Comments on: The Quick 10: 10 Reasons You Don’t Want to Go to Angola Prison

By: Daniel

Daniel — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:49:25 +0000

Though I’m glad for the effort, several statements are incorrect.

1. The inmates that cut their achilles did so in the early 30s not the 50s.

2. Inmates were leased as early as the 1840s when they were mostly White and housed in the “Fortress” in Baton Rouge.

3. After the Civil War they were then moved into an agricultural setting to offset the lost free Black labor in Louisiana.

4. About 80% of inmates are serving life sentences.

5. The electric chair’s name is “Old Sparky.”

6. The two left of the Angola 3 were only moved out of solitary temporarily.

7. The wolves are more for intimidation than anything else. They are bread with attack dogs to make a breed unique to Angola.

By: Jay

Jay — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 02:49:35 +0000

This is the model all prison should follow, don’t feel a bit bad for them.

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:20:41 +0000

Very well written, Stacy !!! And, an interesting subject. I felt compelled to read the whole article after your first sentance. I live in Illinois, and I haven’t played Monopoly in probably 20 years; But when Mayor Nagin made the statement informing potential looters of their impending doom of being shipped “directly to Angola Prison”, a little voice inside my head said “do not pass go, do not collect $200″. LOL !!!!!!! :)

By: luke

luke — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 20:58:30 +0000

#1 should read: It’s a prison, dummy.

By: Chad Cloman

Chad Cloman — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:58:08 +0000

The Angola prison hosts a rodeo, several times each year. The prisoners are the competitors.

angolarodeo dot com

By: Anthea

Anthea — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:24:45 +0000

Great post! Fascinating subject…

By: BPO

BPO — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:48:52 +0000

yikes, remind me not to go there. sounds like a bit of a rough place.

good post!

By: ames

ames — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:32:41 +0000

I went to high school in Baton Rouge. While a sophmore (1989!) we were taken on a field trip to Angola. Our tour was very brief and was mostly a lecture from the warden and an inmate. Although brief, it was enough to send me on the right path.

By: nutmeag

nutmeag — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:30:44 +0000

Wow, I never expected to know anyone in this article . . . luckily not one of the inmates! Sr. Helen Prejean came to my university to give a talk and answer questions on her writings and her time with Angola prisoners. I was amazed at her heart and tenaciousness. She’s a lovely woman.

By: alice

alice — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:48:32 +0000

One interesting thing that’s rarely mentioned is the toll an environment such as this takes on the guards, not just the inmates. My boyfriend works as a detention officer at a prison farm (albeit a lower-security, non-violent offense farm) and he is constantly stressed by the responsibilities of his job. He is never more stressed as when he has to take inmates out to do community service. He has to watch for a number of things, sometimes all by himself: that no one escapes, that no one gets hurt, that he isn’t overtaken by the prisoners, that the prisoners are doing their assigned duties, that people on the street don’t provoke the inmates…the list goes on. He is constantly on-call in case another guard gets hurt.
I’m sure some of the practices at Angola are taken to unnecessary extremes, but these guards are in danger every single minute they are on duty.