Federal Judge Upholds Infamously Brutal Farm Labor at Angola Prison

A federal judge rejected a request to end Angola Prison’s practice of forcing predominantly Black incarcerated groups to perform grueling farm labor tied to the prison’s former slave plantation history. Angola is known for brutal conditions, including long hours of hand vegetable picking used as discipline. Civil rights groups argue the practice is cruel and symbolic of slavery persisting in modern prisons. Since a 2023 lawsuit, court orders required steps to protect incarcerated laborers from dehydration and heat-related injury during temperatures often above 100 degrees. Plaintiffs reported frequent medical emergencies, including heat stroke. The judge issued a 60-page ruling stating he could not require lasting changes because a higher-court decision in a separate case limited the scope of relief.

"Commonly known as Angola, named after a plantation which itself was named after the homeland of the enslaved people who labored there in the 19 th century, the prison and its farm are infamous for their brutal conditions. The prison has long forced incarcerated people to spend long hours picking vegetables by hand as a disciplinary measure that civil rights groups argue is cruel. With its "farm line" of predominately Black men laboring under the hot sun and white gaze of gun-toting guards on horseback, the Angola prison farm has long served as a potent symbol of slavery living on in modern prison systems."

"Ever since current and former prisoners filed a lawsuit against the prison farm in 2023, the court has issued multiple orders requiring that prison officials take steps to protect incarcerated laborers from dehydration and injury from picking crops in temperatures that regularly exceed 100 degrees. Medical emergencies in the fields of Angola are common during summer, with incarcerated workers suffering from heat stroke and other serious harms, according to the plaintiffs."

"However, District Court Judge Brian A. Jackson wrote in his 60-page ruling that he was constrained from forcing the Louisiana State Penitentiary to make lasting changes to its infamous farm due to a recent decision by a higher court in a separate case over alleged medical neglect at the prison."

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