|
|
| La. shuts youth prison after allegations |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 05/31/2004 |
|
The allegations began soon after the prison opened for business: teenage inmates beaten by officers, beating each other, running loose on the rooftops of the barracks-like dorms. Ten years later, Louisiana is shutting down its toughest juvenile prison, a move that child welfare advocates see as an admission of failure. The closing comes after years of investigations -- by the U.S. Justice Department, human rights advocates and others -- called the lockup a place of chaos and brutality. Advocates said the adult-style prison -- with individual cells inside cell blocks behind fences and razor wire -- created an atmosphere unlikely to rehabilitate the teens. They said the teens were more likely to commit far worse crimes when they got out. The Tallulah prison was part of Louisiana's brief experiment with privately run juvenile lockups. Its clusters of beige metal buildings were built in 1994, with a capacity for 620 inmates. It was used for Louisiana's hard-core juveniles, convicted of homicide, assault, rape and other serious offenses. The prison, situated in this town of 8,000 in Louisiana's impoverished Delta region, was first run by a management company with no experience in juvenile prisons. Within months, riots and allegations of abuse forced the state to take on-and-off control. In 1997, the Justice Department found widespread abuse of inmates by guards had left teens with gashes and broken bones. Federal investigators reported a year later that teens were beating and raping fellow inmates. In response, the state fired hundreds of officers, took over the prison and introduced reforms, including a reduction in the number of prisoners and a process for teens to report violence anonymously. Through last year, state corrections officials repeatedly said the prison had improved and should remain open. The prison's end was foreshadowed in 2002, when a Juvenile Court judge cited "grave concerns" for prisoners' physical and mental health and demanded the transfer out of all Tallulah prisoners he had sentenced. Tallulah will be turned into the type of facility it was modeled after: a prison for adults. |
MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
|
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think