Angola Prison: The Death Row Question

The Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola, is a maximum-security prison farm in Louisiana. It is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States, with 6,300 prisoners, including death row inmates. Angola houses male death row prisoners and is the location of the state execution chamber for women and men.

Angola has a long and complex history, having been a slave plantation before becoming a prison. The prison has faced scrutiny over the years due to its harsh conditions, and it was once described as the worst prison in America by Collier's Magazine in 1952.

In recent years, Angola has been in the news due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19 within the prison and the potential impact on the health of inmates. There have also been reports of staff misconduct, including the smuggling of items and inappropriate relationships with prisoners.

Angola remains a notable and controversial fixture in the American prison system, with a unique history and ongoing challenges.

Angola Prison's death row conditions and treatment of inmates

The Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola, is a maximum-security prison farm in Louisiana. It is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States, with 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff. Angola is located on the site of a former slave plantation and is named after the country of Angola, from which many enslaved people originated before arriving in Louisiana.

Death Row Conditions

Death row inmates at Angola are held in solitary confinement for the duration of their incarceration, even if their appeals take years. This means they are confined to their windowless cells for 23 hours per day. They are permitted one hour per day to shower and move up and down the halls under escort, and they are allowed to use the exercise yard three times a week. Death row inmates can have several books at a time and are allowed one five-minute personal phone call per month. They do not have access to education or work programs and are patrolled nightly by officers as a suicide prevention tactic.

In 2013, three prisoners filed a federal lawsuit against the prison, alleging that the death row facility did not have adequate measures to prevent overheating. In 2019, after a six-year court battle, a settlement was reached between the death row inmates and the prison. The settlement agreement included daily showers of at least 15 minutes, individual ice containers, individual fans, water faucets in cells, "IcyBreeze" units, and the diversion of cool air from the guard pod into the cells.

Treatment of Inmates

In March 2017, three death row inmates at Angola filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the prison, charging that its solitary confinement policy constituted "cruel and unusual punishment" under the 8th Amendment to the US Constitution. The lawsuit described the basic conditions on death row as sparse cells that were hot in summer, with little natural light and very little religion.

The lawsuit was settled in October 2021, with the inmates on death row 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 per week, the ability to worship together, evening time out of their cells, at least one meal with other prisoners per day, and group classes and contact visitations.

In 2021, a federal judge found that the Louisiana State Penitentiary violated the Americans with Disabilities Act in its treatment of inmates requiring rehabilitative services.

Angola Prison's history and previous uses

The Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola, is a maximum-security prison in Louisiana. It is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States, with 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff. The prison is located in West Feliciana Parish, in a remote region of Louisiana, and is named after the country of Angola, from which many of the enslaved people who once occupied the territory originated.

The land that the prison now occupies was originally an 8,000-acre plantation before the American Civil War, known as the Angola Plantations, and was owned by Isaac Franklin, who co-owned the largest slave-trading firm in the US at the time. The plantation was named after the country of Angola, from which many enslaved people originated before arriving in Louisiana.

In 1880, the state awarded the lease of the Louisiana State Penitentiary and all its convicts to a former Confederate Army officer, Samuel L. James. James purchased several plantations across Louisiana, including the Angola Plantation. Inmates were housed in the old slave quarters and worked on his plantations. The majority of Black inmates, however, were subleased to landowners as replacement for emancipated slaves. They were also leased to businesses to build levees, dig tunnels, build roads, reclaim lowlands, and harvest crops. White inmates were given clerical and craftsmanship work as they were seen as more intellectual.

Under this private prison system, profit was the main concern, and humane treatment of prisoners was ignored. In many instances, inmates suffered worse abuse under the convict lease arrangements than under the now-abolished slavery system. As a result, a constitutional ban on convict leasing was successfully adopted in 1898. The State of Louisiana purchased the prison camp from the James family in 1900 and assumed operational control in 1901. Thus, state control of Angola prison began.

Throughout the following decades, Angola State Prison faced numerous problems due to its geography and administration. The penitentiary was bounded by the Mississippi River on three sides, and in 1902, 1912, and 1922, floods destroyed the crops, a key source of funding for the penitentiary's operating costs. During the Great Depression, the prison facilities fell into disrepair after its budget was severely cut. Conditions became so bad that, in 1952, 31 inmates cut their Achilles tendons in protest of the prison's conditions. They were referred to as the Heel String Gang, and this incident caused national news agencies to write exposé stories about Angola.

In the 1960s, Angola once again fell on hard times and was nicknamed "the bloodiest prison in the South" due to the high rate of inmate assaults. The penitentiary underwent major renovations, improvements in medical care, and other upgrades. By the 1990s, the prison was accredited by the American Correctional Association.

Louisiana State Penitentiary's notable death row inmates

The Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola, houses male death row prisoners. Notable death row inmates include:

• Michael Ray Graham Jr. and Albert Ronnie Burrell: Exonerated from death row in 2001 after serious prosecutorial misconduct and the testimony of a jailhouse snitch led to their wrongful convictions.
• Damon Thibodeaux: Freed from death row in 2012 after 15 years when new DNA evidence was tested.
• Rodricus Crawford: Exonerated from death row in 2017 amid evidence of racial discrimination, prosecutorial overcharging, and innocence.
• Elvis Brooks: Freed after 42 years on death row in 2019. Brooks was arrested at 19, and his capital murder trial lasted less than a day with no physical evidence linking him to the murder.
• Curtis Kyles: Convicted and sentenced to death in 1984. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed his conviction in 1995, citing prosecutorial misconduct. He was retried three times, but each jury deadlocked. After Kyles' fifth trial, prosecutors dropped the charges, and he was released in 1998.
• John Thompson: Convicted of robbery and murder, spending 14 years on death row before being exonerated in 2003.
• Dalton Prejean: Executed in 1990 by the electric chair for a crime he committed at age 17. Prejean was convicted by an all-white jury and had brain damage, with an IQ of 71.
• Willie Francis: Survived a botched execution by electric chair in 1946 at age 17. After his appeal was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court, he was returned to the electric chair and executed in 1947.

While not a death row inmate, it is worth noting that Wilbert Rideau, a former Louisiana death-sentenced prisoner, was honoured in 2024 for his extraordinary journalism while incarcerated at Angola State Penitentiary.

Louisiana State Penitentiary's death row procedures and controversies

The Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola, is a maximum-security male prison in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. It is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States, with 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff. The death row for men and the state execution chamber for women are located at the Angola facility.

Procedures

Death row inmates at Angola are held in solitary confinement during their entire incarceration, even if appeals take years. This means they are confined to their windowless cells for 23 hours per day. They are allowed one hour per day to shower and move up and down the halls under escort. They can use the exercise yard thrice a week and have unlimited visitor access. Officers patrol the death row corridors nightly as a suicide prevention tactic.

Controversies

In 2021, a federal judge found that Angola violated the Americans with Disabilities Act in treating inmates requiring rehabilitative services. The same year, a settlement was reached between death row inmates and the prison, allowing inmates 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, and evening time out of their cells.

In 2013, three prisoners filed a federal lawsuit against the prison, alleging that the death row facility did not have adequate measures to prevent overheating. In 2014, a federal magistrate ruled that the Louisiana Department of Safety and Corrections must reveal the details of the state's lethal injection protocol.

In 2015, a Louisiana federal judge delayed five executions following struggles by state officials to determine how to conduct executions using lethal injection. In 2016, executions were delayed again until 2018, challenging the constitutionality of Louisiana's lethal injection process.

In 2019, seven members of staff at the facility were arrested for rape, smuggling items to inmates, and maintaining personal relationships with prisoners.

Notable Cases

• In 1946, 17-year-old Willie Francis survived a botched execution by electric chair. After his appeal failed in the U.S. Supreme Court, he was returned to the electric chair in 1947 and executed.
• In 1990, Dalton Prejean was executed in Louisiana by the electric chair for a crime he committed at age 17. Prejean was convicted by an all-white jury and had brain damage, with an IQ of 71.
• In 2001, Michael Ray Graham Jr. and Albert Ronnie Burrell were exonerated from death row after serious prosecutorial misconduct and the testimony of a jailhouse snitch led to their wrongful convictions.
• In 2012, Damon Thibodeaux was freed from death row after 15 years when new DNA evidence was tested.
• In 2017, Rodricus Crawford was exonerated from death row amid evidence of racial discrimination, prosecutorial overcharging, and his innocence.
• In 2019, Elvis Brooks was freed after 42 years on death row. Brooks was arrested at 19, and his capital murder trial lasted less than one day with no physical evidence linking him to the murder.
• In 2023, the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Parole set aside all 56 clemency applications filed by nearly every death-sentenced prisoner, citing claims of severe mental illness, racial injustice, intellectual disability, and prosecutorial misconduct, among others.

Louisiana State Penitentiary's death row population and statistics

The Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola, is a maximum-security prison farm in Louisiana. It is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States, with 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff. The prison is located in West Feliciana Parish, between oxbow lakes on the Mississippi River.

Angola is the state's execution chamber for both men and women. As of 2010, 1.6% of the prison's population had been sentenced to death. In 2019, a class-action lawsuit was filed by three death row inmates, alleging that the prison's solitary confinement policy constituted "cruel and unusual punishment". The lawsuit was settled in 2021, with inmates on death row being granted more time out of their cells, communal outdoor recreation, the ability to worship together, and contact visitations.

As of 2011, the prison had an annual budget of over $120 million and employed around 1,600 people.

Since 1976, 28 people have been executed by the state of Louisiana, with 20 executed by electrocution and 8 by lethal injection.

Frequently asked questions