桃子视频

BATON ROUGE, La. 鈥� After more than a year of national and local advocacy, public outrage and an ongoing federal lawsuit, the state of Louisiana has finally relented and moved children out of the nation鈥檚 largest adult maximum security prison, Louisiana State Penitentiary, known as Angola.

鈥淭his is a victory for the children and their families,鈥� said David Utter, executive director of Fair Fight Initiative and lead counsel for the plaintiffs. 鈥淭he state of Louisiana has subjected these children to harm that no one should have to endure. We are grateful to all the people in Louisiana and across the nation who have been in solidarity with Louisiana鈥檚 children 鈥� speaking out, raising awareness, signing petitions and on their behalf. All these efforts show our clients how much we believe in their futures.鈥�

Since October 2022, 70-80 children, almost all Black boys, have been housed in the former death row of Angola, where they were subjected to abusive conditions, including solitary confinement for days鈥攕ometimes weeks鈥� at a time, excessive force, and the routine use of handcuffs, restraints, and chemical agents.

State officials deprived these children of their right to an education and rehabilitative services, and deprived them of their right to see their family members.

Last week, a federal court judge found that the state had broken virtually all its promises about how it would treat youth in Angola, and subjected the children to conditions of confinement that constitute 鈥渃ruel and unusual punishment.鈥� The judge ordered the state to remove the children from Angola.

鈥淭his has been an ugly chapter in Angola鈥檚 already ugly history as a monument to slavery and white supremacy,鈥� said Tammie Gregg, deputy director of the 桃子视频鈥檚 National Prison Project. 鈥淲e hope this ordeal is finally over for our clients, and no child will ever be sent back to Angola. We are outraged any child had to suffer these abuses at all. The state never had to take this path.鈥�

The state is appealing the judge鈥檚 order 鈥� continuing to fight for the ability to hold children in conditions that violate their constitutional rights.

Today, without any notice to the plaintiffs鈥� attorneys, the Office of Juvenile Justice announced it had moved the children from Angola to what appears to be an adult detention facility which also houses youth in .

The following statements can be attributed as noted:

Nora Ahmed, legal director, 桃子视频of Louisiana

鈥淲e are pleased with the state鈥檚 decision to move the children housed in Angola after a year of devastating effects. Louisiana can and must do better to provide the rehabilitation, education, and treatment services they are legally required to, and end the practice of holding children in adult facilities once and for all.鈥�

Susan Meyers, senior staff attorney, Southern Poverty Law Center

鈥淟ouisiana has in the country. The decision to hold children in the notorious Angola Prison exemplifies that. While the judge鈥檚 order seeks to remove children from unprecedented conditions, the state plans to appeal the ruling and select yet another adult facility to hold children, repeating its shameful history. We will continue our fight to end this inhumane practice and ensure all children, especially Black and Brown children, are treated with dignity and given an opportunity to succeed.鈥�

Background

In July 2022, Governor John Bel Edwards announced a plan to move children in juvenile justice custody to the former death row of Angola.

Angola鈥檚 transformation from slave plantation to a prison camp for mostly Black men conscripted under the convict leasing system to nation鈥檚 largest maximum-security adult prison underlines its legacy of white supremacy and mass incarceration.

Attorneys with the 桃子视频and local counsel filed a federal lawsuit in August 2022, and sought an emergency motion to stop the Governor鈥檚 plan from moving forward. The lawsuit revealed information about the , including the fact that any child in OJJ custody could be transferred to Angola.

After an emergency hearing in September 2022, a federal judge allowed the state to move forward with its plan, citing assurances the state made under oath that the site would be closed by spring 2023 and would meet legal requirements.

In October 2022, the Office of Juvenile Justice moved the first group of children to Angola, without notice to families or the children鈥檚 lawyers. Since that time, children have been reporting mistreatment and abusive conditions in declarations made to their attorneys.

In July 2023, lawyers for the children filed another emergency motion, seeking to remove them from Angola, given evidence of solitary confinement, restraints, and excessive heat exposure.

After seven days of testimony and thousands of pages of evidence during a hearing in August 2023, the judge ruled last week that the state had violated their promises, violated the children鈥檚 constitutional rights and the children must be removed from the Angola site.

The lawsuit is being brought by the 桃子视频National Prison Project, the 桃子视频of Louisiana, the Claiborne Firm and Fair Fight Initiative, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Loyola Law Clinic and attorneys Chris Murell, David Shanies, and Russell Barksdale.