Louisiana State Penitentiary

==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&nbsp;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"/>