housing unit was colloquially referred to as "[[Red Hat Cell Block]]",<ref name="NPSList">"[http://www.nps.gov/nr/listings/20030228.htm 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>[[Billy Sinclair|Sinclair, Billy Wayne]] and Jodie Sinclair. ''A Life in the Balance: The Billy Wayne Sinclair Story''. [[Arcade Publishing]], 2000. [https://books.google.com/books?id=z84kkV52fW0C&dq=%22When+an+execution+drew+near+on+Louisiana%27s%22&pg=PA51 51]. Retrieved from ''[[Google Books]]'' on October 1, 2010. {{ISBN|1-55970-555-8}}, {{ISBN|978-1-55970-555-4}}.</ref> Brooke Shelby Biggs of ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|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. [https://books.google.com/books?id=z84kkV52fW0C&dq=%22Hunt%27s+gesture+in+closing+the+infamous+cell+block%22&pg=PA132 132]. Retrieved from [[Google Books]] on October 28, 2010. {{ISBN|1-55970-555-8}}, {{ISBN|978-1-55970-555-4}}</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"/> ==Demographics== Louisiana State Penitentiary is the largest correctional facility in the United States by population.<ref name="PasteRadio1">Rice, Jenny Lee. "Prison Radio." ''[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]]''. Issue 4. [http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article/149/feature/culture/prison_radio/ 1]. Retrieved on September 26, 2010.</ref> In 2010 the prison had 5,100 inmates and 1,700 employees.<ref>"[http://investigation.discovery.com/investigation/notorious-prisons/angola/angola.html 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, 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 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101026021820/http://www.corrections.state.la.us/LSP/docs/2010_Annual_Report.pdf |date=October 26, 2010 }}></ref> As of 2016 many inmates come from the state of Mississippi.<ref>Plante, Stephanie Grob. "[http://www.racked.com/2016/6/28/12043836/angola-prison-rodeo-craft-fair 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 the State of Louisiana.<ref name=Ridgeway1>Ridgeway, James. "God's Own Warden." ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]''. July/August 2011 Issue. p. [https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/07/burl-cain-angola-prison?page=1 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>"[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AD&p_theme=ad&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB4742693E4B525&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Christmas at Angola not necessarily sad song]." ''[[The Advocate (Louisiana)|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"/> ==Operations== [[File:Warden Burl Cain St Francisville.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Burl Cain]], warden of Angola from 1995 to 2016]] 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 [[prison farm|working farm]]; former Warden Burl Cain once said that the key to running a peaceful [[Types of US federal prisons|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. "[https://www.theguardian.com/society/2010/mar/10/erwin-james-angola-three 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 (magazine)|Mother Jones]]'' wrote Angola was "An 18,000-acre complex that still resembles the [[slave plantation]] it once was."<ref>Ridgeway, James. "[http://sfbayview.com/2009/36-years-of-solitude/ 36 years of solitude]." ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|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. "[https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-11-29-prison-hospices_N.htm Inmates assist ill and dying fellow prisoners in hospices]." ([http://www.corrections.state.la.us/Wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/DITN-Angola-Hospice1.pdf alternate location] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110601232604/http://www.corrections.state.la.us/Wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/DITN-Angola-Hospice1.pdf |date=June 1, 2011 }}) ''[[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<!--The page says "all" but it is not possible for every single one to do so--> 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]]. "[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89698695 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>"[http://www.corrections.state.la.us/Wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/DITN-LSPs-Female-Officers-Nov-2009.pdf Angola experiences a "Changing of the Guard"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110601232608/http://www.corrections.state.la.us/Wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/DITN-LSPs-Female-Officers-Nov-2009.pdf |date=June 1, 2011 }}." ''[[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>"[http://www.corrections.state.la.us/LSP/general.php General] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091020104317/http://www.corrections.state.la.us/lsp/general.php |date=October 20, 2009 }}." 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 (film)|Dead Man Walking]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/kqed/onenight/about/producer.html|title=And Then One Night, The Making of Dead Man Walking: About the Program: The Producer's Journey|website=www.pbs.org|access-date=February 14, 2020}}</ref> ''[[Monster's Ball]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://doaskdotell.com/movies/mball.htm|title=DOASKDOTELL MOVIE REVIEWs of Monster's Ball, Shadowboxer, Patti Rocks, and related films|website=doaskdotell.com|access-date=February 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303183253/http://doaskdotell.com/movies/mball.htm|archive-date=March 3, 2016|url-status=dead}}</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 (magazine)|Mother Jones]]''. July/August 2011 Issue. p. [https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/07/burl-cain-angola-prison?page=2 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>{{Cite web|url=http://www.angolarodeo.com/|title=Angola Rodeo | Louisiana State Penitentiary|website=www.angolarodeo.com|access-date=February 14, 2020}}</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.{{Citation needed|date=January 2011}} Angola Prison hosts the country's only inmate-operated radio station, KLSP.<ref>[http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article/149/feature/culture/prison_radio/ "Inside Angola's Incarceration Station" by Jenny Lee Rice], ''Paste'' magazine</ref> ===Farming=== [[File:AngolaBigTopo.PNG|thumb|A topographical map, 1994, [[U.S. Geological Survey]]]] Inmates cultivate, harvest and process an array of 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 which it had stopped in the 1970s.<ref> {{cite web |url=https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/communities/west_feliciana/article_dbc913cb-9fc8-52ad-9de8-8ac99fc9def5.html |title=Angola inmates make sugar cane syrup the old-fashioned way |last=Hardy |first=Steve |date=23 December 2014 |website=[[The Advocate (Louisiana)|The Advocate]] |access-date=13 December 2020}}</ref> As of 2010 the prison has 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 at Angola for field work. Trustees are mounted to supervise workers in the fields. In 2010, the Angola Prison Horse Sale was initiated at the time of the annual rodeos. ===Inmate education=== 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 in camps C-D and F. Angola also offers GED classes in the main prison and in 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">"[http://www.corrections.state.la.us/lsp/educational_progs.php Educational Programs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101023100050/http://www.corrections.state.la.us/lsp/educational_progs.php |date=October 23, 2010 }}." 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, [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/us/bible-college-helps-some-at-louisiana-prison-find-peace.html 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 Program and Re-Entry Programs for prisoners who are 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">"[https://web.archive.org/web/20090527091213/http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/a-decade-behind-bars-return-to-the-farm-4329/angola-prison-activities Angola Prison Activities]." ''[[National Geographic Channel|National Geographic]]''. Retrieved on July 24, 2010.</ref> ===Manufacturing=== 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 for overseas customers. The Tractor Repair shop repairs agricultural equipment. The Transportation Division delivers goods manufactured by the Prison Enterprises Division.<ref>"[http://www.corrections.state.la.us/lsp/prison_enterprises.php Prison Enterprises] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101023100106/http://www.corrections.state.la.us/lsp/prison_enterprises.php |date=October 23, 2010 }}." Louisiana State Penitentiary. Retrieved on August 29, 2010.</ref> ===Magazine=== {{main|The Angolite}} [[File:WilbertR.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Wilbert Rideau]] was an editor of ''[[The Angolite]]'', 1975 to 2002]] ''The Angolite'' is the inmate-published and -edited magazine of the institution, which began in 1975 or 1976.<ref>"[http://www.corrections.state.la.us/LSP/programs.php Rehabilitative Services / Work Programs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110214112833/http://www.corrections.state.la.us/LSP/programs.php |date=2011-02-14 }}." Louisiana State Penitentiary. Retrieved on August 29, 2010.</ref> Each year, six issues are published.<ref name="Timeinprison34"/> Louisiana prison officials believed that 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">"[https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/11/opinion/topics-of-the-times-freedom-behind-bars.html 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) "[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HGwiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fqwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1252,4599421&dq=billy-sinclair+wilbert-rideau&hl=en 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 staff writer. He worked on the magazine until gaining parole in 1992. ===Radio=== Angola is the only penitentiary in the U.S. to be issued an FCC license to operate a radio station. '''KLSP''' ('''L'''ouisiana '''S'''tate '''P'''enitentiary) 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. The station is operated by inmates and carries some satellite programming. Inside the walls of Angola, KLSP is called the "Incarceration Station"<ref name="KLSP">[http://www.corrections.state.la.us/LSP/klsp.php Louisiana State Penitentiary KLSP] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924153343/http://www.corrections.state.la.us/lsp/klsp.php |date=September 24, 2012 }} 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. [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/12/arts/12radi.html?ex=1302494400&en=cb49333113b63809&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss 1]. Retrieved on August 25, 2010.</ref> In the early years, the radio station emphasized announcements and music more than religion, but in the early 21st century, it broadcast more religious programming.<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. {{ISBN|0-549-92173-7}}, {{ISBN|978-0-549-92173-8}}</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. The team who helped rebuild 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 to upgrade its programming.<ref name="vonZeilbauer2"/> As of 2012, KLSP had an output of 105 watts.<ref>[http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?list=0&facid=21792 KLSP] fcc.gov. Accessed August 9, 2012</ref> Further than {{convert|7|mi|km}} away from Angola on [[Louisiana Highway 61]], the signal begins to fade. At {{convert|10|mi|km}} 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. {{ISBN|0-549-92173-7}}, {{ISBN|978-0-549-92173-8}}</ref> ===Television=== 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 technicicans 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 deceased=== 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"/> ===Death row=== In 1972, in the US Supreme Court decision in ''[[Furman v. Georgia]]'', the court found 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 in the United States, and 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 take a shower and/or move up and down the halls under escort. Three times a week an inmate is permitted to use the exercise yard. Death row inmates are allowed to 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. [https://books.google.com/books?id=vSdXjSNM1lwC&dq=%22cells+is+to+be+used+to+take+a+shower+or%22&pg=PA183 183]. Retrieved from [[Google Books]] on November 2, 2010. {{ISBN|1-58980-156-3}}, {{ISBN|978-1-58980-156-1}}.</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">[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/30/us/3-men-on-death-row-in-louisiana-sue-over-solitary-confinement.html?_r=0 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">{{cite web | url=http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/at-angola-death-row-is-psychological-torture-1793819095 | title=At Angola, Death Row Is Psychological Torture | publisher=[[Deadspin]] | work=The Concourse | date=March 30, 2017 | access-date=July 19, 2017 | author=Nolan, Hamilton}}</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">[https://www.wwno.org/news/2021-10-01/judge-approves-settlement-in-lawsuit-that-challenged-the-use-of-solitary-confinement-on-death-row 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> ===Execution=== 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 the exact time when a prisoner will be transferred is the Warden; this is for security reasons and so as to not disrupt 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. [https://books.google.com/books?id=vSdXjSNM1lwC&dq=%22His+real+identity+is+secret.+When+he+is+referred+to+by+name%2C%22&pg=PA189 189]. Retrieved from [[Google Books]] on November 2, 2010. {{ISBN|1-58980-156-3}}, {{ISBN|978-1-58980-156-1}}.</ref> ==Inmate life== ===Musical culture=== {{Asof|2011}}, several Angola inmates practiced musical skills. The prison administration encourages prisoners to practice music and uses music as a reward for inmates who behave.<ref name="CannonHal">Cannon, Hal. "[https://www.npr.org/2011/08/05/138893837/the-music-of-louisianas-angola-state-penitentiary 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 it was not influenced by popular trends. 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>{{Cite book|last=Tomko|first=Gene|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ZKzDwAAQBAJ|title=Encyclopedia of Louisiana Musicians: Jazz, Blues, Cajun, Creole, Zydeco, Swamp Pop, and Gospel|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|year=2020|isbn=978-0807169322|location=Baton Rouge|pages=161}}</ref> From 1968 to 1970, [[WAFB|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 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>{{cite news|title=Angola Cons Have Music, Will Travel to Perform|first=Nan|last=Nadler|work=Daily World|location=Opelousas, Louisiana|date=1968-07-25|page=12|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15191261/|access-date=2022-07-21|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=October 11, 2006 |title=Who is "Buckskin" Bill? |language=en |work=WAFB-TV |url=https://www.wafb.com/story/5525752/who-is-buckskin-bill |access-date=2022-07-21}}</ref> ===Sexual slavery=== 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">{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/books/review/Oshinsky-t.html | work=The New York Times | first=David | last=Oshinsky | title=Book Review – In the Place of Justice – By Wilbert Rideau | date=June 11, 2010}}</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 that "The slave's only way out was to commit suicide, escape or kill his master."<ref name="nytimes.com"/> [[Angola 3|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>[http://motherjones.com/politics/2009/12/herman-wallace-angola-3-solitary-confinement], ''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>{{Page needed|date=September 2010}} === Inmate mental health === ==== Mental health and faith at Angola ==== Louisiana State Penitentiary has been known for their non-traditional mental health interventions. One such initiative is a faith-based prototype program for mental healthcare and [[Mentally ill people in United States jails and prisons|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 type of 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">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/956481272 |title=Angola prison seminary : effects of faith-based ministry on identity. |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-30061-8 |location=[Place of publication not identified] |oclc=956481272}}</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 very strong 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">{{Cite book |last=Baker |first=Mark W. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1133125908 |title=You can change : stories from Angola prison and the psychology of personal transformation. |date=2020 |isbn=978-1-5064-5565-5 |location=Minneapolis, MN |oclc=1133125908}}</ref> This faith-based approach to mental healthcare is also seen in palliative care at the Louisiana State Penitentiary. Due to the largely older population of inmates at Louisiana State Penitentiary, the prison sees much higher rates of intakes than release 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">{{Cite journal |last1=Evans |first1=Carol |last2=Herzog |first2=Ronda |last3=Tillman |first3=Tanya |date=August 2002 |title=The Louisiana State Penitentiary: Angola Prison Hospice |url=http://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/109662102760269797 |journal=Journal of Palliative Medicine |language=en |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=553–558 |doi=10.1089/109662102760269797 |pmid=12243680 |issn=1096-6218}}</ref> Inmate Ministers are able to 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 that it is working positively in Louisiana State Penitentiary. Though 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>{{Cite journal |last1=Bouchard |first1=Leah M |last2=Kye Price |first2=Sarah |last3=Swan |first3=Laura |date=2020-02-24 |title=The Role of the Contemporary Christian Church in the Rural American South |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.34043/swc.v47i2.100 |journal=Social Work & Christianity |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=47–64 |doi=10.34043/swc.v47i2.100 |s2cid=219677969 |issn=0737-5778}}</ref> ==== Violations of inmate rights ==== In 2021, a federal judge found that the Louisiana State Penitentiary violated the [[Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990|Americans with Disabilities Act]] through its treatment of 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|Shelly D. 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 was in need of [[injunctive relief]].<ref name=":1" /> === Inmate organizations === 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 Rodeo=== {{main|Angola Prison Rodeo}} On one weekend in April and on 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">"[http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/travel/thisweek/stories/DN-angolarodeo_0802tra.ART.State.Edition1.4bb5b19.html "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. "[http://www.nola.com/living/baton-rouge/index.ssf/2013/04/angola_prison_rodeo_2013.html 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 at the time of the rodeo. ===Programs for fathers=== 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 a total of 2,500 prisoners had participated in the program. Malachi Dads is a year-long program that uses the Christian Bible as the basis of teaching how to improve a prisoner's parenting skills. Malachi began in 2007; as of 2010 it had 119 men participating.<ref>Jervis, Rick. "[https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-06-17-prison-dads_N.htm Prison dads learn meaning of 'father']." ''[[USA Today]]''. June 18, 2010. Retrieved on February 3, 2011.</ref> It is based on [[Book of Malachi|Malachi]] 4:6, "He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers ..." ==Notable inmates== ===Death row and non-death row=== * [[Nathaniel Code]] * [[Derrick Todd Lee]] * [[Wilbert Rideau]]<ref>Gold, Scott. "[http://articles.latimes.com/2005/jan/17/nation/na-rideau17 After 44 Years, Louisiana Man Is Freed]." ''Los Angeles Times''. January 17, 2005. Retrieved on August 29, 2010.</ref> * [[Billy Sinclair]]<ref name="JohnsonShared">Johnson, Allen Jr. "[http://www.bestofneworleans.com/gambit/shared-fate/Content?oid=1239085 Shared Fate] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910130646/http://www.bestofneworleans.com/gambit/shared-fate/Content?oid=1239085 |date=September 10, 2012 }}." ''[[Gambit Weekly]]''. March 20, 2001. Retrieved on October 2, 2010.</ref> * [[Gary Tyler]] ===Executed=== * [[Gerald Bordelon|Gerald James Bordelon]] – Executed in 2010 (last execution in Louisiana)<ref name="dpic">{{cite web|url=https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions/execution-database?filters%5Bstate%5D=Louisiana|title=Searchable Execution Database|publisher=[[Death Penalty Information Center]]|access-date=June 12, 2021}}</ref> * [[John A. Brown, Jr.]] – Executed in 1997<ref name="dpic" /> * [[Glass v. Louisiana|Jimmy L. Glass]] – Executed in 1987<ref name="dpic" /> * [[Execution of Antonio James|Antonio G. James]] – Executed in 1996<ref name="dpic" /> * [[Andrew Lee Jones]] – Executed in 1991 (last execution via electric chair in Louisiana)<ref name="dpic" /> * [[Lowenfield v. Phelps|Leslie Lowenfield]] – Executed in 1998<ref name="dpic" /> * [[Leslie Dale Martin]] – Executed in 2002 (last involuntary execution in Louisiana)<ref name="dpic" /> * [[Dalton Prejean]] – Executed in 1990<ref name="dpic" /> * [[Robert Sawyer (murderer)|Robert Wayne Sawyer]] – Executed in 1993 (first execution via lethal injection in Louisiana)<ref name="dpic" /> * [[Elmo Patrick Sonnier]]<ref>"[https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/17170938.html?dids=17170938:17170938&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+19%2C+1996&author=Bruce+Nolan%2C+Religion+News+Service.&pub=Chicago+Tribune+%28pre-1997+Fulltext%29&desc=CHURCH+NEEDS+TO+AID+KILLERS+AS+WELL+AS+VICTIMS%27+FAMILIES%2C+NUN+SAYS&pqatl=google CHURCH NEEDS TO AID KILLERS AS WELL AS VICTIMS' FAMILIES, NUN SAYS] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130311234238/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/17170938.html?dids=17170938:17170938&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+19%2C+1996&author=Bruce+Nolan%2C+Religion+News+Service.&pub=Chicago+Tribune+%28pre-1997+Fulltext%29&desc=CHURCH+NEEDS+TO+AID+KILLERS+AS+WELL+AS+VICTIMS%27+FAMILIES%2C+NUN+SAYS&pqatl=google |date=March 11, 2013 }}." ''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|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" /> * [[Glass v. Louisiana|Jimmy C. Wingo]] – Executed in 1987<ref name="dpic" /> ===Non-death row=== * [[Michael Louding]], Associate and Child Figure of ''Lil Boosie'' ( Sentenced to LWOP) * [[C-Murder]] * [[Angola 3]] ([[Robert Hillary King]], Herman Wallace, and [[Albert Woodfox]])<ref name="Erwin37" /> * [[James Booker]] * [[Lil Boosie]] * [[Jack Favor]], rodeo performer and manager framed for two murders in 1964 in [[Bossier Parish, Louisiana|Bossier Parish]]; he was convicted and imprisoned from 1967 until his release after acquittal in a second trial in 1974. He helped initiate the Angola Prison Rodeo and make it a major event<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cowboysforchrist.net/thechristianranchmansep_oct2012.pdf|title=Not Guilty|publisher=cowboysforchrist.net|access-date=February 6, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221232529/http://www.cowboysforchrist.net/thechristianranchmansep_oct2012.pdf|archive-date=February 21, 2014}}</ref> * [[Sean Vincent Gillis]] * Patrick O'Neal Kennedy (defendant in ''[[Kennedy v. Louisiana]]'')<ref>Purpura, Paul. "[http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2013/12/patrick_kennedy_whose_convicti.html 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> * Huddie William Ledbetter ([[Lead Belly]]) – Camp A,<ref name="Leadbelly101" /> folk and blues musician * [[Carlos Marcello]], organized crime figure * [[H. Lane Mitchell]], Shreveport public works commissioner from 1934 to 1968; imprisoned after 1971 for theft of municipal properties valued at nearly $85,000<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leagle.com/decision/19711060246So2d814_1915.xml/STATE%20v.%20MITCHELL|title=''State v. Mitchell''|date=May 3, 1971|publisher=leagle.com|access-date=June 14, 2014}}</ref> * [[Kirksey Nix]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.edwardhumes.com/articles/mudappeal.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100921061059/http://www.edwardhumes.com/articles/mudappeal.shtml|url-status=dead|title=Cases No. 97-60263 and 97-60704, "Appeals from the United States District Court For the Southern District of Mississippi," UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS For the Fifth Circuit, October 20, 1999.|archive-date=September 21, 2010|access-date=February 14, 2020}}</ref> * [[Marlowe Parker]] (artist)<ref>[[Baker, Louisiana|Baker]]-[[Zachary, Louisiana|Zachary]] Bureau. "[http://theadvocate.com/home/4110238-125/art-theft-hits-angola Art theft hits Angola] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104123727/http://theadvocate.com/home/4110238-125/art-theft-hits-angola |date=November 4, 2013 }}." ''[[The Advocate (Louisiana)|The Advocate]]''. October 16, 2012. Retrieved on October 9, 2013.</ref> * [[Robert Pete Williams]]<ref>"[http://www.ebr.lib.la.us/reference/ourafamlegacy/oaal_peopleandplaces/people/RobertPeteWilliams.htm Biography of Robert Pete Williams] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211132931/http://www.ebr.lib.la.us/reference/ourafamlegacy/oaal_peopleandplaces/people/RobertPeteWilliams.htm |date=February 11, 2010 }}." [[East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana|East Baton Rouge Parish Library]]. Retrieved on August 26, 2010.</ref> * [[Clifford Etienne]] * [[Ronald Dominique]] * [[Vincent Simmons]] * [[Warren Harris (serial killer)|Warren Harris]] * [[Montgomery v. Louisiana|Henry Montgomery]] * [[Will Hayden]], reality TV host and gunsmith * [[Clementine Barnabet]], early 20th century voodoo priestess and axe murderer.<ref name="Gauthreaux 2015">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5M3-CgAAQBAJ&q=%22clementine+barnabet%22&pg=PA187|title=Dark Bayou: Infamous Louisiana Homicides|last1=Gauthreaux|first1=Alan G.|last2=Hippensteel|first2=D. G.|date=November 16, 2015|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476662954|language=en}}</ref> ==Notable employees== *[[Burl Cain]] (Warden 1995–2015)<!--AFAIK no source is needed as his name is plastered everywhere else--> *[[Billy Cannon]] (dentist)<ref name=Redemption>{{cite web|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=091030BillyCannon |title=The Redemption of Billy Cannon |first=Wright |last=Thompson |work=[[Outside the Lines]] |publisher=ESPN.com |date=October 30, 2009 |access-date=December 15, 2009}}</ref> *[[John Whitley (prison warden)|John Whitley]] (former Warden 1990–1995) *[[One Man Gang|George Gray]] (former prison guard) ==Cultural references== ===Musical references=== {{More citations needed section|date=August 2010}} The prison has held many musicians and been the subject of a number of songs. Folk singer [[Lead Belly]] served over four years of his attempted murder sentence and was released early from Angola for good behavior. [[Tejano music|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: {{poemquote|Six months ain't no sentence, and a year ain't no time They got boys down in Angola doin' one year to ninety-nine}} In [[the Clash]]'s version of "Junco Partner", the lines are a little bit different: {{poemquote| Singing six months ain't no sentence, and one year ain't no time ::I was born in Angola, servin' fourteen to ninety-nine}} [[Aaron Neville|Aaron]] and Charles Neville wrote "Angola Bound": {{poemquote| I got lucky last summer when I got my time, Angola bound Well my partner got a hundred, I got ninety-nine, Angola bound }} Angola also features in the [[Neville Brothers]] song "Sons and Daughters" on the album ''Brother's Keeper''. [[Folklore|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 [[flogging]]s were carried out in Angola. Singer [[Gil Scott-Heron]] wrote and recorded the song "Angola, Louisiana" on his 1978 album with [[Brian Jackson (keyboardist)|Brian Jackson]], ''[[Secrets (Gil Scott-Heron album)|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 (director)|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 (Dr. John album)|Remedies]]'', New Orleans musician [[Dr. John]] features an extended 17:35 song titled "Angola Anthem". Singer-songwriter [[Myshkin (singer)|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: {{poemquote| Release me from this life I will seek my punishment On the other side but the judge said "Warden in cold blood you shot your poor poor wife You're going back to Angola, there your hell to find" }} New Orleans rap artist [[Juvenile (rapper)|Juvenile]] has part of a verse in the [[Hot Boys]] song "Dirty World" that says: {{poemquote| They'll plant dope on ya, go to court on ya Give ya 99 years and slam the door on us Angola, the free man bout it, he don't play Nigga get outta line, ship 'em to camp J }} New Orleans pianist [[James Booker]] mentions Angola prison in his cover of "[[Goodnight, Irene]]"; where he was sent for heroin possession: {{poemquote| Lead Belly and little Booker both, had the pleasure of partying, on the pon de rosa, *laughs* you know what I mean, you dig? Yeah, on the pon de rosa, you know, down in Angola where they have boys doing from one year to ninety nine }} (As Booker was less than 10 years old when Lead Belly died, they would not have been there at the same time.) [[Ray Davies]] has 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: {{poemquote| All I got on me, is my Angola prison I.D. Ain't a place in this whole damn city willing to hire me It's been twenty years }} 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]]''. {{poemquote| Hey ol’ man river, what do you know Bout plantation they call Angola? The devil spawned a prison there The saddest farm that ever lived}} ===Books about Angola=== * ''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 (book)|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 (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 Angola==== * 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) *[[Mark T. Carleton|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 Angola=== * Maya Schenwar, "America's Plantation Prisons", ''Global Research'' (August 30, 2008) * "Witness – Death Behind Bars – Part 1". ''[[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]]'' * "Witness – Death Behind Bars – Part 2". ''Al Jazeera'' * [http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/05/louisiana_is_the_worlds_prison/1952/comments-5.html 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 references=== *Angola was featured in the documentary ''[[The Farm: Angola, USA]]'' (1998). *Angola Prison was featured in [[Oliver Stone]]'s movie ''[[JFK (film)|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 (film)|No Country for Old Men]]''. *Actor [[William Hurt]] prepared for his role in the 2008 remake of ''[[The Yellow Handkerchief (2008 film)|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>[https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=124043013 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 (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 [[Dead Man Walking (disambiguation)|numerous works]], including adaptations as a [[Dead Man Walking (film)|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. "[http://www.nola.com/movies/index.ssf/2012/08/matt_dillon_willem_dafoe_join.html Matt Dillon, Willem Dafoe join cast of Baton Rouge-shot 'Whiskey Bay']." ''[[The Times-Picayune]]''. (August 16, 2012)</ref> *Angola Prison was mentioned in [[True Detective (season 1)|season one]] of the TV series ''[[True Detective]]''.<ref name="esqu_15Bu">{{Cite web| title = 15 Burning Questions for True Detective to Answer| work = Esquire| date = 2014-03-07| access-date = 31 August 2020| url = https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a32803/true-detective-finale-questions/}}</ref> *The casket for [[Billy Graham]] was made by a male inmate, a senior carpenter named Richard, nicknamed "the Grasshopper", who had been convicted for murder, and in residence there 35 years, at Angola.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/FranklinGraham/videos/1840597789329727/|title=Franklin Graham – Many people have asked me about my...|access-date=February 14, 2020|via=www.facebook.com}}</ref> ==See also== {{Portal|Louisiana}} *[[List of law enforcement agencies in Louisiana]] *[[List of United States state correction agencies]] *[[Ellen Bryan Moore]] ==References== *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. [https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/4137637?uid=2&uid=4&sid=21102734638747 Available at] [[Jstor]]; [http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_american_folklore/summary/v119/119.473schrift.html Available at] [[Project MUSE]]. ==Footnotes== {{Reflist}} ==Further reading== *"W. Feliciana's Angola probe may be extended". ''[[The Advocate (Louisiana)|The Advocate]]''. August 31, 1989. *"[https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/louisianas-angola-proving-ground-for-racialized-capitalism/ Louisiana’s Angola: Proving ground for racialized capitalism]". ''[[People's World|by W.T. Whitney Jr.]]'', June 25, 2018. ==External links== {{Commons category}} * [https://doc.louisiana.gov/location/louisiana-state-penitentiary/ Louisiana State Penitentiary] ** [https://web.archive.org/*/http://www.doc.la.gov/pages/correctional-facilities/louisiana-state-penitentiary/ Louisiana State Penitentiary] (Archive) ** [https://web.archive.org/*/http://www.corrections.state.la.us/lsp/ Louisiana State Penitentiary] (Archive) * [http://www.prisonviewgolf.com/ Prison View Golf Course] * [http://angolarodeo.com Angola Prison Rodeo] * [http://angolamuseum.org Angola Museum Foundation] * Stein, Joel. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20110511020034/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,997386-1,00.html Angola, La.: The Lessons of Cain]". ''TIME''. Monday July 10, 2000. Retrieved on January 1, 2010. * Angola Airstrip: {{US-airport-minor|LA67}} *[http://usgwarchives.net/maps/louisiana/statemap/1858natbr.jpg "Map from 1858"], showing the location of Angola plantation in Louisiana *[https://andrewtesta.photoshelter.com/gallery/Angola-Prison-Rodeo/G0000fm4PJHHXCDw/ Andrew Testa photos of the rodeo and death chamber] *[http://hnoc.minisisinc.com/thnoc/catalog/3/39421 Angola Museum Oral History Project] at [https://www.hnoc.org/ The Historic New Orleans Collection] *[http://www.westfelicianahistory.org West Feliciana Historical Society Museum] *[http://www.explorewestfeliciana.com West Feliciana Tourist Commission] {{State prisons in Louisiana}} {{Execution sites in the United States}} {{West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana}} {{authority control}} [[Category:Louisiana State Penitentiary| ]] [[Category:1901 establishments in Louisiana]] [[Category:Capital punishment in Louisiana]] [[Category:Prisons in Louisiana]] [[Category:Angolan-American history]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana]] [[Category:Women's prisons in Louisiana]]<!--This facility previously housed women before 1962--> [[Category:Execution sites in the United States]]<!--Designated execution site--> [[Category:Louisiana populated places on the Mississippi River]] Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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