A federal judge has ordered that the dozen or so violent juvenile offenders housed at the State Penitentiary at Angola must be removed by September 15th. In her ruling, Judge Shelly Dick said the facility screams prison and the youth are not getting rehabilitation they need.
“It’s the former death row, it’s where Louisiana used to put people that were going to execute for heinous crimes, it’s not place for a kid,” said lead plaintiffs’ attorney David Utter.
The state created the Bridge City Center for Youth at Angola last summer after several violent episodes at other youth facilities. This is only a temporary set up, until a new facility opens at Monroe this fall. Utter says Judge Dick agreed with them that housing youths at Angola will only hardened them.
“For almost 10 months, kids have had their constitutional rights violated and there’s no question they’ve been harmed,” said Utter.
Utter says at last report the state was housing 15 juvenile offenders at the former Death Row facility at Angola. Utter says the state broke several promises when it came to how they would be treated. He says they have evidence that some kids were in solitary confinement for 23 hours.
“The state promised there would be a rich educational environment and that special ed services would be provided not happening, the state promised there would be treatment and therapy provided to kids and that didn’t happen,” said Utter.
Here is the statement from the state Office of Juvenile Justice:
See below for a statement from Office of Juvenile Justice Deputy Sec. Curtis Nelson Jr.:
“Last year, after a series of high-profile and violent incidents at OJJ facilities, the office of Juvenile Justice temporarily repurposed a facility on the grounds of Louisiana State Penitentiary as a transitional treatment facility for high-risk youth. The decision was not made lightly but with inadequate space at existing OJJ facilities, immediate action was necessary to protect the youth, staff, and surrounding communities. OJJ has taken extraordinary measures to ensure the temporary West Feliciana Facility complies with state and federal law requiring the youth to continue receiving education classes, have suitable living conditions, and be completely separated from any adult inmates. The West Feliciana Facility has allowed us to keep community members, staff, and youth in our care safe, but the plan has always been to close the temporary facility as soon as possible and move the high-risk youth upon completion of the new Swanson secure care facility, which is scheduled to open later this year. While we disagree with the court’s ruling today and will be seeking an emergency writ, we will continue to explore every option available to us that ensures the safety of staff, community members, and youth in our care.”
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