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| C. Paul Phelps Correctional Center Closing |
| By americanpress.com |
| Published: 09/20/2012 |
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DeQuincy, Louisiana -- The administration of Gov. Bobby Jindal proved once again last week how heartless it can be. The late-Friday afternoon announcement that the C. Paul Phelps Correctional Center in DeQuincy would be closed by November was a kick in the gut to the 269 employees who work there, their families and the citizens of DeQuincy and Southwest Louisiana. Typical of the Jindal administration, it let someone else take the heat for its decision that caught virtually everyone in this corner of the state by surprise. And Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc made it sound like it is no big deal. “We’ll gradually move over the next couple of months and hopefully by November we’ll have it empty,” LeBlanc said. “We’re prepared to move as quickly as we need to move.” What’s the rush? Can’t they give those stunned employees at least the rest of this fiscal year to make plans for their futures? Shutting Phelps down before June 30 next year is only going to save the state $2.6 million. That’s peanuts for an administration that spends untold millions to bring new industries to Louisiana. Phelps is an industry in DeQuincy, one of only two major ones in that area. Isn’t it just as important to save an industry as it is to bring new ones in? In fact, the state hasn’t done much for DeQuincy in a long time. Kenny Naquin, a 26-year employee, said, “Anybody that wants to go to work, they go to work out at Phelps. There’s Temple-Inland and there’s Phelps.” Robert Henderson, the warden at Phelps, said nearly 100 workers will be transferred to other state correctional centers. However, how many of those will be able to pull up stakes and move elsewhere when they have homes and other obligations in the DeQuincy area? Even LeBlanc admitted he doesn’t know if Phelps employees will want to transfer to other facilities. Pity the poor inmates housed in the 942-bed facility. Most of them will have to serve the rest of their time at the state penitentiary at Angola. The state said it will keep them away from offenders serving life sentences, but Angola is probably the last place they should be housed. And they are going to lose out on training programs designed to help them make it on the outside. The closure of Phelps proves once again that state legislators don’t really count for much in the eyes of the Jindal administration. Most lawmakers in this area were caught unaware of the sudden shutdown of the center. And there really isn’t much they can do about it anyway. They only get to approve the privatization of prisons, not their closings. Read More. |
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