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Federal court hears argument to stop farm work at Angola prison in Louisiana in high heat
By Da'Shawn JohnsonBonnie Bolden,
2024-06-19
BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — A federal judge heard arguments on a motion to stop using the Farm Line at Louisiana State Penitentiary, commonly called Angola, during the high summer heat in Louisiana.
Federal Judge Brian Jackson took up the request for an emergency order at the Russell Long Federal Building and Courthouse, 777 Florida St., Baton Rouge. The hearing started at 2 p.m. Afterward, a news conference took place with The Promise of Justice Initiative, Rights Behind Bars and Voice of the Experienced.
In May, VOTE and eight men currently imprisoned in Angola asked the federal court for an emergency order to stop outdoor farm work once temperatures exceed 88 degrees Fahrenheit.
“It is hard to overstate how life-threatening the combination of forced labor, high heat, and Angola’s woefully inadequate medical care are for those locked inside,” said Oren Nimni, Litigation Director at Rights Behind Bars, in a news release . “Inaction in the face of these conditions is unacceptable. Angola should have ended the Farm Line long ago.”
The groups argue that the Farm Line is meant to be punitive, not help rehabilitate the men and that it violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. In a federal lawsuit first filed in September , the plaintiffs argue the work detail, especially during extreme heat, violates prisoners’ Eighth Amendment right to protection against cruelty.
Specifically, they said the work assignment has been active since 1893, and they consider it modern slavery.
Lydia Wright, the PJI associate director of civil litigation, said workers only get paid up to two cents per hour. She said they made the same pay in the 1950s. If injured, their copay costs $3, which equals 150 worked hours. If, for example, they pass out in the field and require EMT care on-site, the copay is $6.
Defendants in the case include Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections James LeBlanc; Warden Timothy Hooper; Director of Prison Enterprises Misty Stagg; the Louisiana Department Of Public Safety and Corrections; and Prison Enterprises.
The state argues that the attempt to halt Farm Line work is overbroad and surpasses the constitutional rights of the prisoners. They argue that the agricultural industry doesn’t meet the standard the suit wants the state to meet. Additionally, the state said some claims made in the suit are not true.
In a response filed in Louisiana Middle District Court, the defendants said the state has policies to keep workers healthy, including:
Reassessing the temperature every 2 hours.
Issuing a heat alert when it is hotter than 88 degrees.
Giving breaks for rest and water every 30 minutes when a heat alert is active.
According to the state, there would be huge financial repercussions if the Farm Line were to cease working when it’s too hot out because it harvests food for the inmates to eat.
“A ruling prohibiting any inmate from working on the Farm Line if the heat index exceeds 88 degrees would effectively open the flood gates to cease any and all work in any institution across the South. Given that according to Dr. (Susi) Vassallo, over 32 million people a year work outdoors, it is an absurd result to cease any and all outdoor operations,” lawyers for the state argued in court filings.
The plaintiffs also argued in their suit that people convicted by non-unanimous juries could not be forced into Farm Line work because it violated their 13th Amendment rights. Jackson ruled on June 5 that asking the court to determine those sentences were valid but saying a unanimous jury didn’t duly convict them was a “paradoxical conclusion.”
He said other claims in the suit remain viable and will be addressed.
A court date has been set for Monday, Sept. 30.
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