Angola Prison: Do Guards Live Among Inmates?

Angola Prison, also known as the Louisiana State Penitentiary, is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States. It is located on the site of a former slave plantation and is nicknamed the “Alcatraz of the South”. The prison has a long history of violence and abuse, with inmates enduring harsh working conditions, lack of healthcare, and cruel treatment by guards. Inmates are forced to work in fields, with little pay and under the threat of punishment. While some argue that prison labour provides inmates with skills and purpose, others criticise the lack of choice and autonomy, drawing parallels with slavery.

The prison has a unique setup, with over 600 staff and their families living on-site in an area called the B-Line. This residential area includes a small neighbourhood, churches, and recreational facilities. While the B-Line offers some comforts and amenities, it also raises questions about the ethics of living within a prison complex, where inmates face harsh conditions and a lack of basic rights.

The topic of whether guards live in Angola Prison thus highlights the complex dynamics of this maximum-security facility. On one hand, it underscores the self-contained nature of the prison, with staff and their families creating a community within its walls. On the other hand, it raises questions about the power dynamics and potential abuses that may arise when guards and their families are effectively isolated alongside inmates.

Angola Prison is the largest maximum-security prison in the US, with 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff

Angola Prison, officially known as the Louisiana State Penitentiary, is the largest maximum-security prison in the US. Located in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, it is situated between oxbow lakes on the east side of a bend in the Mississippi River. The prison is named after the former slave plantation that occupied the territory, which was itself named after the country of Angola, from which many enslaved people originated before arriving in Louisiana.

With 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff, Angola Prison is a sprawling complex. The staff includes corrections officers, janitors, maintenance workers, and wardens. The prison's large population has earned it the nickname "a gated community". The prison's 18,000 acres of land, an area larger than Manhattan, include 28 square miles of land that was once the Angola Plantations, a slave plantation owned by slave trader Isaac Franklin.

The prison is divided into several camps, with the Main Prison Complex consisting of the East and West Yards. The East Yard houses minimum, medium, and maximum-custody prisoners, while the West Yard includes administrative segregation cellblocks and the prison treatment centre. Angola also has several outcamps, such as Camp C and Camp D, which have similar features but differ in the types of prisoners they house.

The prison offers various programs and facilities for inmates, including literacy and GED classes, vocational training, and religious programs. It also has manufacturing facilities, such as the Farm Warehouse and the Mattress/Broom/Mop shop. Inmates are required to work at least 40 hours a week, with most farming cotton, corn, soybeans, or wheat. They are paid between two and twenty cents an hour for their labour.

The prison has a long and troubled history, including a past of forced labour and racial tensions. Efforts to reform and improve conditions have been made, but Angola Prison continues to face criticism and legal challenges regarding inmate rights, labour conditions, and solitary confinement practices.

The prison is located on a former slave plantation, and is nicknamed the Alcatraz of the South

The Louisiana State Penitentiary, commonly known as Angola, is located on a former slave plantation. The plantation was named after the country of Angola, from which many of the enslaved people originated before arriving in Louisiana.

The prison is nicknamed the "Alcatraz of the South" and is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States, with 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff. It is set between oxbow lakes on the east side of a bend in the Mississippi River and is flanked on three sides by water.

The 28 square miles of land that the prison sits on was known before the American Civil War as the Angola Plantations, a slave plantation owned by slave trader Isaac Franklin. The prison is located at the end of Louisiana Highway 66, around 22 miles northwest of St. Francisville.

The prison has a long and troubled history, with a legacy of forced labour and brutality. In the late 1800s, a former Confederate major, Samuel Lawrence James, purchased the plantation and began using the slave quarters to house prisoners, whom he leased out for profit. This convict-leasing system continued until 1928, with prisoners being forced to work under brutal and deadly conditions.

Today, Angola is still a working farm, with inmates cultivating crops and raising livestock. The prison has faced criticism and scrutiny over the years for its harsh conditions, including the extensive use of solitary confinement. However, efforts have been made to reform and improve conditions, and the prison now offers various programs and services for inmates, including educational and vocational classes.

Inmates are forced to work for pennies an hour or sometimes nothing at all

Inmates at Angola Prison are forced to work for pennies an hour or sometimes nothing at all. The prison, which was once a slave plantation, is the country's largest maximum-security prison. The 18,000-acre prison is located on the site of the former Angola Plantation, from which it gets its name.

The prison is home to around 3,800 men, about 65% of whom are Black. Within days of their arrival, inmates are typically sent to the fields to work for free, later earning between 2 and 40 cents an hour. They are required to work at least 40 hours a week, farming cotton, corn, soybeans, or wheat, which the prison sells. Some tend to the prison's 1,500-head herd of cattle, which are also sold for profit.

Inmates who refuse to work or fail to meet quotas can be punished with solitary confinement. They are often overseen by armed guards on horseback and work long hours in extreme heat, with little or no water provided. Some inmates have reported seeing their fellow workers pass out from the heat, only to be beaten by guards for throwing their tools in the air in protest.

The prison's agricultural goods wind up in the supply chains of many popular food brands, including McDonald's, Walmart, and Cargill. While critics argue that inmates should be paid fairly and treated humanely, prison officials maintain that the work programs provide inmates with valuable skills and help reduce recidivism.

The practice of forced labor in prisons is legal in the United States due to a loophole in the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery but made an exception for those convicted of crimes. However, this clause is currently being challenged at the federal level, and efforts are being made to remove similar language from state constitutions.

Inmates have no choice but to work, and punishments for not doing so can be severe

Inmates at Angola Prison have no choice but to work, and the punishments for not doing so can be severe. Inmates are forced to work in the prison's fields for little or no pay, enduring cruel, degrading, and dangerous conditions. If they refuse to work or fail to meet quotas, they can be sent to solitary confinement or punished in other ways, as outlined in the prison's disciplinary guidelines.

The conditions of prison labour at Angola are known to be particularly brutal, with multiple alleged cases of prisoner maltreatment and torture. In the 1930s, 31 prisoners slit their Achilles tendons to protest the brutal working conditions. More recently, inmates have been using allegations of slavery as their primary method of resistance, with the support of social justice organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union. These organizations have challenged Angola Prison on allegations of forced labour, denial of healthcare, and forcing inmates to live in unsanitary conditions.

The prison's response to inmates refusing to work was described by one former inmate as follows:

> They’d come, maybe four in the truck, shields over their face, billy clubs, and they’d beat you right there in the field. They beat you, handcuff you and beat you again.

In addition to physical violence, inmates who refuse to work can also be punished with solitary confinement, which has been described as "a dungeon crawling with rats, where dinner was served in stinking buckets splashed onto the floors."

The use of forced labour in Angola Prison is legal due to a loophole in the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which banned slavery except as punishment for a crime. However, this clause is currently being challenged on the federal level, and efforts are being made to remove similar language from state constitutions.

While most critics argue that not all work should be eliminated, they emphasize the importance of fair pay, humane treatment, and voluntary participation in prison labour.

The prison is self-sufficient and inmates process and consume the goods they produce

The Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola, is a self-sufficient prison farm. It was designed to be as self-sufficient as possible, functioning as a miniature community with a canning factory, a dairy, a mail system, a small ranch, repair shops, and a sugar mill.

Angola is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States, with 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff. It is located on 28 square miles of land that was once the Angola Plantations, a slave plantation owned by slave trader Isaac Franklin. The prison is set between oxbow lakes on the east side of a bend in the Mississippi River.

The prison raises food staples and cash crops, including cabbage, corn, cotton, strawberries, okra, onions, peppers, soybeans, squash, tomatoes, and wheat. It also has a herd of 2,000 cattle, which are sold at markets for beef. Each year, the prison produces four million pounds of vegetable crops.

Inmates are required to work at least 40 hours a week and are paid between two and twenty cents an hour. They cultivate, harvest, and process various crops, as well as breed and train horses used for field work. In addition to agricultural work, inmates also have jobs in the prison's mattress/broom/mop shop, printing shop, and tractor repair shop, among others.

The self-sufficiency of the prison was intended to reduce costs for taxpayers and improve the public image of politicians such as Governor Huey P. Long. However, the working conditions and wages of inmates have raised concerns among advocates.

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