As temperatures rise, judge orders Louisiana to help protect prisoners working in fields

Authors: MARGIE MASON and ROBIN McDOWELL

Amid scorching summer temperatures, a federal judge ordered Louisiana to take steps to protect the health and safety of imprisoned workers toiling in the fields of a former slave plantation, saying they faced “significant risk of injury or death.” The state immediately appealed the decision.

U.S. District Court Judge Brian Jackson issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday, giving the state Department of Corrections seven days to submit a plan to improve conditions at the so-called Farm Line at Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola. The sprawling prison occupies land that was once a plantation.

Jackson called on the state to correct deficiencies, including inadequate shade and breaks at work and failures to provide workers with sunscreen and other basic safety measures, including medical screenings for those most vulnerable to high temperatures. But the judge stopped short of shutting down the production line entirely when heat indices reached 88 degrees Fahrenheit (31.1 degrees Celsius) or higher, as the plaintiffs had requested.

The order comes amid growing national attention to prison labor, a practice rooted in slavery that has grown over decades into a multibillion-dollar industry. A two-year Associated Press investigation linked some of the world’s largest and most notorious companies — from Cargill to Walmart to Burger King — to Angola and other prison farms where imprisoned workers are paid pennies an hour or nothing at all.

Men incarcerated in Angola filed a class action lawsuit last year alleging cruel and unusual punishment and forced labor in prison fields. They said they used hoes and shovels or stooped to harvest crops by hand in dangerously high temperatures while armed guards watched. If they refused to work or failed to meet quotas, they could be sent to solitary confinement or face other punishments, according to disciplinary guidelines.

As temperatures continue to rise across the state, “coping with the heat in Louisiana has become a matter of life and death,” Jackson wrote in his 78-page ruling. “Conditions at Farm Line ‘pose a substantial risk of injury or death.’”

Lydia Wright of The Promise of Justice Initiative, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, praised the decision.

“The farm line has been causing physical and psychological harm for generations,” she told the AP, adding that it was the first time a court had ruled the practice cruel and unusual punishment. “It’s an incredible moment for those incarcerated and their families.”

Ken Pastorick, a spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, said the department “strongly disagrees” with the court’s overall decision and has filed a notice of appeal with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“We are still reviewing the ruling in its entirety and reserve the right to comment on it in more detail at a later date,” he said.

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