Angola has been ordered to improve conditions for inmates who are required to work on the farm line. Louisiana Middle District Court Federal Judge Brian Jackson told the prison to quickly correct what he called “glaring deficiencies of their heat-related policies.”
“The decision is a validation of everything we’ve been arguing about how unsafe and inhumane the conditions at the Louisiana State Penitentiary are for people who are working on the farm line,” said Promise of Justice Initiative Legal Director Colin Reingold.
The ruling stopped short of granting a request to stop the farm line entirely, but Reingold said the state has been given a seven-day deadline to submit proposed remedies due to the inhumane conditions.
“There’s no shade, they don’t have adequate water, they can’t take breaks, and the prison doesn’t take into account adequately medical conditions people might have that could make being outside in those conditions extremely dangerous,” said Reingold.
The ruling comes after eight incarcerated men requested a preliminary injunction and a temporary restraining order to stop the farm line when the heat index reaches or exceeds 88 degrees. Reingold said a trial date is scheduled for September 30th.
“We’re asking not only for these protections to be put in place but for the punitive use of the farm line to end,” said Reingold.
Reingold said as many as 50 inmates work on the farm line at one time and the farm line is separate from other agriculture work programs at the penitentiary.
The State Department of Corrections says the work conducted on the farm line is in accordance with constitutional and industrial standards and they plan to appeal the ruling to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
