Donna’s Law, which allows people to ban themselves from gun ownership, has proven one of the few areas of gun policy where Republicans and Democrats can agree. But it has made little headway in Louisiana, home of the bill’s namesake.
A year ago, when Jackson Parish opened its new, unlicensed juvenile jail, kids complained of extended stints of solitary confinement, along with extensive abuse and violations. A DCFS inspection supported those claims, but the agency gave the jail a license anyway.
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.
Supposedly, the Civil War dismantled the politics that pitted “slave states” against “free states.” And yet the effect of the punishment-exception clause in the Thirteenth Amendment was to not only sanction the preservation of slavery and involuntary servitude, but also to extend it nationwide.
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.
Though the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals differed with some of the district court’s July 2 decision, the higher court agreed that Angola Farm Line workers deserve water, rest, and equipment to protect from heat
