U.S. Prisons: Angola Louisiana State Correctional Facility - Essay Sample

Introduction

The United States has numerous correctional facilities aimed at reducing crime levels and rehabilitating the bad vices in societies. The facilities are affected by multiple challenges or may have, in turn, resulted in some form of unwanted traits in society. This might be the oppression of the inmates by violating their rights for the prison handlers gain (Arnold, 2016). We will use the Angola Louisiana State Correctional facility as a case study for the prisons in the United States and the globe at large. The Angola prison history will tell us a lot about the events that take place in penitentiaries.

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History of Louisiana State Penitentiary

Louisiana state penitentiary was first established in the year 1835, and it was located in Baton Rouge. It had received a nickname called "The walls." To after there are only little remains standing, and that is Warden's House (Carleton, 1984).

Nine years down the line, a more convenient penitentiary system was sought to be established since "The Walls" did not succeed in being self-sufficient. Therefore in 1844, the Louisiana State decided to lease the prison to Mchatton-Pratt and company. The expected leasing duration was to be 56 years, but the Civil war shortly disrupted it. The prisoners under the leased prison were forcibly made to work under the harsh conditions of the new prison ownership. The prisoners in "The Walls" were responsible for maintaining the grounds and manufacturing clothes and shoes for the prisoners in the factories.

Later in 1862, the prisoners were forced to evacuate "The Walls" due to the American Civil War, whereby a musket ball was thrown in the penitentiary yard. They later returned in 1866 after the war ended. After four years, Confederate Major Samuel James has leased the penitentiary due to the public's fading confidence in its transparency. But he ignored accountability and transparency, and therefore many black inmates were semi leased to landlords to replace slavery while the others continued construction works.

In 1880 he purchased Angola plantation and took with him a small portion of male and female prisoners to work for him. This resulted in the James Prison Camp. The prisoners underwent harsh conditions to the point of death and therefore was strongly criticized by New Orleans' Prison Reform Association. The advocacy led to the constitutional ban of the lease on convicts and thus the end of James lease in 1898.

The state of Louisiana gained control of the Penitentiary through purchasing from James' family in the year 1900, and thus inmates' conditions improved. In 1916 "The Walls "was sold to Baton Rouge city. A successful mass escape of the inmates in 1935 during world war 2 led to the creation of The Red Hat for the prisoners considered to be more dangerous. In 1940 execution through electric chair was introduced.

In 1955 Angola's main prison complex was formed by the state and new rehabilitative programs introduced. The prison was decentralized in 1976 to include Dixon, Elayn Hunt, and Louisiana women's corrections institute up to today.

The Current Population and Trends or Statistics of The Louisiana State Prison

The Penitentiary has a current population of about six thousand prisoners. The prison gives an average of about 90 years; therefore, more than 85% of the inmates serving at the jail will not make it to get out alive as this seems a life sentence to them. The prison has occupied a space of about over 18000 acres or twenty-eight square miles of land. This makes it the largest maximum-security prison in Louisiana and the United States at large. The penitentiary has imprisoned said to have imprisoned most of its citizens than any other state in the whole of the United States. The prison adopted its name from the eight-thousand-acre farm that was owned by Isaac Franklin, who has nicknamed Angola that was the original habitation of his slaves.

The prison has six main camps which are fenced. The main field hosts about 2500 inmates while the rest of the camps have the remaining numbers. The inmates live in dormitories, which are large and open, and in each of the rooms, there are 80 inmates with no air-conditioning. The six camps are protected by the prison wardens, security, and the support staff who are popular among the inmates.

The inmates still undergo harsh treatments like those of the later days on slaves, as said by one observer. The inmates work just like the regular business system of 8 hours a day and five days for the week. The plantation that they work consists of crops such as vegetables and grains, such as soybeans. Also, cattle farming is being practiced. They work traditionally with hand tools-the business arm of the prison markets the harvests.

The inmates receive a peanut salary of two cents for each hour, but the wages are a subject of increment to about four cents per hour for the highly skilled or highly experienced workers, they can earn up to a tune of one dollar an hour. The inmate's salary or wages are not spared in their medical bills, toiletries such as soaps, necessities such as phone calls, and extra food as we all know the little feed they are given there (Quigley, 2017).

Over one thousand personalities have got jobs as guards where some live with their families at the prison's staff houses. Angola's penitentiary bad vices such as brutality, violence, and racism still exists up to today. The prison lacks meaningful reform that can run Louisiana State Penitentiary in a way that it can observe human rights.

The Structure of the Prison System

Area and Surrounding

The prison occupies an area of 18,000 acres, an equivalent of 7,300 hectares of land. The structure resembles more of a large working plantation than of the most of the prisons found in the United States (Archambeault, & Deis, 1996). At some point, it is patrolled by officers on horseback since most of the prison land is devoted to the cultivation of crops. Most of the primary roads of the prisons have been paved. The properties of the Louisiana Prison are enclosed by the Tunica Hills and by a permanent river known as the Mississippi River. The prison's property perimeter, however, is not fenced in contrast to the prisoners' dormitory and recreational facility camps, which are fenced (Chang, 2012). The prison buildings are mostly painted yellow and trimmed with red color.

Inmate Quarters

For the Inmate quarters, the prisoners reside in dormitories in contrast to cell blocks to foster good relationships and cooperation among their peers. The housing units have been scattered across the grounds of the Angola land. Approximately 30% of the beds are meant for inmates under maximum security (Sawyer, 2018). Air conditioning, together with heating units, have been installed in the housing units of the inmates.

Main Prison Complex

Louisiana state penitentiary has the main prison complex consisting of both East Yard and the West Yard. The East Yard comprises sixteen minimum, and average dormitories meant for prisoners under custody, and one extensive custody extends the lockdown cellblock; the cellblock hosts long-serving extended-lockdown prisoners, prisoners who have been transited in by the administration, inmates who need mental health attention, and protective-custody inmates. The West Yard consists of sixteen minimum and average-sized custody dormitories for the inmates, two segregation cellblocks meant for administration purposes, and the penitentiary center for treatment.

The treatment center also hosts geriatric, hospice, and in-transit prisoners who are ill. The main prison complex hosts approximately 50% of the total inmates. The dormitories inside the main penitentiary are 8 in number, namely the Ash, Cypress, Hickory, Magnolia, Oak, Pine, Spruce, and Walnut dormitories. The cell blocks include A, B, C, and D. The main prison also hosts the local Main Penitentiary administrative building, the prison gymnasium, a kitchen or dining facility, the Angola Vocational School, and the Justice Henry Politiz Educational building.

Out Camps Architecture

The prison consists of several out camps, namely Camp C, which has eight minimum and average dormitories for custody, a single cellblock consisting of administrative segregation and inmates of the working cellblock, and a lockdown cellblock singly extended. The Camp consists of dormitories named Bear and Wolf and cellblocks named Jaguar and Tiger. The next Camp, which is D, has similar features as that of C except for a single cellblock for working instead of an extended cellblock for lockdown, and the other cellblock does not consist of any working inmates. The Camp hosts the dormitories named Eagle and Falcon and cellblocks named Hawk and Raven. Another Camp is J, which comprises four lockdown cellblocks, which are extended, and it contains inmates with problems of discipline and a single dormitory with minimum and average custody prisoners. They offer housekeeping roles for the Camp. Camp J houses cellblocks named the Alligator, Barracuda, Gar, and Shark.

The neighboring Camp to J, which is F, consists of four custody dormitories, which are minimum and one dormitory nicknamed "Dog Pen," which is a house to 11 minimum custody prisoners. All of the inmates hosted in Camp F are entrusted to mop the floors, deliver food to the fellow prisoners, and do other essential support tasks. The Camp also houses the prison's execution chamber. The Camp consists of a lake where the entrusted prisoners fish. The Closed Cell Restricted (CCR) unit, which is a unit for isolation positioned closer to the Angola main entrance, has a hundred and one isolation cells and forty inmate trustee beds.

Reception Center and Death Row

The Reception Center, which is the nearest prison house-building of the main entrance, do act as the reception point for the arriving or new prisoners. It is positioned on the right side of the main highway, inside the main gate. Also, it has the death row for the male prisoners in Louisiana, with a hundred and one extended lockdown cells hosting the condemned prisoners. The death row structure has a centrally positioned room and several tiers. The entrance to each tier has a door which is locked and color photographs of the inmates who are in each tier.

Death row consists of eight tiers, which are lettered A to G. Seven tiers include fifteen cells each, while a single tier has eleven cells. Each hallway consists of a cell that is used for showering. The death row harbors exercise areas with posts for basketball. The death row facility has no air conditioning or crosses ventilation. Also, it has one minimum dormitory for custody, with inmates responsible for the housekeeping of the facility.

The B-Line Architecture

The prison consists of a combination of houses given the name "B-Line, which acts as a housing for the prison staff members and their family members; prisoners do services for the members of the staff and their families. The employee housing consists of recreational centers, pools, and parks. Residents inside the prison grounds are zoned to primary schools named West Feliciana Parish (Caldwell, 1955). Others are the Bains Lower and the Bains Elementary School in Bains. Secondary schools include West Feliciana Middle and the West Feliciana High School in Bains location.

Fire Station Facility

The fire station has the prisons' Emergency Medical Services Department staff that provides fire and emergency services to the prison. The department is equipped with a single-engine, single tanker, and a single rescue truck. The department protects five hundred buildings, staff, and inmates' residence quarters being one of them.

Religious Sites

The penitentiary has a monument referred to as Epistle to the Philippians, which reflects the h...