In July, a new state law put all Louisiana pretrial juvenile detention centers under the umbrella of the state Office of Juvenile Justice. Soon after, the agency filed an ‘emergency order’ approving the use of ‘chemical agents’ in those facilities.
A federal judge ordered the DOC to improve conditions for workers forced to in Angola’s fields. The crews now have sunscreen and a 10x10 popup tent for shade.
The north Louisiana prison was using solitary confinement as a “depository for the mentally ill,” judge had ruled.
Thousands more will likely lose benefits starting this fall, due to a new Louisiana law that bars state officials from doing what they’ve done for over 25 years – asking for waivers of federal work requirements in parishes with high unemployment.
For decades, Angola has forced prisoners to work in fields in extreme heat. Today, they’re urging a federal judge to halt the practice — prisoners have filed a motion as part of a proposed class-action lawsuit to end the practice of forced agricultural labor at the prison
Last year, the firm began raking in big money for legal services related to a DOJ investigation into patterns of misconduct by the Louisiana State Police.
‘State dollars attached to each juvenile’ would allow sheriffs to build more local juvenile-detention centers, then get paid to keep kids who are placed in state custody. Is the state paying to keep kids closer to home or incentivizing people to put kids in jail?
In Louisiana, one of the nation’s most impoverished states, recipients could easily lose food stamps through the work-requirement red tape, advocates say. The sponsoring legislator says that “work provides lasting value we can give back to our families, our community, and God.”
