A Feb. 23 article by The Advocate reports:
Prisoner rights advocates with the Louisiana Stop Solitary Coalition are slamming the department for failing to treat inmates humanely.
"Having
served 44 plus years in solitary confinement, I am fully aware of the
brutality of solitary. Hunger strikes are brutal, so I know from
personal experience how desperate these men must be to resort to this,"
said Albert Woodfox, who was released from Angola in 2016 after spending
decades in solitary.
--Read the full article here.
(A press release that the Jamal Journal received supporting the hunger strikers is reprinted below in full.)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: February 24, 2021
CONTACT: mpwray@topdrawerstrategies.com; 225-395-9961
Amid Angola Hunger Strike Corrections Officials Admit Wrongdoing, Ongoing Misuse of Solitary Confinement
Community Leaders, Legal Experts Call for Action
Baton Rouge, La. - As reported by The Lens Tuesday, prisoners at
the Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola) are on hunger strike after
prison officials engaged in a pattern of segregating incarcerated
people in solitary confinement longer than the disciplinary sanctions
matrix allow, sometimes for months longer than is allowed under the
guidelines. The Lens reported that the Department of Corrections
openly confirmed, on the record, that it was utilizing confinement
beyond the sanctions matrix timelines, a violation of the
department's own policies on administering solitary confinement. |
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