Man in dark blue uniform, mask, holds cart full of boxes. Woman in blue T-shirt, shorts in background.

Desperate Louisiana Prisoners Say Wardens, Staff Not Following Coronavirus Rules

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The last will and testament came in an email, one most likely monitored by the state. It came from a prisoner, incarcerated for decades at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, better known as Angola. He composed and sent it shortly after the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association and the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections (DOC) opened a shuttered camp previously notorious for being a site of solitary confinement and violence.

Angola: The entrance to the Louisiana State Penitentiary - The placard says "Louisiana State Penitentiary" and "Warden Burl Cain"

‘The World Has Turned a Blind Eye on What’s Happening to Prisoners’

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I've seen far too many times how crisis and death unite people, but that unity and common thread that binds all people together is often very short lived, even in a place like Angola. Ranking officials, like Major Bellamy, says "Its us against them," during roll call. Of course other security, who perhaps take offense to that statement, always share their anger, frustration, and anxiety. But when the Coronavirus hit Angola, especially here in Ash dormitory, things began to change very quickly. The usual communication between security and the offender population changed instantly.

Durham: 2 tall young men and a short middle-aged women stand together in front of a brick building.

North Carolina’s Raise the Age Law Highlights How Schools Handle Discipline

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“We don’t know how many students are casualties of a racist system, in which they are punished for being in their bodies, for being brown and black kids, and we’ve got to do something,” said Fatimah Salleh, mother of two former students at Durham School of the Arts (DSA) in Durham, N.C. “If we are not really aggressive about it, then it will be the way America has always deemed it to be.”

homeless: Person in jean jacket climbing stairs; tray of filled brown bags on landing

New York Homeless Youth Feel Lonely, Stuck, Isolated

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First he lost his job as a shift manager at McDonald’s. Then the movie theater, the bowling alley, all the places he spent time in began to close.

clemency: Vector illustration of a man in jail

New York Case Underscores Coronavirus Urgency Around Clemency

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As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases inside New York prisons continues to rise, the Legal Aid Society of New York recently announced 20 emergency clemency applications for inmates with medical conditions that put them at high risk for complications from the virus.

coronavirus: Brick building with police vehicles parked near it.

Riot at NY Juvenile Facility Stemmed From Coronavirus-related Move, Sources Say

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Nearly 50 New York Police Department officers were called to help put down a violent, bloody riot that broke out at Crossroads Juvenile Center Sunday night when youth in detention managed to break out of their cells, access a supply room, turn mops into weapons and beat several guards, one so badly they needed stitches.