Louisiana ordered to remove teens from ‘intolerable’ conditions at state prison

Children, some as young as 15, incarcerated at notorious Angola prison, which has reputation for brutality and violence

Louisiana has until Friday to remove children from its notorious state penitentiary at Angola after a federal judge found they were being held in “intolerable” conditions that included prolonged solitary confinement, punishment with mace and handcuffs, and inadequate education and mental health care.

The ruling brings to a climax a year-long battle between civil rights groups and the state of Louisiana, which has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. Angola prison, named after the African country from which enslaved people were forcibly brought to work on the plantation where the penitentiary is located, has a reputation for penal brutality and violence.