LOUISIANA INCARCERATED HOW WE BUILT THE WORLD’S CAPITAL

LOUISIANA IS THE WORLD’S PRISON CAPITAL. THE STATE IMPRISONS MORE OF ITS PEOPLE, PER HEAD, THAN ANY OF ITS U.S. COUNTERPARTS. FIRST AMONG AMERICANS ME ANS FIRST IN THE WORLD. LOUISIANA’S INCARCERATION RATE IS NEARLY FIVE TIMES IRAN’S, 13 TIMES CHINA’S AND 20 TIMES GERMANY’S. THE HIDDEN ENGINE BEHIND THE STATE’S WELL-OILED PRISON MACHINE IS COLD, HARD CASH.

1

SHERIFFS AND POLITICIANS HAVE FINANCIAL INCENTIVES TO KEEP PEOPLE LOCKED UP MAY 13, 2012

By Cindy Chang prison population has doubled, cost- Sta! writer ing taxpayers billions while New ouisiana is the world’s prison Orleans continues to lead the nation in capital. The state imprisons more homicides. of its people, per head, than any of its U.S. counterparts. First time, nearly double the national aver- among Americans means first age. Among black men from New in the world. Louisiana’s incar- in seven is either in prison, on parole or on probation. rates in Louisiana times Germany’s. are relatively high, but that does not LThe hidden engine behind the state’s begin to explain the state’s No. 1 rank- well-oiled prison machine is cold, hard ing, year after year, in the percentage of cash. A majority of Louisiana inmates residents it locks up. In Louisiana, a two-time car burglar - of drug convictions can be enough to try will go bankrupt. land you at the Louisiana State Peniten- Several homegrown private pris- tiary at Angola for the rest of your life. on companies command a slice of the Almost every state lets judges decide market. But in a uniquely Louisiana when to mete out the severest punish- twist, most prison entrepreneurs are ment and when a sympathetic defen- rural sheriffs, who hold tremendous dant should have a chance at freedom sway in remote parishes like Madison, down the road. In Louisiana, murderers Avoyelles, East Carroll and Concor- automatically receive life without parole dia. A good portion of Louisiana law on the guilty votes of as few as 10 of 12 enforcement is financed with dollars jurors. legally skimmed off the top of prison The lobbying muscle of the sheriffs, operations. buttressed by a tough-on-crime elec- If the inmate count dips, sheriffs torate, keeps these harsh sentencing bleed money. Their constituents lose jobs. The prison lobby ensures this does “Something has to be done — it just not happen by thwarting nearly every has to be done — about the long sen- reform that could result in fewer people tences,” said Angola Warden . behind bars. “Some people you can let out of here Meanwhile, inmates subsist in bare- that won’t hurt you and can be produc- bones conditions with few programs tive citizens, and we know the ones who to give them a better shot at becom- can’t.” ing productive citizens. Each inmate is Every dollar spent on is a dol- lar not spent on schools, hospitals and sheriffs trade them like horses, unload- highways. Other states are strategically ing a few extras on a colleague who has reducing their prison populations — openings. A prison system that leased using tactics known in policy circles as its convicts as plantation labor in the “smart on crime.” Compared with the national average, Louisiana has a much In the past two decades, Louisiana’s CONTINUED

1

— CONTINUED — lower percentage of people incar- cerated for violent offenses and a much higher percentage behind bars for drug offenses — per- haps a signal that some nonvio- lent criminals could be dealt with differently. inmates need to be incarcerated for the interests of and public safety to be served? Gov. Bobby Jindal, a conserva- tive Republican with presidential ambitions, says the answer is no. Despite locking up more people for longer periods than any other state, Louisiana has one of the highest rates of both violent and property . Yet the state shows few signs of weaning itself off its prison dependence. “You have people who are so invested in maintaining the pres- ent system — not just the sher- iffs, but judges, prosecutors, oth- er people who have links to it,” said Burk Foster, a former pro- fessor at the University of Loui- siana-Lafayette and an expert on Louisiana prisons. “They don’t want to see the prison system get smaller or the number of people in custody reduced, even though the crime rate is down, because the good old boys are all linked together in the punishment net- work, which is good for them Keeping the beds full In the early 1990s, when the incarceration rate was half what it is now, Louisiana was at a crossroads. Under a federal court order to reduce overcrowd- ing, the state had two choices: Lock up fewer people or build more prisons. It achieved the latter, not with new state prisons — there was no money for that — but by encour- laws in line with those of other and commutation — and get rid aging sheriffs to foot the con- states or by putting minor offend- of people who shouldn’t be here,” struction bills in return for future ers in alternative programs. The said Richard Crane, former gen- profits. The financial incentives new sheriffs’ beds were ready eral counsel for the Louisiana were so sweet, and the correc- and waiting. Overcrowding Department of Corrections. tions jobs so sought after, that became a thing of the past, even Today, wardens make daily new prisons sprouted up all over as the inmate population multi- rounds of calls to other sheriffs’ rural Louisiana. plied rapidly. The national prison popula- “If the sheriffs hadn’t built their beds. Urban areas such as tion was expanding at a rapid those extra spaces, we’d either and Baton Rouge clip. Louisiana’s grew even faster. have to go to the Legislature and have an excess of sentenced crim- There was no need to rein in the say,’ Give us more money,’ or inals, while prisons in remote growth by keeping sentencing we’d have to reduce the sentenc- es, make it easier to get parole CONTINUED 1

— CONTINUED —

parishes must import inmates charges such as drug pos- to survive. session, burglary or writing The more empty beds, the bad checks. State prisons are more an operation sinks into reserved for the worst of the the red. With maximum occu- worst. pancy and a thrifty touch with Yet it is the murderers, rap - expenses, a sheriff can divert ists and other long-termers - who learn trades like weld- - ing, auto mechanics, air-condi- ties with new squad cars, guns tioning repair and plumbing. and laptops. Inmates spend Angola’s Bible college offers - the only chance for Louisiana mitories with nothing to do and inmates to earn an undergrad- few educational opportunities uate degree. before being released into soci- Such opportunities are not available to the 52 percent Fred Schoonover, deputy serving their time in local pris- warden of the 522-bed Ten- ons. In a cruel irony, those sas Parish Center who could benefit most are in northeast Louisiana, says unable to better themselves, he does not view inmates as a while men who will die in pris- “commodity.” But he acknowl- edges that the prison’s busi- ness model is built on head Louisiana specializes in counts. Like other wardens in incarceration on the cheap, this part of the state, he wheels allocating by far the least mon- and deals to maintain his tal- ey per inmate of any state. ly of human beings. His boss, - Tensas Parish Sheriff Rickey eral times lower than what Jones, relies on him to keep Angola and other state-run the numbers up. prisons spend — even before “We struggle. I stay on the the sheriff takes his share. All phone a lot, calling all over the local wardens can offer is GED state, trying to hustle a few,” classes and perhaps an inmate- Schoonover said. led support group such as Some sheriffs, and even a Alcoholics Anonymous. Their few small towns, lease their facilities are cramped and air- prison rights to private com- less compared with the spa- panies. LaSalle Corrections, cious grounds of state prisons, based in Ruston, plays a role in where inmates walk along out- housing one of seven Louisiana door breezeways and stay busy . LCS Corrections with jobs or classes. Services, another homegrown - company, runs three Louisiana prisons and is a major donor about half of the state’s ex-con- to political campaigns, includ- victs end up behind bars again. ing those of urban sheriffs Gregory Barber has seen who supply rural prisons with the contrast between state inmates. Incarceration on the cheap began a four-year sentence Ask anyone who has done for burglary at the state-run time in Louisiana whether Phelps Correctional Center — he or she would rather be in a stroke of luck for someone a state-run prison or a local with a relatively short sentence sheriff-run prison. The answer on a nonviolent charge who is invariably state prison. might easily have ended up in a Inmates in local prisons are sheriff ’s custody. typically serving sentences of With only six months to go, 10 years or less on nonviolent the New Orleans native was 1

— CONTINUED —

transferred to Richwood Correc- the very institutions that could up in a drug sweep than, say, an tional Center, a LaSalle-run pris- help young people stay out of Uptown college student with a on near Monroe. He had hoped trouble, giving rise to a vicious sideline marijuana business. to end his time in a work-release cycle. Louisiana spends about With so many people lost to program to up his chances of get- either prison or violence, fray- ting a good job. But the 11th- secure and provide medical care ing neighborhoods enter a down- hour transfer rendered him ineli- ward spiral. As the incarceration gible. At Phelps, he took a weld- rate climbs, more children grow ing class. Now, he whiles away - up with fathers, brothers, grand- the hours lying in his bunk for er run by sheriffs or private fathers and uncles in prison, put- lack of anything better to do. The companies. ting them at increased risk of only relief from the monotony is “Clearly, the more that Louisi- repeating the cycle themselves. an occasional substance-abuse ana invests in large-scale incarcer- ‘Don’t feel no pity’ rehab meeting. ation, the less money is available Angola is home to scores of old “In DOC camps, you’d go to for everything from preschools men who cannot get out of bed, the yard every day, go to work,” to community policing that could let alone commit a crime. Some- said Barber, 50, of state-run pris- help to reduce the prison popula- one who made a terrible mis- ons. “Here, you just lay down, tion,” said Marc Mauer, execu- take in his youth and has trans- or go to meetings. It makes time tive director of The Sentencing formed himself after decades in pass a little slower.” Project, a national criminal justice prison has little to no chance at Downward spiral reform group. “You almost institu- freedom. While Louisiana tops the pris- tionalize the high rate of incarcer- Louisiana has a higher percent- on rankings, it consistently vies ation, and it’s even harder to get age of inmates serving life with- with Mississippi — the state with out of that situation.” out parole than any other state. the second-highest incarceration Louisiana’s prison epidemic Its justice system is unstintingly rate — for the worst schools, the disproportionately affects neigh- tough on petty offenders as well most poverty, the highest infant borhoods already devastated by as violent criminals. In more than mortality. One in three Louisi- crime and poverty. In some parts four years in office, Jindal has of New Orleans, a stint behind only pardoned one inmate. grade level. The vast majority bars is a rite of passage for young “Louisiana don’t feel no pity. did not complete high school. The men. I feel like everybody deserves - About 5,000 black men from a second chance,” said Preston ing is all too tempting when the New Orleans are doing state Russell, a Lower 9th Ward native alternative is a low-wage, dead- who received life without parole end job. white men from the city. Because for a string of burglaries and a More money spent on locking police concentrate resources on crack charge. “I feel like dudes up an ever-growing number of high-crime areas, minor law- get all this education ... under prisoners means less money for breakers there are more likely to be stopped and frisked or caught CONTINUED

1

— CONTINUED —

Political will Friday. years. You don’t think that’s Tough fiscal times have Measures like those in , enough time to let a man back spurred many states to reduce which target a subset of nonvio- out and give him another chance their prison populations. In lock- lent offenders, are frequently at life?” ’em-up Texas, new legislation is lauded but may not be enough. An inmate at - Angola costs the cant dent in the state an average num- bers, sentences A young lifer will for violent crimes r a c k u p m o r e must be reduced and more money taxpayer-fund- must be invested ed expenses if he in inner-city com- reaches the Lou- munities, accord- isiana male life i n g t o D a v i d expectancy of 72. Cole, a profes- sor at George- good health. But as town Law School. he gets older, treat- Such large-scale ing his age-relat- change — which ed ailments will h a s n o t b e e n be expensive. The attempted in any state spends about state, let alone L o u i s i a n a — caring for between can only happen through political inmates. will. In Louisiana, year at Angola, that will has been Russell breaks practically non- steering low-level criminals into into tears recounting how he existent. Locking up as many drug treatment and other alter- rebelled against the grandmother people as possible for as long as natives to prison. who raised him, leaving home as possible has enriched a few while In Louisiana, even baby steps soon as he could. First he smoked making everyone else poorer. have typically been met with weed, weed became crack, then Public safety comes second to resistance. Jindal, who rose to he was selling drugs and burglar- the ’s office with the izing stores in between jobs in “You cannot build your way backing of the sheriff’s lobby, construction or shipping. out of it. Very simply, you can- says too many people are behind The last time he stole, Orleans not build your way out of crime,” bars but has not always thrown Parish prosecutors tagged him said Secretary of Corrections his political weight behind that as a multiple offender and sought Jimmy LeBlanc, who supports message. This year, he support- the maximum — the same sen- reducing the incarceration rate ed two relatively modest mea- tence given to murderers. In the and putting more resources into sures that had failed the previ- inmate rehabilitation. “It just ous year, providing a small ray life, he broke into Fat Harry’s doesn’t work that way. You can’t of hope for reformers when he afford it. Nobody can afford signed one of them into law on bar’s video poker machines. that.” 1

SOME RURAL PARISHES’ ECONOMIES HINGE ON KEEPING THEIR PRISONS FULL

BY Cindy Chang But a roster tells the story: In Department of Corrections, sher- Sta! writer - iffs wheel and deal among them- - selves for inmates. Cupp and RAYVILLE ton Parish, 59 from the Shreve- other rural north Louisiana war- W hen Warden Alan Cupp port area, a handful from New dens drum up business with dai- arrives at the Richland Parish Orleans. ly rounds of phone calls to their Some are local residents await- suppliers — urban areas such as a.m. on a Wednesday in late Sep- ing trial, but most have already New Orleans, Baton Rouge and tember, the inmates are already been sentenced to state time, Shreveport that produce more through with breakfast. criminals than their own jails Those with jobs on the out- day the state pays the Richland can hold. The mad scramble to side are being carted off in vans. Parish sheriff to house them. build prisons has become a mad Others are at work within the Anything left over is profit for scramble for inmates. prison’s cinder-block walls. The the sheriff. Other than a 1/2-cent Like hotels, prisons operat- rest are beginning another day of sales tax, the prison is the sher- ing on per-diem payments must idleness — watching soap operas, iff’s biggest revenue generator, stay near 100 percent occupancy hanging out, reading, sleeping. underwriting the purchase of to survive. The political pressure The men’s side, along with a new squad cars, shotguns and to keep beds full is a contributing women’s facility next door, is full bulletproof vests. factor to the state’s world-lead- “I hate to make money off the ing incarceration rate. No other told. Cupp’s “honey holes,” as back of some unfortunate per- state comes close to Louisiana’s son,” Sheriff Charles McDonald 52 percent rate of state inmates There is no need today to ring up said. “The fact is, somebody’s in local prisons, and few lobbies wardens in other parishes, ask- going to keep them, and it might in Louisiana are as powerful as ing, sometimes begging, if they as well be Richland Parish.” the sheriffs association. have a few extra to send over. More than a decade since a pris- What is good for the sheriff on-building boom swept the state, can be bad, even tragic, for the with dark hair, a goatee and mis- Louisiana’s corrections system is inmate. Local prisons, which gen- chievous brown eyes, is reluctant erally keep those with sentences to publicize his prime sources for Private companies got in on the of fewer than 10 years, are bare- inmates. There are scores of oth- - bones operations without the er Louisiana wardens who could ries have been local sheriffs, who array of educational and voca- move in on his pipelines, which use the per-diem payments from tional programs that are stan- he has carefully tended through - dard at state prisons. Inmates chummy relationships with col- ments and to pump jobs into mori- caught up in the wardens’ dai- leagues in urban areas that have bund rural economies. ly bartering can be transferred prisoners to spare. With little oversight from the arbitrarily, sometimes losing 1

— CONTINUED —

prison-building frenzy may who work at the prison. work-release job when they land have resulted in too many beds. “This is our lives right here, at another facility. Plumbers and Last year, the Richland Par- at work or at a ballpark,” says auto mechanics are valuable com- ish Detention Center lost more Cupp, who was appointed war- modities, given up by one warden - den of the men’s prison a decade as a favor to another. ees were laid off, and the count ago, when he was just 27. “It makes it hard to do has been healthy after a recent In Mangham, everyone is reforms that lower the pris- infusion of pretrial inmates from either kin or neighbor or class- on population, because you’re Livingston Parish. mate or co-worker — sometimes affecting the local economic In good years, the prison has all of the above. Monroe, with engines that they provide,” said its mega-mall and chain restau- James Austin, a national prison rants, is a half-hour drive away, expert who has studied Orleans “There’s no downside. They but Mangham remains its own Parish Prison extensively. “It keep them contained out there,” world. For the past decade and would be different if everyone said Mike Shoemaker, whose a half, that world has been inex- were in state facilities. It’s a lot printing business in Rayville, tricably bound with the prison, easier for the state to close a the parish seat, has many prison known as “15” because of its loca- state facility than for a state to employees as customers. Shoe- tion on an isolated stretch of Lou- close several small local facili- maker’s wife draws several hun- isiana Highway 15. ties that really provide econom- dred dollars in retirement each More than any other town in ic fuel at the local level.” month from her years as a guard Richland Parish, Mangham is the ‘An economic driver’ at the prison. locus of the local prison industry. Richland Parish, where green State Rep. Charles “Bubba” The key players — the sheriff, Chaney, R-Rayville, said he sup- the wardens, the former sheriff stretch for miles without inter- ports reforms that give low-risk who commissioned the prison — ruption, is a case study in the offenders a chance to succeed are from Mangham, as are many economic advantages and moral outside of prison, even if that prison employees. incongruities of a rural sheriff means fewer inmates for the Sheriff McDonald, a tall man - detention center. In the mean- of 57 with a doughy nose and tion enterprise. time, feeding and housing prison- crinkly blue eyes, stands on the Without the detention center, ers from other parts of the state sidelines watching the game as many locals would be working is too good a business opportu- his brother-in-law, Bob Archiba- offshore in the oil industry, away nity to pass up. ld, tells stories about the illiterate from their families. Deputies “You don’t want to earn a living farmers who once patronized the would be patrolling the country off the misfortunes of people who family store. roads without a full array of mod- are incarcerated, but somebody There are more people in the ern equipment. prison than in the town he grew The wholesome air of small “Having them in local rural par- up in, McDonald likes to inform towns like Mangham has ishes is an economic driver in our visitors. “It’s like running a undoubtedly been enriched by community.” town,” he says. “It has its own more fathers staying close to ‘Like running a town’ store, its own doctor, water, sew- home. But a business where pris- At a Mangham Junior High age. It’s like running a little town oners hide contraband in Bibles football game, Warden Cupp is out of it.” and fashion knives from tooth- in the announcer’s booth, calling Indeed, the 2010 census has brushes, and where wardens the game. His son Bryan is an Mangham’s population at 672, trade human beings like horses, offensive tackle on the seventh- is hardly ideal conversation for a grade team. Chris Flemming, the capacity. family dinner table. pint-sized quarterback, is the son At Mangham Town Hall, May- It is a Faustian bargain, but of Perry Flemming, the warden or Robert Neal Harwell supple- one that residents generally on the women’s side. ments his tiny staff with two pris- agree has been good for a region Mangham gets out to an ear- on trustees who perform mainte- where farmers went bankrupt ly lead. “Nobody’s gonna catch en masse after a drop in cotton him. First play from scrimmage, in case of a water-main break or prices. The sheriff’s 160 jobs — touchdown, Dragons!” Cupp other emergency. 100 of them at the prison — are crows into the microphone. “Everyone here works at the among the few that include a full During a break in the action, prison. Everyone I know works Cupp goes down the Mangham at the prison,” said Harwell, Lately, inmates have been roster and counts. Eight of the hard to come by. The statewide CONTINUED 1

— CONTINUED —

citing a daughter-in-law and a Now, more sheriff’s employees well-behaved schoolchildren. It cousin, among others. work in corrections than patrol the is 11 a.m., and they are on their ‘A lot of jobs for farmers’ rural highways. When McDonald way to lunch, or “second chow.” In addition to being a part-time started his career in the 1970s, the Lt. Dee Hutson, a small man pharmacist at Mangham Drugs, department owned three patrol with a jockey’s wizened face, calls Doug White is part-owner of the cars and three shotguns. Income out orders: “Close your jumper.” Richland Parish Detention Center. from the prison has allowed the “Take the long sleeves off.” “Fix The prison would never have Richland Parish Sheriff’s Office your collar.” been built without White and other - The men, mostly young and investors. In return, they take 25 plus and purchase “more equip- African-American, silently com- percent of the revenue each year. ment than we know what to do ply. “Sarge, when can I make a “The sheriff couldn’t pass a tax, with,” in McDonald’s words. Dep- phone call?” one asks. but everyone wanted to lock them uties no longer drive used cars The Salisbury steak and baked up and throw away the key,” White with 200,000 miles on them. potato is palatable enough, said. “We did a service for the com- “It was always a dream of Dad- though the portion looks meager munity and provided a lot of jobs dy’s, to bring something to Rich- against the large tray. It costs for farmers who went broke, and land Parish, to help the economy,” - for their wives. It was good for the said Mangham Police Chief Lennie parish and good for the state.” Graham, the former sheriff ’s son. a diet heavy on cheap staples like In the early 1990s, the state beans, rice and cornbread. prison system was under a federal an hour, but the jobs are in demand While the inmates are eating, court order to reduce overcrowd- because of the benefits, which Hutson and Cupp walk through ing. , who headed include a fully funded pension. the empty dormitory — open- the Department of Corrections There is always a stack of applica- ing lockers, examining items that at the time, saw the sheriffs as tions on the couch in McDonald’s look suspicious and yanking down the solution. By increasing the towels put up in front of beds to per diem and guaranteeing that many take on second jobs. Even obstruct the guards’ view. enough state inmates would come Eighty men share four toi- through their doors to keep prof- a year as warden, ducks out each lets, three urinals and two sinks, its up, he transformed them from afternoon to drive a school bus. sleeping double-bunked on thin adversaries into willing partners. “There’s no telling what I’d be plastic mattresses and watched A prison gold rush began. doing,” said Capt. Frank Dear, over by guards in a glass booth. In Richland, a poor parish even A prison runs like clockwork, before it began reeling from a program for the men’s prison and until it doesn’t. On the women’s drop in cotton prices, there was no used to work offshore. “I would side, Lt. Jessie Graham has a can hope of a publicly funded prison. not be at home. The jobs are not of pepper spray clipped to her Deliverance came in the form of belt. She uses it once or twice a two separate teams of investors, hour and support my family.” month. Everyone remembers the Charlie Smart, the prison’s time an inmate showed up at the businessman named Billy McCon- maintenance manager, farmed nurse’s station holding his own nell, who now runs the state’s big- 900 acres of cotton until the late 1990s, when prices plummeted. another inmate. White, the pharmacist. White and The other day, a work-release McConnell leased a former bar in he began working as a correc- inmate was caught trying to smug- the middle of nowhere, complet- gle contraband tobacco in a bever- ing the women’s prison in 1997 at to work at the prison, too. Smart, - 55, said he misses farming, but cated a makeshift tattoo machine investors and their successors he also has nightmares about it. made of a ballpoint pen, rubber act as landlords, paying for major He is grateful for the steady pay- bands and a motor from a cassette maintenance and collecting a cut check and the pension. player. Richland inmates are drug of the revenue as rent. “The only thing I have dreams dealers and thieves, not murder- McDonald, then the chief dep- about is that I got the crops just ers, but they are still criminals. uty under Sheriff Lorell Graham, planted, when everybody else “They’ve got nothing to do had doubts about embarking on had already plowed,” he said. but sit around and watch you — such a large and unfamiliar ven- ‘Not for the weak at heart’ everything you do, everything ture. But everyone else saw dollar The prisoners from G dorm you say, every move you make — signs. The prison started paying file into the hallway in orange to see what your strengths and off almost immediately, with nearly jumpsuits and sneakers, hands weaknesses are and use them clasped behind their backs like against you,” Cupp said of the 1

— CONTINUED —

inmates in his charge. “They’ll last year. The rest lounge around, “Nothing breaks your heart play sympathy, get on your good day after day, year after year, the more than a 55-year-old who side and try to get you to do monotony broken only by a daily says,’ Miss, I can’t read,’ “ things you’re not supposed to do. turn in the exercise yard. said White, whose students at This is not for the weak at heart.” “The rest of the time, I’m not Mangham High during the four The Department of Correc- going to sugarcoat it, we ain’t got decades she taught there includ- tions would not allow inmates as much stuff for them to do as at ed both Cupp and McDonald. to be interviewed. However, a Angola,” Cupp said. In October, Richland began few former Richland inmates, in The Department of Correc- offering a 100-hour re-entry cur- Mangham on a lunch break from tions saves a huge amount of riculum that is already standard their landscaping jobs, spoke money by housing inmates under at state prisons. Inmates who negatively of their experiences. these conditions. An inmate at were once released with nothing “They bird-feed you,” said Jer- the Angola state penitentiary - will get tips on money manage- plaining of the small rations. Kelly ment, job interviews and other spent three-and-a-half years at the State facilities house the sickest situations they will face back in detention center on a drug charge. and oldest, but DOC Secretary society. White is designing and As a trustee, he left the grounds Jimmy LeBlanc admits part of teaching the new program on top every day to cut grass and per- the differential is the lack of edu- of her GED responsibilities, so it form other odd jobs, but many cational offerings. will not carry a large price tag. other inmates stayed in the prison Angola inmates, most of whom With money tight, LeBlanc all day, he said. He described “tear will die behind bars, can acquire can do little more than encourage gas, Mace, fighting and rioting” - sheriffs to offer the re-entry pro- while “the sheriff acted like he ditioning repair and other trades. gram, which he hopes will even- knew nothing about it.” But inmates at local facilities, tually reach every local inmate. Prison meals are approved by serving sentences of just a few For McDonald, it’s a no-brainer: a dietitian, McDonald said. He years, have virtually no chance Implementing the classes puts him added that while fights do hap- to learn a skill that could improve in DOC’s good graces, helping to pen, nothing on the scale of a riot their job prospects. Of 15,000 has ever occurred at the Rich- prisoners released in Louisiana Soon, there will be a changing land Parish Detention Center. each year, 11,000 come out of of the guard at the Richland Par- “Any prison that has that many local prisons like Richland. ish Detention Center. McDonald inmates is going to have problems The education level among the is retiring later this year after at some point. I don’t think we’re Richland inmates is typical of the three terms. Cupp will not be out of line with anywhere else.” state prison system as a whole staying on when the new sheriff, ‘Miss, I can’t read’ — an average of seventh grade, Idleness is a fact of life at most with some as low as second grade. “I know it sounds crazy and local prisons. At Richland, about The GED class, held in the prison impersonal, moving humans one in three has a job either cafeteria each day, is akin to a around, but we’re stuck with this inside or outside the prison. A one-room schoolhouse, as teacher jail,” McDonald said. “We can’t few others are enrolled in a GED Phyllis White gears her lessons to walk away. We’ve got investors, class, with 21 passing the exam a wide range of levels. employees.”

2

IN LOCAL PRISONS, SOON-TO-BE-RELE ASED INMATES L ANGUISH WITHOUT JOB TRAINING. IT’S A SYSTEM DESIGNED TO MAKE PROFITS OFF OF PRISONERS MAY 14 2012

By Cindy Chang odds are you will be placed in a local Sta! writer -

JONESBORO prise where you are likely to languish lay McConnell is an unlikely in your bunk, day after day, year after scion for a prison empire. An year, bored out of your skull with little ordained minister, his curly chance to learn a trade or otherwise brown hair is fashionably rum- improve yourself. A coveted spot at a state prison like Angola, Hunt or Dixon speaking in front of a video cam- is a long shot for anyone not convicted era. His father, Billy, is the brains of a violent crime such as murder, rape behind LaSalle Corrections, the or armed robbery. one who expanded the family business Local prisons specialize in incarcera- Cfrom senior citizens to criminals. tion on the cheap. State prisons are built When a prison-building boom swept on huge acreage, offer an array of voca- north Louisiana in the 1990s, Billy tional classes and require able-bodied inmates to work. While the average construction ends. Then he thought, daily price tag for an inmate at a state why not run the prisons, too? He already ran nursing homes, and the bottom line was the same. His experience feeding dollars from that. and housing old folks could be applied to Yet these are the very inmates, con - keeping drug pushers and petty thieves victed of minor crimes such as drug behind bars. possession and writing bad checks, who “We realized that prisons are like will soon be back in society. While lif- nursing homes. You need occupancy to ers at Angola learn welding, plumbing be high. You have to treat people fairly and auto mechanics, 11,000 of the 15,000 and run a good ship, but run it like a people released from Louisiana prisons business, watch food costs, employee each year come out of local facilities and have had no such opportunities. Today, the McConnells are a major Louisiana locks up more people per force in Louisiana’s vast prison indus- try, playing a role in the incarceration of its adult citizens is behind bars. Of of one in seven prisoners. The family’s those Louisiana inmates, 52 percent fortunes have risen hand in hand with are housed in local prisons — by far the those of rural sheriffs who are the best- highest percentage in the country. known face of Louisiana Incarceration- The two statistics are inextricably for-Profit Inc. More than half of the linked. Prison operators, who depend on the world’s highest incarceration rate local prisons run by sheriffs or private to survive, are a hidden driver behind companies like LaSalle for the express the harsh sentencing laws that put so purpose of making a buck. many people away for long periods. Whether a sheriff uses the revenue to Then, there are the regime’s losers: the buy shotguns or whether LaSalle uses ex-convicts who have not received any it to build a gleaming new headquar- rehabilitation in local prisons and the ters, the result is the same. If you are sentenced to state time in Louisiana, CONTINUED

2

— CONTINUED —

innocent citizens who become and the last of the season’s dying trapdoor for hangings. Inmates their victims. leaves in a panorama of green, enjoyed plugging up the toilets This incarceration bonanza gray and red. Near Jonesboro, so the whole building, including evolved with the wholehearted the parish seat, a factory spews the sheriff’s office, would flood. encouragement of the Louisiana white clouds, infusing the air with Brown ran on the promise of a Department of Corrections as a a sickly sweet smell as cardboard new jail for local residents incar- cheap, ad hoc solution to over- boxes made from local lumber cerated while awaiting trial. crowding in the state prisons. take shape inside. The best way to finance the For as long as anyone can operation, Brown realized, was to a year to house inmates in local remember, north-central Loui- scale it up by also keeping pris- prisons. While rural sheriffs and siana has been timber country. oners from other parishes who private investors reap the ben- These days, it is also prison coun- try. Although Jackson Parish per diem. Could he raise enough are most acute in New Orleans came relatively late to the prison cash from his rural electorate to and other urban areas that pro- game, the correctional center build such a large prison, and did duce more criminals than they he want to branch out from law can house in their own local jails. local economy as the Smurfit- enforcement to feed, house and South Louisiana’s crime prob- Stone cardboard plant. secure hundreds of inmates from lems fuel north Louisiana’s incar- Inside, prisoners in black-and- tough urban areas? ceration industry. The dollars white striped jumpsuits nap on The sheriff decided to bring that might bunk beds. in Billy McConnell’s company, have been It is 9 a.m., LaSalle Corrections, which is s c r a p e d and break- based in nearby Ruston and runs togeth- f a s t w a s a dozen prisons in north Louisi- er to pay s e r v e d ana and Texas. LaSalle poured for inmate hours ago. rehabili- T h e r e warehouse-like structures a few tation go is noth- miles from Jonesboro’s quaint, instead to ing to do semi-abandoned downtown. upgrading a until lunch. The company owns and manag- rural sher- S o m e es the Jackson Parish Correction- iff’s vehicle watch tele- al Center, but it needs the sheriff vision in as much as the sheriff needs it: A n n u a l a c o r n e r Only government entities can of the dormitory, which houses receive inmates from the state. In return, Brown’s department gets cafeteria and daily yard time. At million for parishes with several some local prisons, inmates eat Brown now has a decent place prisons. in their dorms and only breathe to house his pretrial inmates. The “For the sheriffs, that became fresh air a few times a week. regular payments from LaSalle like heroin, that became a regular An orange uniform denotes certainly come in handy. But for source of income for them,” said trustee status — about 100 of him, the real cake is the jobs. Burk Foster, a former University these inmates mop floors and He made sure the prison’s 100- of Louisiana-Lafayette professor prepare food inside the prison. plus employees would be sher- and an expert on Louisiana pris- Another 100 leave the premis- iff ’s deputies with full govern- ons. “The way they save money is es each day for jobs in the free not because the sheriffs are more world as part of a work-release his workforce. LaSalle pays their efficient but because they have program. Two dorms are devoted salaries, while Brown has the fewer staff and almost no ser- to a Christian-themed substance- vices in terms of medical care or abuse program called Celebrate constituents are always asking psychological assistance or rehab Recovery. The rest of the 1,100 about openings. For a parish of or educational classes.” men, the lowly black-and-white ‘I get the patronage’ stripes, must figure out how to bed prison is an economic power- The drive down U.S. Route 167 amuse themselves. house. Last fall, Brown won re- to the Jackson Parish Correc- When Sheriff Andy Brown was election unopposed. tional Center on a cold, drizzly “There’s a lot of patronage December day is bleak and beau- here by hiring all these people. tiful. For mile upon mile, pine trees mingle with bare branches it retains a long-defunct hook and CONTINUED 2

— CONTINUED —

It’s good for a rural community,” “These places, you just housed. forward to when they get home.” Brown said. “We were able to It’s a warehouse. And then to be But for him, the distance from bring a facility to this community away from home,” said Dupleche, New Orleans is a good thing, pro- without using any tax dollars. We a round-faced man with a shaved viding him with distraction-free employ X number of people and head, clad in an orange trustee time to think about what went don’t spend any money, plus the jumpsuit. In nearly a year, he has wrong and how to do better. not had a visit from his aunt and Incarceration gold rush the patronage.” grandmother, who are too old Two decades ago, the last thing Far from home and sick to make the five-hour Louisiana sheriffs wanted was Among the inmates from New drive from New Orleans. In a more inmates. The state prison Orleans in Jackson Parish Cor- previous stint at Dixon Correc- system was under a federal court rectional Center on that chilly tional Institute, a state prison, order to reduce overcrowding, December day are Michael Hei- Dupleche learned the plaster- and there was no money for new ne, 26, serving five years for ing trade, landing a job at Stucco facilities. King when he returned home. At - transferred from a state pris- Jackson, he simply marks time. iffs, who were outraged at hav- on because of his skill in paint- Adams is more philosophical ing the problem foisted on them. about the distance. The Algiers Charles Foti, then the sher- native started his armed-robbery iff of Orleans Parish, famously charges. dumped a busload of inmates in a Since , Correctional Center. There, he state prison parking lot. Orleans Parish Prison has not learned how to paint cars. Richard Stalder, who took over had room for all the low-level After 12 years, Adams was the Department of Corrections in convicts sentenced at Tulane and transferred to a local prison in 1992, saw a solution. Sweeten the Concordia Parish, near the Mis- with sentences of fewer than 10 sissippi River. The reason? The and sheriffs would change their years ends up at a local prison in Concordia sheriff needed some- tune. Sure enough, an increased another parish. In Jefferson Par- one to paint his patrol vehicles. per diem payment and a guaran- ish, nearly all the convicted bur- Adams didn’t get along with a glars, swindlers and drug deal- lieutenant there, so off he went to enough to spark an incarceration ers are sent hundreds of miles a LaSalle-run prison, also in Con- gold rush. Sheriffs, seeing jobs from home to be fed on as little cordia. Since last June, he has for their constituents and new been at Jackson, where the staff equipment for their deputies, vol- Jackson gets about a quar- is making good use of his paint- unteered to build the new prisons ter of its inmates from the New ing skills. the state could not afford. The Orleans metro area, with more Adams chooses not to dwell on once-recalcitrant Foti expanded than 200 typically hailing from the series of transfers. The pri- his prison to more than 7,000 Jefferson Parish. LaSalle hous- vate prisons are less authoritar- beds. es many more south Louisiana ian than state facilities, he said, In rural, impoverished north natives at its other prisons, which and there is more trust between Louisiana, the deal was particu- form a swath roughly paralleling inmates and guards. His job larly alluring, not only for sher- Interstate 20 — Catahoula, Clai- allows him to spend most of his iffs but for private investors, who borne, LaSalle, Richwood, Lin- time outdoors. He doesn’t mind knocked on sheriffs’ doors, dan- coln, Concordia. In Richland Par- - ning to leave New Orleans and deals. Low, cinder-block build- stake in the prison but does not its troubled streets behind any- ings ringed with barbed wire manage it. way. When he is released in three sprouted along country highways Few Louisianians have heard years, he would like to open an across the state. of LaSalle Corrections, but its auto body shop in Natchez, where Some small-time investors reach is broad: A quarter of local he has family. merely fronted capital for con- prison inmates are incarcerated “You accept your surroundings. struction costs, collecting month- This is part of my sentence,” said ly rent while avoiding the head- Dupleche, a 9th Ward native, is Adams. “All I’m worried about is aches of running a prison. Bil- lucky to have a job in the prison caf- ly McConnell, with his nursing eteria. At least there is something Heine is similarly sanguine. home experience, plunged into to take his mind off the distance He wishes the prison offered the management side. Another from his family in New Orleans. more classes, which would be “a Louisiana company, LCS Correc- He applied for a geographic trans- lot more time off people’s hands fer but never heard back. and give them something to look with three prisons in Louisiana 2

— CONTINUED —

and three in Texas. Louisi- downplays the prof- ana’s indus- it motive. Sheriffs are try is mostly homegrown: saving taxpayers a lot of The national chains CCA money by incarcerating and GEO each operate a state prison but no local a day, Ranatza said. The prisons. association is in favor of A handful of tiny towns more inmate programs, have even gotten in on the but money is an issue. spoils. Richwood, a town “It’s not like just ware- housing. We are provid- ing a lot of programs for from LaSalle for the right to operate a 900-bed pris- “But as costs continue to rise, that’s what they’re leases its prison rights to faced with — you’re get- Lafayette-based Emer- ting a lot of them operat- ald Prison Enterprises ing right on the edge.” detention center accounts for half in exchange for an annual pay- the village’s annual revenue. Prison economics Michael Ranatza, executive So many prisons were built 700-some prisoners almost out- director of the influential Lou- number Epps residents, and the isiana Sheriffs’ Association, CONTINUED 2

— CONTINUED —

in the boom times of the 1990s contributions to north Louisi- inspections and are required to that sheriffs are having trouble ana state legislators. LCS and comply with the Department of keeping their beds full, in a busi- its owners have thrown much Correction’s Basic Jail Guide- ness where less than 100 percent more cash at politicians — about lines. Beyond that, they are so occupancy means going in the loosely regulated that even Sec- red. Now, instead of unloading Some of LCS’s donations are to retary of Corrections Jimmy inmates, sheriffs compete with urban sheriffs who have a surplus LeBlanc is having trouble getting each other for the catch of the day. of state-sentenced inmates and a handle on the daily transfers of They trade inmates as they please can choose where to send the over- inmates among facilities. — shipping some to a colleague According to a review of Sheriff Sid Gautreaux the maxi- inspection reports for the state’s who complains too much or asking 100-some local prisons, physi- around for a skilled mechanic. cal conditions are usually ade- As the cost of food, staffing quate, if basic. A major excep- and health care rises without a currently incarcerated throughout tion is Orleans Parish Prison, corresponding increase in the the state, while Gautreaux’s own an aging, understaffed facility per diem, some sheriffs are even where violence and substandard thinking about selling. Pat LeBlanc, one of LCS’s living conditions are endemic. “If you’re losing money, you have founders, ran unsuccessfully Following multiple lawsuits and to do something. If you have a busi- for Lafayette-area state rep- withering criticism from federal ness and it’s losing money, you’ve resentative before dying in a authorities, Sheriff Marlin Gus- got to get out of it,” said Caldwell man recently closed one building, Parish Sheriff Steve May. “Since Michael LeBlanc, continues as the House of Detention, which the economy got bad and the cost the chief executive. LCS has run housed over 600 inmates. of everything’s gone up, we haven’t into corruption allegations in Prisons dating from the 1990s been able to funnel money to the Texas, but a spokesman said the boom are new enough to still be department. It’s been just strictly Louisiana operations have not in good shape physically. Pris- to keep the prisons going.” had any issues. on officials, inmates and former A private company is more If worse comes to worst, the inmates say the main problem is adaptable than a law enforcement McConnells will get into the the lack of constructive activities, agency with a single prison enter- more lucrative business of hous- prise, and the McConnells are not ing federal and out-of-state boredom but leaves prisoners ill- worried. Their pipelines from the inmates, which they have already prepared to re-enter society when New Orleans metro area are so been doing to some extent. They they are released. Many sheriffs well-established that Jackson Par- are quick to seize on expansion say they would gladly offer more ish Warden Tim Ducote does not opportunities. programs, but they need more call Jefferson Parish. Rather, Jef- When Jindal floated a short- money from the state to do so. ferson calls him to announce that lived proposal to sell two state In part because of their religious a busload of inmates is ready to be prisons, LaSalle’s bid included bent, the McConnells are more shipped up north. the option of closing those facil- focused on rehabilitation than A drop in the incarceration rate ities and moving the inmates many local prison operators and could spell doom for both LaSalle to existing LaSalle properties. are willing to set aside a portion Corrections and the sheriffs. The The company is angling to open of their profits for that aim. The Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association a 1,000-bed facility in Arizona, relationship is sometimes sym- lobbies extensively on its mem- where the detention of illegal biotic: Offering the Blue Walters bers’ behalf and funds campaigns immigrants is a growth industry. substance-abuse rehab program, through a related political action Jindal’s new plan to privatize the as LaSalle does, fills beds with committee. Private prison com- state-run Avoyelles Correctional inmates even as it only consumes panies have the resources to be Center presents a golden oppor- 60 hours of their lengthy stays. major political donors themselves. tunity for experienced prison Clay McConnell may want to With strategically placed contri- operators like LaSalle. show his charges the right path, - Clay McConnell will not dis- but there is no disguising that lation as well as potentially steer cuss LaSalle’s balance sheets, these are bare-bones operations. inmates to their own prisons. but the family business exists to In the past decade, LaSalle make money. lowest that any state spends on and the McConnells have prisoners. Out of that, LaSalle - he said. must not only turn a profit but Money for rehabilitation divvy up the money with its pub- Bobby Jindal and numerous Local prisons undergo annual lic-sector partners. At Richwood 2

— CONTINUED —

Correctional Center, a row of money is like squeezing the pro- rehabilitation. classrooms is shuttered, awaiting verbial blood from a stone. Low- LeBlanc has also hinted that teachers and books. ering the incarceration rate would he might implement a centralized One of LeBlanc’s signature ini- free up some cash, but the politi- system for distributing inmates tiatives is the 100- cal winds do not among local prisons, ending the hour job and life seem to be blowing daily horse trading that goes on skills curriculum in that direction. below the radar. known as re-entry, LeBlanc, always In the past few months, which is offered to careful to praise - all inmates leav- the sheriffs as cials have begun to regulate the ing state prisons. important “part- locations of inmates from Orleans He said he hopes ners,” said he and Jefferson parishes. would like to see “You have to understand that, inmates serving a smaller prison politically, it has a lot to do with the their time in local population, with politics side,” LeBlanc said of the prisons will some- more resources sheriffs. “Economically, it means day go through the devoted to those a lot to their parish. They use that program, too. who remain behind bars. Under money for patrols. It helps their But at a time when budget cuts that scenario, sheriffs would parish and public safety to have have forced him to leave guard continue to house state prison- extra funds. You can’t knock them towers at the Angola state pen- ers, receiving higher payments for that, and that’s why we’ve got itentiary unmanned, finding in return for providing more to do it in partnership.”

IF THE NEW PRISON IS SMALLER, ORLEANS INMATES MAY SCATTER By Cindy Chang dollars after Hurricane Katrina Dana Kaplan, executive director Sta! writer destroyed much of the existing of the Juvenile Justice Project of If Orleans Parish Prison is facility. Louisiana, said the incarceration The previous sheriff, Charles rate will soon trend downward, Foti, ran an incarceration empire creating room in state prisons. extra inmates go? of about 7,000 beds, and Gusman “Programming space, recre- With changes in pretrial deten- ational and exercise space — all tion policies, some will likely be from state per diem payments. of those things just don’t exist at a awaiting their court dates at home But the most sprawling urban facility like OPP to the extent that instead of stuck behind bars. prison complex differs from its they do at a (state) facility,” Kaplan Advocates for a smaller jail also counterparts up north: It is hous- said. “Access to those programs is hope that the hundreds of convict- ing criminals sentenced in its own just really critical.” ed criminals serving time at OPP courthouse, not bringing in bus- Despite the atrocious conditions will be shipped to state prisons, loads from other parishes. in some parts of OPP, which is like- where they can receive job training Orleans could end up like Jef- ly to be slapped with a federal con- and other programs not available ferson Parish, which keeps very sent decree, there are advantag- at local prisons. few of its state-sentenced inmates. es to being closer to home. Some But the state system, already inmates say they would brave full to capacity, cannot absorb an Parish is already serving time in the rats, roaches and violence in influx from New Orleans. Any the custody of a sheriff or private return for proximity to their fami- company elsewhere in the state. A lies. Gusman is at the forefront of to rural sheriffs hundreds of miles smaller jail would almost certainly the Department of Corrections’ from home, where they will help increase that number. re-entry program to ease the finance law enforcement and Gusman contends that he needs transition back into society, with enrich private investors. Orleans more space to expand inmate pro- about 200 OPP inmates currently Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman enrolled. has been engaged in a long-run- beds will be enough to address the “We’re talking about people ning battle with criminal-justice parish’s needs. Small-jail advocates returning after short stays,” Gus- activists over the size of the new say the sheriff must get out of the prison being built with FEMA business of housing state inmates. not being sent to Timbuktu.”

3

IN ANGOL A, INMATES ARE TAUGHT LIFE SKILLS. THEN THEY SPEND THE REST OF THEIR LIVES BEHIND BARS MAY 15, 2012

By Cindy Chang he took from parked cars at Carnival Sta! writer parades or the Bayou Classic became

ANGOLA the guns he carried while selling drugs eople always said Johna Haynes and the guns he used to rob people. was lucky because of the white He was shot at many times and hair that sprouted from the watched others die, but he was never hit. crown of his head since he was Nor, he said, has he ever killed anyone. a baby. His dangerous lifestyle caught up to him He acquired the nickname in a different way — life without parole “Patch” from New Orleans police for pointing a gun at a man and making off with his car and valuables. Two pre- vious convictions, for stealing a car and Pinto a bald spot, the pale strands now for trying to escape from police custo- dispersed throughout his close-cropped dy, made Haynes a habitual offender. A dark hair, leaving him prematurely gray. young thug was off the streets for good. “And still lucky?” someone asked. Louisiana leads the nation in the per- He looked around incredulously at his centage of its citizens serving life with- surroundings — a late summer Sunday out parole, fueling the state’s world- afternoon in the Louisiana State Peni- leading incarceration rate. Angola is tentiary’s west yard, men playing bas- clogged with prisoners who will grow ketball and lifting weights, stray cats old and die there. Like Haynes, many sunning themselves on concrete ledg- arrived as young African-American men es, an idyllic scene if one ignored the from rough neighborhoods who wrote barbed wire fences in the distance. themselves a ticket to prison by embrac- ing the lawless ethos of their peers. Something — the white patch, divine Some criminal justice experts believe intervention or just plain luck — spared life without parole should be reserved Haynes from a violent death, the fate for heinous murders, solely as an alter- of his brother, stepfather, stepbrother, native to the death penalty. The U.S. cousin and innumerable friends. It did Supreme Court recently did away with not spare him from another well-trav- the sentence for juveniles who have not eled path out of the Florida projects — the winding, achingly bucolic bus ride to the state penitentiary commonly known robbery. as Angola, where his own father served Yet it may have been Angola, and a more than a decade and where Haynes life sentence, that saved Johna Haynes. is slated to spend the rest of his life Now, he wants a chance to show that he without the possibility of parole. has changed. Haynes estimates he stole at least 160 Slow transformation - A gun-toting menace does not trans- form overnight into a model inmate before he was locked up forever at the with a Bible in his back pocket. age of 21. When he worked at a Shon- Wilbert Rideau, the condemned ey’s restaurant in Metairie, he never murderer turned world-famous prison once took the bus — he always arrived in style on stolen wheels. The guns CONTINUED 3

— CONTINUED —

journalist who was freed from entertain the public at the famous is for the best, because had I not Angola in 2005, writes in his twice-yearly rodeo. straightened up I would most memoir that his own awakening A seventh-grade dropout, likely be as many of my friends came about gradually. Through Haynes completed his GED cer- who are deceased,” Haynes reading books, he discovered a - wrote in a letter. “It hurts me to world beyond the brutal, impov- ics. He began reading on his own, know that a lot of them lost their erished one he knew. partaking of the “locker library” lives before they even got to see Arriving at Angola in August run by literary-minded inmates life. But that pain has an element 2002, Haynes spent more than a who trade well-worn paperbacks of positivity to it because I use it - out of the metal chests that hold as fuel to power my dreams.” ing in a tiny cell among the worst all their earthly possessions. He Getting an education of the worst. Good behavior even- became a devout Christian. Angola is like a 9th Ward tually made him eligible for a spot As with Rideau a generation reunion. The man who used to in the main prison, with its dor- ago, it was not any one moment sleep in the bunk above Haynes mitory-style sleeping quarters, but an accumulation of small was a classmate from Carver vocational classes and inmate-led moments that made the armed Elementary. Haynes’ uncle is a clubs. Once considered the blood- robber into the bookworm. It took fellow inmate. More than a dozen iest prison in the country, Angola being in prison, completely cut off friends from the old neighbor- is now known for giving lifers, from his old ways, for Haynes to hood are now permanent com- who make up nearly three-quar- realize that the law of the jungle panions at “The Farm.” ters of its population, the chance — preying on the weak, selling At Haynes’ urging, his two to build meaningful lives behind drugs, getting killed over a few younger brothers moved to rural bars, even as they are unlikely to hundred dollars or a jacket — was north Louisiana after Hurri- taste freedom again. not the way most people lived. cane Katrina to escape the temp- Murderers and rapists have Haynes is now a sophomore tations of the street. Dwight embraced the prison’s whole- in the Angola Bible college, an Haynes made a new life for him- extension of the New Orleans self in Winnsboro. Cursing is banned for inmates Baptist Theological Seminary The other brother, June, went and staff alike. Violence is rare — the only bachelor’s program back to New Orleans and was in the minimum- and medium- open to prisoners, leading to a shot dead last February, at age security dormitories where most bachelor’s degree in Christian 21. Johna Haynes called the of the 5,100 inmates live. The men ministry. He hopes his four chil- killing “the worst thing that’s make wooden toys for needy chil- dren — a son, two daughters and happened to me since I’ve been dren, teach each other the piano a stepdaughter — will have the living.” or banjo, preach through self- future he did not. “There’s always periods in your run religious organizations and “The change I’ve undergone odyssey where you feel like,’ Man, 3

— CONTINUED —

I’m ready to leave would have remained this alone. I want to a thug at heart, ready be with my kids. I to resume terrorizing want to have a fam- innocent New Orleani- ily. I’m tired of look- ans, had he received a ing behind my back,’ shorter sentence at a “ Haynes said. “But prison that did not offer you just don’t have as many opportunities the education to get for self-improvement. a job that’s going to He is unexpectedly provide for you. That candid in acknowledg- I’m going to be a ing that he needed a CEO today? You can’t life sentence to appreci- say that. You can be ate the value of his life. But there needs to be a burger flipper or an out, he said, a way something like that.” to show that, after 10, In prison, Haynes is finally getting the bars, he is no longer a education that could threat to society. have led to a better Louisiana lifers job on the outside. used to get out on Heading to a tutori- parole after serving 10 al for an electrician years and six months. certification exam, The law was changed Haynes grabbed a car detailing and air-conditioning in 1979 to “life means book to supplement the Bible repair business. The flashcards life.” Since then, Angola has he always carries. “I need some- he keeps in his jeans pockets are been filling up with men who, thing to read if there’s any down covered with words he wants to barring a rare reprieve, will time,” he explained. His posses- remember: “verve,” “esplanade,” spend the rest of their lives sions, spread on his narrow bunk, “tetchy,” “detritus,” “paleontolo- there. The Pardon Board only could be cleaned up later. No one gist,” “saké.” intervenes in extraordinary would steal from him, he said, When he was running the cases, and even then, gover- since he has long ago established streets, he had no need for books. nors are reluctant to sign the his reputation as someone not to Now, his body trapped, the life of release papers, fearing a politi- be messed with. the mind beckons. Cicero, Khalil cally damaging relapse. Gibran, George Bernard Shaw “See, a lot of time when dudes pounds, Haynes has a broad face come to prison, if their sentence that breaks easily into a bemused Jonathan Edwards are a refuge is short, they can’t wait to go grin when recounting the absurdi- from the humiliating routines of home,” Haynes said. “You have ties of his former criminal lifestyle. prison life — stopping whatever to put the person in the situa- A tattoo of his mother’s name, you are doing to be counted three tion where it’s like cornering a Rachel, is visible above the neckline cat. You’re going to go into this of his prison-issue white T-shirt. and cornbread when you crave a corner, and the only way you’re “Janay,” for his oldest daughter, is going to come out is as a changed inked on his left arm, near a long scar where he was stabbed as a men at the height of Louisiana years, I don’t think I would have summer. Over the years, Haynes made this type of change.” has scrounged a few extra towels For Haynes and others like prison once, to receive treatment to stuff under his bedsheet, mak- him, change means scrapping a for a stomach ailment. ing the stiff plastic mattress a To stay abreast of new technol- touch more comfortable. ogy and avoid becoming a Rip “I saw the cherry blossoms McCoys. The code requires that Van Winkle if he is ever released, he kill anyone who disrespects he saves news clippings about escape,” he wrote of the Japanese him or his family. It allows, even Facebook and Twitter. He reads novel “The Makioka Sisters,” set expects, that he steal: “If I want - in pre-World War II Osaka. it and he got it, I’m ‘a get it’ (from ‘A more moral person’ CONTINUED his dream of running a mobile By Haynes’ own reckoning, he 3

— CONTINUED —

him),” in Haynes’ words. with Turk in the Calliope Yet Haynes recalls sim - housing project. ple acts of kindness from His mother, Rachel his youth in New Orleans, Haynes, who gave birth the nation’s most murder- ous city. He looked after a stayed in an abusive rela- paralyzed neighbor, giving tionship with Johna’s step- beer and massages to the father for years before wheelchair-bound man. He striking out on her own. She entered narrow passage- - ways ahead of his compan- fare and then on a restau- ions to protect them from rant cook’s meager salary. Johna, her oldest, was a directed at him. - Troy Delone, one of ing his assignments early Haynes’ closest friends at only gave him more time Angola, has become a reli- to goof off in class. After gious man and a scholar in he dropped out in sev- prison. When the two met enth grade, the authorities made him enroll in alterna- in age, both from New college’s director, with an impas- tive schools, but he never Orleans housing projects, both sioned speech about the corrupt lasted long. deciding whether to try some- values he once lived by. A second- “I was a single parent. I did thing new or keep bucking the year student in a class of 100, he the best I could. He was always system. is a standout. in trouble,” Rachel Haynes said. “Should I put myself in prison, “He is really articulate. He is “I told him,’ Johna, you have while in prison? Stay in the cell exceptional in his articulation, to stop. The streets are going blocks, Camp J — when is this very transparent. He’s a blue- to catch up to you.’ ... I wish he going to stop?” as Delone put it, chipper,” Robson said. would have changed when he was referring to the maximum-securi- Born to life of crime out here and I was begging him ty parts of Angola where trouble- Although he barely knew his to change.” makers reside with limited access father, Haynes followed square Stints in Orleans Parish Pris- to recreation or education. in the old man’s footsteps. When on did nothing to scare Johna Bible college and a mentor in the father, Melvin Jones, was serv- car on the way to a party, he tried Orleans Parish Criminal Court’s ing time at Angola for killing a to rob two men of their gold jew- re-entry program for young elry using a pellet gun. One of the offenders. He is serving two sen- entered prison himself, his then- victims had a real gun and shot tences of life without parole for a girlfriend was pregnant with his pair of armed robberies. son, Johna Jr., now 10. though he knew the police would “Although he wasn’t that much Haynes’ role model growing up come looking for him, Haynes on a positive road, he was always was an older cousin named Turk, kept vigil at the hospital for his intelligent, book-wise,” Delone who schooled him in the ways of young friend, who died that night. said of his friend. “Since then, the street. By the time Turk died In the squad car, Haynes’ hand- he’s enhanced that. He’s grown cuff key served its purpose. He spiritually and become a more he had taught his protege well. jimmied the lock and made a run moral person. More of the old Young Johna knew how to steal for it. He was never prosecuted Johna is diminishing, and he’s without the slightest prick of con- for the attempted pellet gun rob- becoming a new person.” science, to keep a handcuff key in bery but was sentenced to a year Delone himself has changed so his pocket in case he was arrested, for the attempted escape. much in speech and manner that to target Dodges, Chryslers and “I’m really not sure how many his street cred has diminished. Jeeps because they did not need to cars I stole. A number like 160 is The younger inmates he mentors be hot-wired but could be started pretty high, but it might be low,” regard him with wariness until with a screwdriver in the ignition. Haynes wrote recently. “I remem- he convinces them that he grew He sold his first drugs at 11, ber a time when I was counting up in the Iberville projects and pocketing a commission from a all the people I’ve robbed — I used to be just like them. crack dealer who feared the buy- The other day in class, Haynes ers were undercover agents. At numbers! But guess what, I have impressed John Robson, the no secrets. I appreciate where 3

— CONTINUED —

I’ve been, it just makes where offenses on a multibill had to be to tamper with the justice sys- I’m headed more beautiful. As more serious than those Haynes tem, could become a new man at for the cars, I’ll go with the 160, had racked up for auto theft and Angola. though it’s modest.” the escape attempt. The change “I won’t be here, but in 25 or On June 11, 2001, nearly a year did not apply to crimes that after his release from prison, occurred before that date. see what he’s like,” Cain said of Haynes shoved a lady’s stocking For Haynes, the downgrade Hankton. over his head and pulled a gun would have made little difference, Louisiana is one of six states on a man named Curtis Aubry even had it applied retroactively. where all life sentences are hand- outside an auto body shop on St. Ninety-nine years without parole ed down without the chance of Roch Avenue. He grabbed Aub- for the armed robbery — a crime ever going before a parole board. ry’s possessions — two rings, a he admits he committed — still First- and second-degree mur- would have put him behind bars derers automatically receive took off in Aubry’s car. for the rest of his life. life without parole, on the guilty “It’s like once you do it, it’s Aging population votes of as few as 10 of 12 jurors. addictive, it gratifies. Why sell Burl Cain is perhaps the most Nearly 12 percent of Louisi- drugs for 12 hours when you famous prison warden in the could steal it from someone?” country because of the many people, are serving life without Haynes said, recalling his former films and books documenting parole — the highest propor- mindset. life at Angola. Short and heavy- tion in the nation, according to After a half-day trial, an set, his square face topped by a a Sentencing Project report. Orleans Parish jury found the thatch of white hair, he delivers While most have committed vio- 20-year-old guilty of armed rob- bon mots in a thick Louisiana lent crimes, nearly one in 10 are bery. Judge Julian Parker gave drawl. locked up forever on drug or oth- him the maximum — 99 years “Thug,” “pure rogue” and er nonviolent offenses. Three in without parole — before then- “animal” are some of the terms four are African-American men. District Attorney Harry Con- he uses to describe many of the In Texas, less than 1 percent nick’s office upped the ante, newly convicted criminals enter- of state prisoners are serving life charging him as a triple offender. ing his prison. - - Yet he is a firm believer that tenced him to life without parole. “really horrible people” can Four days after Haynes com- change. Even Telly Hankton, who the sentence morally objection- mitted his final armed robbery, recently shocked New Orleans able because it assumes a person the law changed. Louisiana leg- with the audacity of his brutal islators decided the two prior revenge killing and attempts CONTINUED 3

— CONTINUED —

cannot be rehabilitat- number of grams, ed. Lifers like Joh- I’m telling you, your na Haynes should crime rate is going get periodic hear- to drop tremendous- ings before a parole ly. They’re going to board, Cain said — by go somewhere else,” no means a guaran- Magri said. tee of release, but a Hope for his children chance to prove that In ornate, left-tilt- a drastic transforma- ing script, Haynes tion has taken place, writes letters to his provided the victim four children, taking does not voice strong care with his gram- last legs costing my budget a objections. mar and spelling to set a good fortune.” “I absolutely don’t believe in . He urges them to stay Cain occasionally advocates it,” Cain said, “because when you in school and out of trouble, to for inmates before the Pardon say,’ Life without parole,’ you’ve aspire to college and a good Board, but only a select few he given up on the criminal and career, to not let the many family believes have zero chance of com- said,’ You cannot be helped and tragedies get them down. mitting another crime. By the therefore you’re going to stay in They rarely write back. Instant time a man is into his 50s, “crimi- jail until you die.’ “ gratification from video games nal menopause” has set in, with At Angola, a new arrival can- and text messages is much closer statistics showing older parolees not be housed unless someone at hand. He settles for annual much less likely to become repeat else is transferred out or dies. visits at the prison’s Returning offenders. Known for infusing With three-quarters serving life Hearts family day. His mother, Angola with religion, Cain said without parole and one-quar- who does not own a car and says Christianity provides a conve- ter at least 50 years old, medi- she has not been able to arrange nient package of values but is not cal costs are skyrocketing at the transportation, has not seen her the only path to change. same time the budget is shrink- son since he got married at Ango- Rehabilitation is a slow pro- ing due to state cutbacks. The la in 2005, a few months before cess. It takes at least 10 years much-praised hospice program, Katrina. She has troubles of her for change to take root, Cain where younger inmates care for own, recently serving time on a said, and more like 20 to 25 to the dying, was born of necessity. heroin charge and dealing with completely exorcise the crim- the shooting death of her young- inal within. By that measure, lifer who enters prison in his ear- est son, June. Haynes is only halfway there. Haynes and his former wife Even if he truly changes, his path million if he lives past age 70. Esther, who is Johna Jr.’s moth- to freedom is narrow. The law Once a slave plantation, Ango- er, have since divorced, though that allowed for his life sentence la is still a working farm, with he still considers her his “ideal.” is no longer on the books, but at thousands of acres of corn, peas, Janay, the daughter he had every stage, the odds are heavily squash, beans and other crops before he met Esther, is attend- stacked against tampering with a under cultivation. But there are ing high school in Philadelphia, court’s verdict. no longer enough able-bodied where she settled after Katrina. For tough-on-crime advocates, Domonique — Esther’s daugh- long sentences remove danger- ter and Hayne’s stepdaughter ous people like Johna Haynes 1,000 in past decades. The rest — is a senior at Warren Eas- from the streets, while also act- are too old or have graduated to ton High School. She aspires to ing as a deterrent. People are other work assignments. Last be an attorney and interned for capable of changing, but they year, Angola had to import work- Orleans Parish Juvenile Court should not be released from the ers from another state prison to Chief Judge Ernestine Gray last penalty they brought on them- bring in the harvest. summer. selves, said Irv Magri, a former “I’m worried about prison Kayla, Haynes’ youngest New Orleans police officer and being a place for predators and daughter, also wants to be an president of the victims rights not dying old men,” Cain said. “That’s what it’s really for, and I been attending school. She expe- “It may be harsh, but if you want predators, sleeping in these rienced the juvenile justice sys- could pass a bill requiring life beds, that’s going to hurt you — tem from the defendants’ side for anyone pushing instead of a bunch of old men after stabbing another girl on the heroin or cocaine above a certain that’s creeping around on their school bus. 3

— CONTINUED —

Two of her uncles, relentless quest to learn including Haynes’ more, to become better, to brother June, died with- guide his children in the in a year of each other. right direction, to keep There is only so much the old Johna at bay. her father can do from Never mind that during prison, but his words a decade behind bars, his carry weight because of lucky patch has vanished, his own troubled past. leaving only scattered “I think the only strands of gray. According thing I can do while I’m to his newfound religion, in prison is write to her God protected him on the and encourage her,” streets of New Orleans Haynes said. “When I talk to her, she listens. watching him behind the We have this bond, this gates of Angola, and God though success, especially with- connect, between each other. She will rescue him from the unyield- out an attorney, is an extreme knows what I’m saying is true, ing weight of life without parole long shot. what I’m saying is real.” when the time comes. Believing he will leave Angola Between his studies, church “I was a terrible kid. I was ter- someday requires a leap of faith. and rehearsals for his gospel rap rible,” Haynes said. “I look back Does he ever picture himself as group, Haynes has little spare on it and I say,’ Man, God had to one of those elderly inmates in time. He usually plays on prison be with me,’ because there was a wheelchair, a common sight basketball teams but has been a lot of times I should have been at the prison? No, that would sidelined due to an Achilles inju- dead, a lot of times I’ve been shot be too dangerous. He believes ry. He is a regular at the law at, a lot of things I did, that I because he has to, because if he library, researching cases that didn’t want to be living. But God stops believing, he might stop his might move his appeal forward, sees otherwise.”

4

ATTEMPTS AT SENTENCING REFORM FACE TOUGH OPPOSITION IN THE LEGISL ATURE MAY 16, 2012

By Jan Moller Jindal’s backing. The measures are and Cindy Chang Sta! writer unlikely to have a substantial effect on the incarceration rate, and the cost sav- BATON ROUGE ings will not be immediately apparent, here was optimism in the air but their passage provides a ray of hope on the chilly day in January for reformers. 2011 when Gov. Bobby Jindal Even as prison populations have announced an ambitious effort strained the state budget and prompted to overhaul Louisiana’s sentenc- fiscal conservatives to join liberals in ing laws. calling for changes, the political calculus A bipartisan cross section of in Louisiana has evolved slowly since a law enforcement leaders sur- series of tough sentencing laws in the rounded the governor in the Capitol’s Tfourth-floor conference room. Sher- inmate counts. iffs, district attorneys and judges were If anything, the balance has remained there. So were leaders of the state tilted toward law enforcement. After a House and Senate, along with good- prison-building boom in the 1990s, Loui- government groups and national crimi- siana sheriffs now house more than half nal-justice experts. of inmates serving state time — by far - the nation’s highest percentage in local cal consensus was emerging that it was - time to reduce Louisiana’s highest-in- on system means they will lose money if the-nation incarceration rate. In the sentences are shortened. They typically past two decades, the state’s prison pop- house the same drug pushers, burglars ulation has more than doubled, with one and other nonviolent offenders who will be the likely targets of any serious Weeks later, the 22-member state efforts to change the system. Sentencing Commission, revived by Jin- “The three easiest votes for a legisla- dal after years of dormancy, produced a tor are against taxes, against gambling package of bills aimed at tackling some and to put someone in jail for the rest of of the key factors driving the increase, their lives,” said state Sen. Danny Mar- including long sentences for nonviolent tiny, R-Kenner, a veteran policymaker crimes and large numbers of offenders who has led the judiciary committees in being sent back to prison for violations both the House and Senate. of parole or probation. Still, reformers are not giving up. The five bills would eventually pass They vow to chip away at Louisiana’s and get signed by the governor, but only prison problem, one small-scale mea- after the most important parts — the sure at a time. The success this year ones that would have actually reduced of the Jindal-backed bills is a sign that prison sentences — were removed the climate might be shifting slightly, under pressure from sheriffs and dis- - trict attorneys. cal crisis. This year, though, two of the commis- “Given the differences we had last sion’s failed measures from the previous session with the sheriffs and the DAs, year were revived and have progressed smoothly through the Legislature, with CONTINUED 4

— CONTINUED —

where we ended up unwittingly different than its predecessors. at an impasse, we had an incred- problems,” Adams said. “That’s Past commissions have some- ibly great session with the sher- - times been dominated by outside iffs and the DAs,” said Judge tive and liberal thinkers happens. groups with plenty of proposals Fredericka Wicker of the 5th Cir- The push for reducing the cost of for change but little idea of what cuit Court of Appeal, who has corrections meets with the liberal could realistically get through been a leader on the Sentencing view that, you know, our correc- the Legislature. They left behind Commission, of this year’s delib- tion system is too harsh.” well-meaning reports that now erations. “There was a strong That was certainly the case in are mostly forgotten. sense from both groups that they January 2011, when Louisiana “You had basically reformer- agreed with the entire package.” types who were driving the rec- Critical support shortfall and the Jindal admin- ommendations, and whatever Ellis “Pete” Adams has seen istration was looking for ways to they would recommend, there attempts at sentencing reform cut costs. The governor had made really wasn’t enough stakehold- no secret of his desire to reduce er input and buy-in for the Leg- he became head of the Louisi- recidivism and get incarceration islature to pass those things,” ana District Attorneys Associa- costs under control, but to that Adams said. tion. At least four or five sen- point there had been little action. In the newly formed commis- tencing commissions, maybe a “Certainly, it makes sense for sion, sheriffs, district attorneys, half-dozen, have convened — he us as a state to be reducing our judges, victims advocates, public can’t recall the exact number. recidivism rate and focusing and defenders and key legislators all The results of those long-forgot- prioritizing our resources,” Jin- had a voice. dal said late last year. They were to get technical help - The Sentencing Commis- from the national experts at the mendations rarely enacted. sion’s current incarnation was Pew Center on the States and “It usually arises (and) gets designed from the start to be the Vera Institute for Justice, 4

— CONTINUED —

who have helped more than a more volatile issues and instead needed to be served. dozen other states revamp their As the 2011 bill was originally sentencing policies. Pew chipped dealing with parole, good-time in with a grant. Reform-minded credits and home incarceration. the formula and changed it so groups packed with CEOs and To carry the most far-reach- that nonviolent offenders had to political insiders, such as Blue- ing measures, the commission print Louisiana and the Commit- tapped state Rep. Joseph Lopinto, tee of 100, stood ready to lend R-Metairie, who had arrested hun- percent, before they could be support. dreds of suspected criminals as a considered for good-time parole. By working through policy dif- Jefferson Parish sheriff’s deputy To be more palatable to the ferences at the commission lev- and later helped prosecute them Legislature, both bills were el, supporters hoped any bills as an assistant district attorney. designed to apply only to future that emerged would have enough “The bottom line is, if locking offenders. Prisoners who were momentum to convince recal- everybody up and throwing away already locked up would have to citrant lawmakers that they the key works, then we should live by the old rules. wouldn’t be punished politically have the lowest crime rate in the Thus, the projected savings for votes an opponent might char- ,” Lopinto said. acterize as being soft on crime. “We don’t. So then you have to There was good really look at your - reason to get sher- policies. In my lion over 10 years. The good-time iffs and district opinion, it’s strictly - attorneys on board early. Veterans of One of Lopin- the course of a decade — money earlier efforts said to’s proposals was that would come from reducing it’s virtually impos- intended to reduce the number of nonviolent, low- sible to get any- the number of non- risk inmates serving time in local thing through the violent, low-risk prisons. Legislature with- offenders in prison Nevertheless, the parole bill out support from by speeding parole quickly ran into trouble. Days those two critical eligibility. Nonvi- after the session got under way groups. olent felons made in late April 2011, the District “It’s not going Attorneys Association voted to to work if you have - oppose the measure. As a result, the DA associa- sions to Louisiana tion in an opposing prisons in 2009, word that it could not support the role,” said former a n d L o p i n t o ’ s bill and would consider a veto if it state Sen. Don- original bill would reached Jindal’s desk. ald Cravins, an h a v e r e q u i r e d Just like that, the political Opelousas Demo- first- and second- cover the Sentencing Commis- crat who led efforts time offenders to sion was designed to provide had t o r e v a m p t h e be considered for largely vanished. state’s juvenile justice system in parole after serving 25 percent By the time the parole bill got the early 2000s. “And the sheriffs’ of their sentences, down from as to the Senate floor during last association likewise. (Otherwise) much as 50 percent. year’s spring session, it had been you will never resolve it.” Third-time offenders, who cur- stripped of its original cost sav- That was the spirit in which the rently are not eligible for parole, ings and only applied to first- Sentencing Commission began would have been eligible after time offenders — a fraction of its work. “The agreement we serving half of their sentences. those the commission had hoped have with DAs and sheriffs (is) Another Lopinto measure was to address. ‘We’re going to work together aimed at simplifying the “good Adams, the district attorneys’ and we’re all going to support time” provisions that allow lobbyist, said a “communications what comes out of the Sentencing inmates to reduce their sentences problem” was to blame and that Commission,’ “ Jindal said. by behaving themselves behind the group had never agreed to Legislative setback bars. Critics complained that the support Lopinto’s bill if second- Working on a compressed time- current laws were a confusing and third-time offenders were table with the 2011 spring session included. approaching, the panel decid- for judges and prosecutors — let “As late as when the bill got to ed against tackling some of the alone inmates and their families — to determine how much time CONTINUED 4

— CONTINUED —

the Senate, we had the lobbyist requiring enhanced sentences. the political equation at the Capi- for the Sentencing Commission Another proposal would have tol has shifted somewhat since telling folks that the DAs had allowed prosecutors to seek sen- the early 1990s, when crime rates supported that earlier. That had tences below the mandatory min- were peaking, the victims-rights never happened,” Adams said. imum for all but the most serious movement was in its heyday, and A similar fate befell the good- crimes — an option that is unlike- lawmakers were in a rush to pass time bill, only this time it was the ly to be exercised often but that mandatory minimum sentences. Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association allows for leniency in unusual The convening of the Sen- that put up the roadblock. cases. Clark asked that all violent tencing Commission, at Jindal’s With the governor’s staff indi- crimes and sex crimes, not just behest, was one sign of a new cating that a veto might be com- the most serious, be excluded. openness to reform. There are ing if law enforcement wasn’t on After heated debate and a few other signs that the mood might board, Lopinto quickly agreed dissenting votes, the commission be changing at the Capitol and to shelve the formula changes complied with both requests. that lawmakers might be able and thus any potential savings In fact, the most significant to reduce sentences without the that would come from shorter proposals to be associated with feared political repercussions. sentences. the commission in 2012 are ver- Signs of change The turnabout surprised sions of last year’s parole and The revamped parole and good- everyone, including Corrections good-time bills, which are not time bills have sailed through the Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc. “We - Legislature this session after thought we had consensus when age but are considered to have Jindal agreed to support them we went,” LeBlanc said. the commission’s endorsement. and the law enforcement lobbies Last-minute surprise Lopinto introduced the measures agreed not to oppose them. Wicker and other key Sentenc- with the backing of the governor One bill, which increases the ing Commission members were and the Department of Correc- rate of good-time accrual for determined to avoid misunder- tions once it was clear that the nonviolent offenders, was signed standings this time around. sheriffs and district attorneys by the governor last week, at a After a yearlong series of pub- would stand down. lic meetings and painstaking The political will word-by-word edits, the commis- George Steimel, a veteran lob- Another bill makes second- sion’s 2012 legislative package byist for the Louisiana Associa- time offenders eligible for parole appeared to have every interest tion of Criminal Defense Law- group’s stamp of approval. yers, said the lack of progress in sentences instead of the current Perhaps for that reason, the 2011 was a failure of political will. 50 percent. It awaits the gov- eight proposed bills were less “We know where the mon- ernor’s signature after passing far-reaching than 2011’s rela- ey-savers are. We know how to the House and Senate by large tively modest package. Taken reduce the population,” Steimel margins. together, the 2012 measures said, discussing the reform pack- The two measures apply only would not make much of a dent in age’s failure last year. “It’s the to people sentenced after Aug. 1, the prison population or result in political will to do it, and that’s 2012. Any impact on the incarcer- substantial cost savings. what failed this session.” ation rate, the state budget and Still, they were tiny steps away Martiny, the Kenner senator, the sheriffs’ prison operations from Louisiana’s airtight tough- said it’s hard to blame legislators, will be years down the road. But on-crime stance and toward more who are elected by the same vot- their easy journey through the discretion for prosecutors and ers who put the district attorneys legislative process thus far may judges. signal some cracks in the tough- Then, at the February meet- own efforts, earlier in the decade, on-crime wall. ing where the commission was to to pass a series of changes to As in other states, an increas- Louisiana’s troubled juvenile-jus- ingly dire budget situation means spoke up. The aide, Cloyce Clark, tice system. Then, as now, it took that interest groups are feel- had attended all the previous months of careful negotiations to ing pressure to tone down their meetings and even helped draft get DAs on board before his col- agendas and support cost-saving some of the legislation. Suddenly, leagues felt comfortable. measures. he was pushing for changes that “If you give a legislator the The Louisiana Sheriffs’ Asso- had not been vetted by commis- opportunity to go either with the ciation decided not to take a sion members. Innocence Project or with their position on either bill this year, Clark wanted to kill a propos- DA, guess what? They’re going to despite opposing last year’s al to remove attempted crimes vote with their DA,” Martiny said. good-time measure. Sheriffs are from the list of violent crimes Still, veteran lawmakers say mindful of the state’s financial 4

— CONTINUED —

problems, even as their top prior- second-time offender’s sentence, several factors. Last year was an ity continues to be public safety, rather than the 25 percent origi- election year, making everyone said Michael Ranatza, the group’s nally proposed. Sex offenders — sheriffs, district attorneys, executive director. and habitual felons would not be legislators — wary of rocking the “In these economic times, eligible for the early parole. boat. This year, a fresh crop of we’re generally understanding “If somebody appropriate for lawmakers is getting its bearings of the plight of the state of Loui- parole happens to qualify, and we in Baton Rouge and may be more siana,” Ranatza said. “We want save money and do it without risk open to a different way of think- to be good statesmen, and we’re to public safety, that’s a great - aware of the tremendous eco- thing,” said Adams of the Dis- sures making voters more likely nomic woes.” trict Attorneys Association. “The to accept giving criminals a break District attorneys, who budget is shrinking. If we can if dollars can be saved. opposed key aspects of last year’s save money without increasing “This is probably the best time parole bill, decided they could risk, we’re open to these kinds of to start this type of movement live with this year’s version after things.” and reform, to start educating the minimum time served was Steimel attributes the gains this new legislature,” Steimel in the 2012 legislative session to said.

TOUGH SENTENCING LAWS KEEP STATE’S PRISONS FULL

By Cindy Chang Sta! writer years behind bars — without the possibility of parole — for a car burglary. The 22-year-old had two other burglaries on his record when he was arrested near Abita Springs BMW of its stereo and steering wheel. If charged as a three-time offender, he could have received life without parole. His attorney, Doyle “Buddy” Spell, persuad- ed prosecutors to consider only the two most recent car break- ins, taking a life sentence off the table but doubling the 12-year Martin, a drug addict with a mop of unruly blond hair, will be - “I would suggest that we just threw away a life and that the Spell said. Sentences of several decades, or even life, for nonviolent crimes are not unusual in Louisiana. The - an Martins — petty criminals who in another state would have received a much shorter sentence CONTINUED 4

— CONTINUED —

or no jail time at all. Unusually and district attorneys who serve the state’s prisoners. tough sentencing laws are one on the commission tend to object Louisiana’s sentencing laws major reason Louisiana has the to all but the most modest pro- are significantly tougher than highest incarceration rate in the posals. Bringing state sen- those of neighboring Texas, world. tencing laws more in line with which has the nation’s fourth- “We see the only goal that is national norms seems a distant highest incarceration rate and possibility. has executed more condemned be retribution,” said Katherine Meanwhile, the costs mount. criminals than any other state. Mattes, a professor at Tulane Human lives tick away. The Like many states, Texas Law School and interim director - has a tiered system of punish- of the university’s Criminal Liti- ers’ sentences stretch into old ment. Felonies fall into one of gation Clinic. age. The Department of Correc- five broad categories: capital, In Texas, no bastion of liber- first-degree, second-degree, alism, a two-time car burglar third-degree and state jail felo- would be guilty of a misdemean- inmates who are no longer phys- nies. The sentencing range is or and sentenced to a maxi- ically capable of committing a the same for most crimes in a mum of six months. ’s crime. category. famous three-strikes law does “The best practice is to house not kick in unless at least one of them long enough to rehabili- - the crimes was a rape, murder, tate them,” said Judge Freder- carjacking, residential burglary icka Wicker of the 5th Circuit with an upper limit of 99 years, or other major felony. There, Court of Appeal, a leader on the compared with Louisiana’s auto- Martin would have received no Sentencing Commission. “In matic life without parole. more than a year behind bars. some respects, that’s to age out In Texas, passing worthless In Louisiana, about 160 the violent factor. You don’t just checks is the lowest type of mis- habitual offenders whose most release the guy who went into demeanor, a class C, carrying no recent crime involved nothing the Time Saver and shot two more harmful than marijuana people. The ones we are housing are serving 20 years or more. we should house for the amount worthless check can lead to 10 of time it takes to protect soci- years behind bars. life without parole in Louisiana ety, ensure rehabilitation and In Louisiana, each offense car- have never been convicted of a lower recidivism.” ries its own tailor-made punish- violent crime. Far tougher than Texas ment, so justice can seem arbi- It’s not just low-level crimi- If Louisiana is out of line with trary. For example, the Legis- nals who fare worse here. Loui- the rest of the country in the lature passed a law in 2005 to siana is the only state that auto- harshness of its , punish people who were stealing matically sentences murderers the United States is out of line - to life without parole. with the rest of the Western St. Tammany Parish, where world. theft carries a maximum prison Martin was convicted, is known - sentence of 10 years, depending as “St. Slammany” because ation rates were comparable to on the value of the crustaceans. prosecutors so often seek the Europe’s. Then came the war on “Each statute has its own pen- maximum penalty. But the same drugs and a new tough-on-crime alty that you don’t have in other sentencing laws apply through- ethos. State after state enacted states. You’ve got a lot of stat- out the state, hemming in judg- longer sentences, particularly utes where you’ve got no parole, es with mandatory minimums. for drug offenses and other non- no probation, mandatory mini- Louisiana is also one of only two violent crimes. Today, the United mums and such,” said Richard states where a defendant can be States keeps a higher percent- Jerome, a project manager for convicted on the votes of 10 of 12 age of its citizens behind bars the Pew Center’s Public Safe- jurors. The threat of habitual- than any other nation — outpac- ty and Performance Project. offender prosecution is a pow- ing France, Germany and Great “You’ve got provisions where erful tool to get defendants to Britain by 10 times or more. the third-time offense means no plead to long sentences, as Mar- As criminal punishments parole at all. Those things cer- tin did. increased throughout the Unit- tainly do have an impact.” Gov. Bobby Jindal has charged ed States, Louisiana went to Judges have one choice the Louisiana Sentencing Com- unheard-of extremes. Money About two dozen states have mission with finding politically is a driving force in Louisiana, habitual-offender laws, but Lou- viable ways to reduce the incar- where sheriffs profit from the isiana stands out for its unyield- ceration rate. But the sheriffs incarceration of more than half ing treatment of nonviolent 4

— CONTINUED —

criminals. without parole for stealing a jack- Generally, Texas bumps a Jindal has only freed one person et from a department store. In repeat offender up to the next from prison. 1996, using two car-burglary con- category of crime. The lower lim- A bill that would give nonviolent victions and a two-decades-old its on such prosecutions remain lifers a shot at parole after sev- robbery conviction, Orleans Par- fairly generous to the defendant. eral decades is a step from final ish prosecutors put him behind Someone convicted of a first- passage in the current legislative bars for the rest of his life. degree felony who already has session, perhaps due to a grow- another felony conviction can ing recognition that some people Appeal initially downgraded get less than 15 years. deserve a second chance. Jindal Jackson’s sentence, calling it In Louisiana, a trio of drug has indicated he will sign it. “excessive, and a prime exam- convictions can trigger life “We have to really start tak- ple of an unjust result.” Then without parole. Three nonvio- ing a deep, deep look at how we the Louisiana Supreme Court lent crimes with sentences of are treating human beings,” said ruled that judges may not sec- 12 years or more, such as the Rep. Terry Landry, D-New Ibe- ond-guess the habitual-offender car burglaries Martin commit- ria, former head of the Louisi- law except in rare instances. The ted, also subject the defendant ana State Police. “Somewhere in to automatic life without parole. a book it says,’ By the grace of itself. Many defendants plead guilty to God go I.’ Some of us, the differ- Under current law, the jacket lesser charges rather than risk ence between us and the people theft would no longer count as a losing a trial where so much is who got incarcerated is that they fourth offense, but the change at stake. When judges only have got caught and we didn’t.” is not retroactive. Jackson, a one choice, sentencing hearings Timothy Jackson has picked Mid-City native who worked as become a mere formality. up woodworking during his 15 a cook at Brennan’s and other In 2001, the Legislature modi- years at Angola state peniten- local restaurants, is out of luck. tiary and can make everything “I’m going to be honest. I’m to take some petty crimes off the from rocking chairs to dining- locked up like I killed someone. list, a rare instance where law- room sets. He looks forward to They’ve got people who killed makers softened a punishment. the semiannual inmate rodeo people got less time than I did,” Still, anyone sentenced under and crafts fair, where he catches the old law has little recourse up with relatives and hawks his somebody had told me I could except for a pardon from the wares. get life for that, I wouldn’t governor, which is hard to come Jackson, 50, is serving life believe them.”

5

HUNDREDS WAIT FOR JINDAL TO ACT ON PARDON DECISIONS MAY 17, 2012

By Jan Moller he reviews each pardon request that Sta! writer reaches him, stressing that the Pardon

BATON ROUGE Board’s recommendation is just that — helby Arabie is a killer. That is a recommendation. not in dispute. Twenty-seven “Our philosophy is that nobody that comes before the board or comes to killed Benny Posey after a high- the governor’s office is automatical- speed chase that sprang from a ly entitled to a pardon,” Jindal said. botched marijuana deal. “We think the law purposely sets up a Arabie is also, in the opinion multistep process to allow for careful of Warden Burl Cain and many deliberation.” others, perhaps the most rehabilitated Some longtime observers and critics Sman in the Louisiana State Penitentiary of the pardon process say it is largely at Angola — a model inmate who has broken, a casualty of political pressures turned his life around, learned a trade and public attitudes toward the incar- and prepared himself about as well as cerated. Some wonder what the Pardon one can for life as a free man. - salaries are good for if the governor so siana Pardon Board voted unanimously rarely takes its recommendations. last August to make Arabie eligible for Joe Raspanti, a Metairie lawyer who parole, he joined a growing subset in has represented dozens of pardon seek- Louisiana’s criminal justice system. ers over the years, said Jindal’s reluc- Arabie is now among several hundred tance to grant relief is discouraging. felons — the vast majority of whom “I’ve become more selective in taking have already served their time and been the cases, because I don’t know that I released — whose pardon recommen- can give people what they’re expecting,” dations are waiting on the desk of Gov. Raspanti said. “A lot of these people, I Bobby Jindal. know they can’t get help and it’s sad.” Pardons have little effect on the incar- ceration rate, since they are meant for to Jindal. As of early May, he had signed extraordinary cases. Even if Jindal signed more pardons, Louisiana would limbo. Only one of Jindal’s pardons has still lock up a higher percentage of its gone to a person still behind bars. citizens than any other state. But par- Gov. , by contrast, dons provide an important safety valve - as well as a ray of hope. mendations that reached her desk dur- In a state with unusually tough sen- tencing laws, pardons are the only way out for some prisoners. All Louisiana shortening their terms or setting them life sentences are handed down without immediately free. Blanco’s predeces- parole, and Louisiana leads the nation in the percentage of its inmates serving life without parole. with the vast majority coming in his sec- The state Parole Board, which deals ond term when he was a lame duck. Jindal, in an October interview, said CONTINUED 5

— CONTINUED —

with a much higher volume of Edwards’ executive counsel Today, much of the Pardon cases — about 2,000 a year — had handled more cases before Board’s time is spent review- has also become stingier. Pardons the board than any other and ing applicants who have already are executive acts of clemency, enjoyed a success rate far above served their sentences and are while paroles are early releas- hoping to have their records es routinely granted to inmates These days the rules have scrubbed clean so they can pass who have met certain criteria changed, and it has become a security clearance or get a and are judged to pose little tougher for incarcerated crimi- better job. risk to society. Paroles do not nals to even win a hearing before Clark said the change is due require the governor’s signa- the board. The bar for winning largely to the public’s attitude a pardon recommendation has that tough punishment is the of applicants granted parole has been raised, from a majority best way to attack crime and decreased from about 60 percent vote to a supermajority. the growing influence of vic- Meanwhile, appointments to tims’ rights groups. In Louisiana’s system of jus- the Pardon Board, which come “Over time, the victims tice, the avenues for mercy have groups have played a very become increasingly narrow. less than one week per month important role in presenting Rules have changed of actual work, remain sought- their case ... which has affected The pardon system in Louisi- after political plums. The chair- the votes of all the board mem- ana had undergone big changes bers,” Clark said. “If it’s a bad “It’s a highly political deal,” case, why stir everyone up?” said Larry Clark, an Alexan- Meanwhile, the wave of new A generation ago, many - security precautions approved applications came from prison- tinuously on the Pardon Board by state and federal authorities ers and the method for winning since being appointed in 1992 after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror- freedom was widely viewed as by Gov. . ist attacks made it tougher to Clark and his fellow board felons who had the means to members may soon be fac- for people with a felony on their hire law firms with close con- ing an increased workload. A record. proposal to merge the Pardon “The terrorism deal forced a stood a good chance of gain- Board with the Parole Board lot of people to try to come back ing the “gold seal” of clemen- was endorsed by the state Sen- to get a pardon and get that off cy, according to Burk Foster, tencing Commission and is on their record,” Clark said. a retired professor of criminal the verge of passing the Legis- lature. Pardon members would granted, just one went to some- on the subject. retain their current salaries one who was actually in prison. A 1979 investigation by The and duties while also taking Wesley Dick, pardoned in 2009, Times-Picayune found that the on the work now done by the law firm of then-Gov. Edwin Parole Board. CONTINUED 5

— CONTINUED — 5

— CONTINUED —

was among a dwindling number desk along with many others. traveling a lot, visiting Wash- of felons serving a life sentence Trying to clean up records ington, D.C.,” said Sandoval’s at Angola for heroin offenses mother, Lucy Sandoval, of Jin- under a law that has since been model inmate at Angola, an dal. “He needs to have mer- repealed. auto-mechanics instructor and cy on these kids, these young About a dozen heroin lifers, a mentor to young offenders men, and give them a chance all from the New Orleans area, in the re-entry program. He to be with their families. He have received thumbs-ups from was sentenced to life without needs to put rapists and crimi- the Pardon Board but remain parole for heroin distribution nals over there, not kids with an behind bars, awaiting the gov- in 1999, at age 21. On Oct. 20, addiction.” ernor’s signature. 2009, the Pardon Board recom- On the humid August morn- Joseph Sandoval is one of mended that Jackson’s life sen- ing when Arabie asked for his those inmates serving life with- tence be commuted, along with freedom, the Pardon Board out parole on a heroin charge. Sandoval’s and that of another docket was crowded with people Jefferson Parish heroin lifer, like Terrence Fedele, given a at Angola, Sandoval will soon Lakyia Skinner. All three men one-year suspended sentence in graduate from the prison’s are still waiting. 2002 for illegal narcotics sales Bible college. Blanco, Jindal’s predecessor, and possession of hydrocodone. Ed McIntyre, a relative and commuted the life sentences Nearly a decade later, Fedele owner of the Mr. Ed’s chain of - was married and helping to restaurants in Jefferson Parish, ing them eventually eligible raise a stepdaughter. He want- told the Pardon Board in 2009 for parole. Nine of those par- ed a pardon so he could get that Sandoval has a job waiting dons came in 2006, before she clearance to work in the ports. for him if he is ever released. The announced she would not seek It took the board members board gave Sandoval a positive re-election. just a few seconds to decide, recommendation, but his appli- “He’s busy being a candidate, by a unanimous 5-0 vote, that cation is languishing on Jindal’s Fedele deserved a pardon 5

— CONTINUED —

recommendation. They did the two men from Meridian, Miss., After Hurricane Katrina, same for Christopher James he was part of a select crew Bellard, of Lake Charles, con- Benny Posey and his accom- entrusted to help fix broken victed in 2001 on two counts of plices had a different plan in water pumps in New Orleans. simple burglary after throw- mind when they met Arabie As time went on, just about ing bricks through some car and his business partner at the everyone connected with the windows. Butte La Rose exit off Inter- case — except the prosecutor Jessie Gross of Ponchatoula, state 10. They pistol-whipped — began to think that Arabie who spent a year behind bars Arabie and stole his drugs, leav- had served enough time. ing the two men tied up along “I was of the opinion then, cocaine in 1990, also got a par- the side of the road. as his trial judge, that the don. He owns a trucking busi- Arabie and his partner soon maximum penalty he should ness, but the work is starting to made it back to their automo- have received was 21 years of take a physical toll and he would bile, beginning a high-speed confinement,” the judge, L.J. like to get hired by the School chase down I-10 toward Baton Hymel, wrote in a letter to the Board as a bus driver. He also Rouge. At the bottom of an off- board. ramp, the van carrying Posey Benny Posey’s family was no Marie Ann Terrell of West less convinced that his killer Monroe was not as lucky. A for- had been punished enough. mer heroin addict whose crimi- shot from his 9 mm semi-auto- “Shelby Arabie is not the nal record includes robbery and matic handgun, killing Posey at same man he was on Sept. prostitution charges in Califor- a distance of 22 yards. - nia, Terrell was given a 50-year Decades later, recounting the ny Posey’s daughter, told the sentence after she helped car- fateful moment, Arabie wrote board. “I ask that you give him that he “was motivated by fear hope.” Plain Dealing that netted more ... quite literally, I was scared Chris Van Way, whose wife out of my wits. I imagined that was a high school classmate of he would exit that van in a vol- Arabie’s, told the board that Arabie has a job waiting for him She told the board that she’s thought otherwise?” at his company, J.P. Oil Holdings - If shooting at Posey was Ara- ing toiled on and off as a cook bie’s first critical mistake, his be released. since her release. She wants second error was rejecting a Finally there was Cain, the her record cleared so she can pretrial plea bargain that would Angola warden, who said Arabie work in a nursing home. have put him in prison for man- was just the third inmate he has It took the board less slaughter and, in all likelihood, ever recommended for a par- than three minutes, meeting don. He called Arabie an inspi- behind closed doors in exec- years. Arabie decided to take ration to his fellow inmates, a utive session, to decide that his chances at trial. He was con- daily example that rehabilita- Terrell hadn’t been free long victed of second-degree murder tion is possible even for those enough to earn a pardon and began serving life without serving a life sentence. recommendation. “It’s about a life that’s well- “I think you’re on the right Arabie was an unruly inmate lived in circumstances that path. I just think you need would tend to break people a little more time,” Clark down,” Cain said. explained. The vote to deny was - It took the Pardon Board unanimous. siana State Police Barracks and ‘Not the same man’ behind closed doors, to recom- It was Arabie, however, who But by the mid-1990s, he mend to the governor that Ara- was the main attraction. began to turn his life around. bie’s life sentence be reduced to He earned a GED diploma and was 21 years old, an electrical - which would make him immedi- lineman who sold pot on the nician, becoming a leader in ately eligible for parole. side. He made arrangements Angola’s vo-tech programs. He Eight months later, Arabie to sell 10 pounds of the drug to is now a master mechanic and continues to wait for the gover- a mentor to his fellow inmates. nor’s signature.

6

INCARCERATION TEARS APART FAMILIES AND ENTIRE COMMUNITIES. AND IN SOME NEIGHBORHOODS, DOING TIME IN PRISON HAS BECOME COMMONPL ACE MAY 18, 2012

By John Simerman and others fear the same, or worse, for Sta! writer him. or Jaymalis Falls, life has come to Semaj, have bounced around among to a front-door stoop. relatives since they were little. Their He sat there one recent sun- father was murdered, and their mother down, twisting the dark curls admits she’s been too strung out on her- above his forehead and trying to oin to devote herself to ignore the bulky plastic monitor raising her kids. Davis, who juggles strapped around a sock on his left a responsibility she didn’t seek with a ankle. He’s been caught 26 times for vio- drug habit she can’t shake, has consid- Flating his , he said. A juve- ered asking a juvenile court judge to nile judge gave him one last chance. revoke Jaymalis’ probation. Sending “I hate it. I can’t go anywhere,” he him away for a while, she thinks, might said. “They can see through walls. I feel set him straight. like an animal in this.” “I’d rather he go in the system,” she A few months ago, the 15-year-old said, “than be in jail for the rest of his life or sprawled out dead in the middle who knows where, attending school or of the street.” not. He did what he wanted, and often The yellow shotgun double where that meant trouble. Jaymalis sleeps, in a room with barren A role in a knife-point robbery over walls and a bed propped up on cinder- an iPod last year landed him in juvenile blocks, sits just three blocks from the detention for a month. Another time, columned mansions and oak canopies he hopped on a bicycle outside a corner of St. Charles Avenue. But it feels miles store, rode off and quickly got busted. away. The KIPP Central City Academy, This is “the belt” of Central City, which has a mission to shepherd disad- home to an invisible, grating force — vantaged kids from the neighborhood the cycling of its residents in and out of into college, booted him from its rolls. prison — that can fray family and com- “He’s drifting away to the street life,” munity at their roots. said his great-aunt and caretaker, Des- Around here, young men leave home mond Marie Hyman Davis. “He feels for prison, not college. No one can afford like he can whoop the world. Right now on his mind is money. He wants fast players, the things kids covet. So before money. I said,’ Not all money is good his house arrest, he took to hanging out money.’ “ with friends and taking what was there. Jaymalis — who goes by “J.J.” — is Neighborhoods like this one have meandering toward a cliff that seems been particularly hard-hit as Louisi- always right around the corner in a ana’s prison population has increased neighborhood with one of the highest exponentially over the past few decades. incarceration rates in New Orleans, in a Nobody here is a stranger to the ripples state that locks up more of its residents, emanating from the state’s stiff sentenc- per capita, than any place in the world. es, swollen prison rolls and vacuum of Nearly everyone in his immediate family has served time. Family members CONTINUED 6

— CONTINUED —

resources for convicts who Residents here see return home. an element of chance to While the state spends who lands behind bars millions of dollars each and who stays out. Who year locking up Cen- will the cops pick next? tral City residents, it has Where are the police invested comparatively lit- sweeps on the tony side of tle in schools, recreation St. Charles? programs, job centers and The 6th District police health clinics. Boys grow not long ago put a full- up believing that dealing drugs — a daily trade in the few blocks around Jay- neighborhood, “march- malis — is the surest way ing like Sherman on every to cash. Doing time is an porch, on every stoop,” expected price, if not a rite said 6th District Com- of passage. mander Robert Bardy. Schools like KIPP, which The goal, Bardy said, was arrived in New Orleans bored? That’s how it affects the not so much arrests as after Hurricane Katrina, offer neighborhood,” Martin said of the presence. one of the few clean paths out of constant jailings. “They handpick Bardy said he sees an alarm- the neighborhood’s crime-pocked the people they want.” ing number of “shameful” knock- streets. As he sits on the stoop, Asked why police busted pondering an ill-defined future his friends, he said: “For what in the area — and a core group of as a famous rap artist, Jaymalis else? Stuff that goes on in the kids driving crime in the neigh- may already have squandered his neighborhood.” borhood. He receives numerous best chance. Tameka Franklin, a grand- calls from residents and activists who pinpoint trouble spots. Police sweeps a model house with solar panels Outside the Uptown Meat He said he knows police can’t chatting with Martin. Her son, arrest their way out of the prob- Market at Seventh and Danneel Martin’s close friend, is doing streets, drug dealers sling their lem. But he can’t rely on “justice two-and-a-half years at Hunt reinvestment” — a concept to wares while school-aged kids Correctional Center on a mari- shoot hoops on a lone, netless rim redirect millions spent on incar- juana rap. ceration into Central City pro- parked near the curb. “Last year they put it on him,” Police swept up several of grams that might put kids on a Franklin said. “He says it’s a different path. Right now, Bardy Ralph Martin’s friends about place nobody wants to be.” a year ago, the dreadlocked said, a malignant subset of youth It seems everyone in this in the neighborhood still needs - neighborhood has a relative or dies are in prison. arresting. friend in prison. Many have done “They are opportunists,” he “See what we doin’ now, lookin’ time themselves. 6

— CONTINUED —

said. “If they’re riding a bike shooting. The sparsely populat- from A to B and see a laptop in a ed four-block area of Sixth and percent of pre-Katrina levels, the car, it’s their laptop.” Seventh streets between Dry- study showed. While drug dealing is prevalent ades and Danneel streets was As Louisiana locks up more here, it’s not the most violent cor- people for longer periods, Cen- ner of the city, at least not right the past two years, including 60 tral City — a neighborhood full for drug violations, according to of children, nephews, girlfriends has subsided since two murders police statistics. and grandparents of the impris- last year hit a week apart. Before Katrina, Central City oned — feels the sting. Steven Powell was shot dead - Growing up angry while running through Davis’ - Semaj slips inside the house backyard. Then Kendrick Gibbs, oned residents, according to a on Dryades, where a small TV who struggled to hold a dish- 2009 study by urban planners blares the latest episode of “First washing job over frequent from Columbia University. - returns to jail, was killed a block Mostly spared from Katrina tion show. up Sixth Street. flooding, Central City revived Lately she’s been lashing out Still, no one would be sur- relatively quickly, and so did its prised to witness another crime. Within two years, the CONTINUED 6

— CONTINUED —

“I can’t control them. I’m ready and out of jail for drugs and car — and her school attendance to give up,” she said, bleary-eyed theft until someone killed him is spotty. She often runs away, and raspy. At 50, her gaunt face months before Katrina. Semaj, sometimes for days. reflects years of struggle with his name spelled backward, nev- In late February, social work- crack addiction. “Most of all, they er saw much of him. “I just know ers came to the house with clip- retaliating out on me. It’s tearing he was shot,” she said. boards on two straight days. out at me, inside and out. I can’t Falls, who occasionally comes Davis said she called them move on like this here.” by the house, said the task of herself. - raising the kids eludes her. On Davis has been prodding the on sentence for cocaine, got out her chest is a scrawled tattoo of children’s mother, Troylynn Falls and still struggles with a hero- Dowell’s middle name, Romalis. — whom Davis also took in when in addiction. She lives a dozen “The way for me to get my she was young — to play a big- blocks away, toward the river, and motherhood back is to really ger role. The kids, Davis said, comes by every now and then. think: What goes and what don’t. don’t respect her like they might The children’s father, James They love me, but they don’t con- a real mother. “Roper” Dowell, spent years in done the situation,” said Falls, a 6

— CONTINUED —

and Semaj, a quarter are not liv- serves as a mentor for Jaymalis daughter had a baby at 16. ing with either parent. in a church program for children More than a third of the homes with incarcerated parents. the nearest thing to a male fig- are empty — some of them crum- “We’ve had doctors, lawyers, ure around the house. He did bling shells draped with vegetation Indian chiefs come out of this more than a decade at Hunt on a — even as new homes and apart- neighborhood. The Mardi Gras burglary charge and now roams ment houses rise among them. the neighborhood on his bicycle, The story of the neighborhood Anybody could parent you, tell picking up occasional yard work. is a fairly typical American tale of you to get back in that house,” He says he now keeps to liquor, descent into urban poverty and not drugs. crime. care provider. “Now you’ve got “I told him how it’s real,” It has long been a working- churches and barrooms. What’s McCoy said he told Jaymalis class streetscape but also served going on? Churches, barrooms about the threat of prison. “He as a retail hub for black residents and corner stores. And we’re not doesn’t listen.” from across the city during the talking fruits and vegetables. It’s Davis does some housekeep- Jim Crow era. Shops and church- not a Winn-Dixie or a Walmart.” es along the strip of Dryades now It’s an environment, some say, the state for the kids’ upkeep. called Oretha Castle Haley Bou- that breeds nearsightedness, a McCoy helps with the rent, but levard, east of where Jaymalis “see it, take it” mentality: Better it’s not enough to give the kids lives, thrived at mid-century. to sling drugs than work a fast- what they want, she said. By the 1970s, drugs and pros- food counter for minimum wage. Jaymalis and Semaj have nev- titution had crept in, and the for- “They have no way out, and er met their grandfather, Davis’ mer retail stretch is now largely it becomes a hopelessness that brother. He’s doing life for mur- occupied by storefront church- permeates these communities der and rape. es, empty windows and boot- because there has been,’ Go to Semaj dangles her lanky legs strap social services agencies. this job training,’ and there are off the bed and picks at a scab. Attempts to revive it have been no jobs,” said Phyllis Cassidy of It’s an early spring day and she’s halting at best. the Good Work Network, which wearing the same satin sleep cap In 2009, a group of Columbia runs an incubator program in and the sweatshirt with the but- University planners found that Central City for budding minor- Central City contains some of the ity business owners. on almost every day. Her dark highest incarceration levels, and Compounding the problem is eyes wander the walls. costs, in the city. a disturbing indifference at the She wants to be a singer and While precise neighborhood- prospect of prison. Incarceration, a model someday, she said. She level statistics on incarceration for some, has become an expect- likes Whitney Houston and sings are unavailable, the area’s resi- ed fate. when she’s angry. She sings a lot. dents are overwhelmingly poor “It’s hard out here, and it’s “I don’t think ‘happy’ lives here and black. hard in there,” said Brandon with me. They’re always killing Washington, who said he spent a people and stuff,” she said. “It’s black men from New Orleans is year in the Orleans Parish jail on hard living without a mom. I see behind bars, compared with one a drug charge but would rather her. We just say,’ Hi.’ Every time - have done time in a state pris- it’s time for her to try, she don’t en black men from the city is on like Hunt. “In state, you get want to try.” either in prison, on probation or better treatment. You get to go ‘They have no way out’ on parole. outside.” Dryades Street runs through Those rates are substantially Washington was hanging out the center of an incarceration higher in depressed areas like on Seventh Street one recent hotbed framed by LaSalle Street Central City. afternoon with a group of a half- on the lake side, St. Charles on Several of the apartment hous- dozen friends. All said they had the river side, Toledano Street es in the neighborhood where spent time behind bars. on the uptown end and First Jaymalis lives are occupied None of them wanted back in, Street on the downtown end. A largely by ex-convicts and parol- but none seemed to particularly few blocks removed from leafy ees. Many of them are jobless or fear it. St. Charles, the area turns about lightly employed.They hang out “That’s a place of longings. I at midday playing dominoes or don’t want to go back, but I’m Fewer than one in six children gather in the morning to drink not scared,” said one woman who in the neighborhood live in hus- and swap stories on stoops. just got out after three years in band-wife households, according Patricia Farve grew up here to the 2010 census. Like Jaymalis and has watched the decline. She CONTINUED 6

— CONTINUED —

state prison. expulsion, is part of a national school in Algiers for teenagers at In and out of trouble charter school network special- risk of dropping out. He claims Jaymalis doesn’t worry about izing in delivering kids from pov- the work is easy, although a a life behind bars. It’s just not for erty to college. recent report card was peppered him, he said. Principal Todd Purvis said he with failing grades. He says he’s recruits heavily in the neighbor- moving to a different school now, He has a music career in his in Jefferson Parish. future and may want to attend percent of its students. All of the “I think they want to see if my Harvard University, he said. attitude will change,” he said. Lean, with reddish-brown dye black, and nearly every one qual- Farve, Jaymalis’ mentor, fading from his dark hair, Jayma- laments the lost opportunity of lis has a lithe, 5-foot-7-inch frame “One of the things we work KIPP’s rigorous education. and soft eyes that make him seem with kids on is, you need to “That was a golden ticket. You younger than his 15 years, with a bring your A-game to school. had a ticket to go to college, and quiet sureness that doesn’t. He There’s an opportunity to break you threw that away,” she said. would rather not talk about his the cycle here,” said Purvis, “This didn’t just happen yes- parents, or himself for that mat- who would not discuss Jaymalis’ terday. He never had a break. - removal. They never had a break. He’s ment has given him a chance to Still, just a few weeks ago, a been thrown to the aunt, think, he said. 15-year-old girl and boy who had thrown here, thrown there. At “I be making some crazy deci- gone to another KIPP college the end of the day, you have to sions,” he said. “I know how to prep school both were slain by have some power over your own stay out of trouble. I just can’t destiny.” wait till all this is over and I be boy, Brandon Adams, were close Fathers locked up famous, be a rapper.” friends. The number of children who Last year, he spent several “I figure if those people are are growing up with one or both weeks in juvenile detention. getting killed, I gotta watch my parents behind bars has mul- “I didn’t want to be there, but back,” Jaymalis said. “Don’t tiplied nationwide along with it was all right,” Jaymalis said. “I know who’s looking at me. Peo- the incarceration rate. Accord- ing to one estimate, the total KIPP Central City, which when summer hits.” has increased sevenfold in the Jaymalis attended before his Since he left KIPP, Jaymalis past two decades. More than 1.7 has attended a ReNew charter 6

— CONTINUED —

million children in the United wrestle with,” Keen said. He likes to play hoops nearby. States now have least one parent The troubles do not end after Now, with the ankle bracelet, he in state or . a parent is released from pris- can’t do much of anything. He According to studies, these on. Federal rules prohibit felons recently had a job painting trim children exhibit telltale behavior: from living in government-sub- on houses in the neighborhood, aggression, defiance, disobedi- sidized housing and from getting he said, but the work meant ence, school problems, emotional food stamps. repeatedly breaking his curfew withdrawal, anger and hostility With few job prospects and restrictions and sparked another toward caregivers. sometimes hefty child support visit to a juvenile judge. The Rev. Patrick Keen, pastor bills, convicts often return on With his movements restricted of Bethlehem Lutheran in Cen- the outs with family, said Ernest to the front stoop and inside the tral City, said he knows about a Johnson with Families and house, Davis said she sees a turn- dozen people currently serving Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcer- around. Farve, his mentor, sees a time. Almost all have children. ated Children, not far away on kid at a crossroads, toggling like Keen’s church runs a mentor- Oretha Castle Haley. so many others between promise ing program for children with Johnson spent eight years in and prison. parents in prison. Jaymalis met prison for various offenses. His Others wonder whether Jay- Farve there. Mentors organize son is now behind bars awaiting malis and Semaj can withstand weekly excursions to the park, trial for an alleged murder com- all the trouble on Dryades. the movies, Zephyrs baseball Laquwanda Dowell, an aunt, games — anywhere away from “If you were sustaining a fam- sometimes falls into the past the neighborhood. ily, and I were to take you for six tense when talking about them. Like Jaymalis, many of the months or 20 years, it doesn’t “They’re so far gone. They’re kids in the program have already matter. Six months, you done allowed to do whatever they want come face to face with the law. broke up my family,” Johnson to do, and they don’t have to Keen said success comes in small said. “Everybody in that house answer to anybody. If they were doses of respect. has to carry that burden.” in a stable home with more dis- “They’re challenging their A kid at a crossroads caregivers. They’re challeng- Jaymalis sat on the stoop and she said. “(Jaymalis) is kind of ing society. They’re reacting, shrugged. falling in the street because he and they have a right to react. It “I’d like to move out of here. needs things. He wants clothes - Too much killing,” he said. or whatever. If he’s doing it, it’s tions that we have not begun to to survive.”

7

RE-ENTRY PROGRAMS HELP INMATES LE AVE THE CRIMINAL MINDSET BEHIND. BUT FEW HAVE ACCESS TO THE CL ASSES MAY 19, 2012

By Cindy Chang be a better man. A former NFL run- Sta! writer ning back whose drug habit landed him he rats, the roaches, the stab- behind bars for five years, he speaks bings and the suicides have from hard experience. Sheriff Marlin never stopped J.C. Alford from Gusman brought Hayden down from coming back. Chicago to run a 10-week curriculum Out of prison for a year or for prisoners nearing release. For the two, then back on a drug charge here, a burglary there — it’s a state time at OPP are targets of a con- cycle he’s been repeating since certed effort to prevent them from ever 1977. More than three decades since losing their freedom again. This first arrest, he is now 52, sitting On Family Night, relatives bring their in a classroom full of other inmates at loved ones’ favorite foods and listen Orleans Parish Prison, learning how to to guest speakers. If someone needs leave his criminal ways behind. “What you been doing while locked been known to pull a shirt from his own up?” Leo Hayden, director of OPP’s closet. There are the Hayden-invent- new re-entry program, asked the class ed mantras that some graduates will one afternoon in December. repeat to themselves over and over as “Nuttin’,” “Sleep all day,” came the they face the trials and temptations of answers. So it has gone for Alford dur- life on the outside. ing his stints at the prison, notorious Two months at the tail end of their for its poor living conditions. Each time sentences might be too little, too late. his release date arrived, he was let out Still, it is something, and many of the on the street, no better than when he men are hungry for second chances. entered, perhaps worse for the compa- Until Gusman launched the re-entry ny he kept — until now. program a year ago with Hayden and “All these years I’ve been coming back a staff of four, an OPP inmate was sim- here, nobody give a damn about nobody ply shown the door on his release date, back here,” said Alford, a gray knit cap after months or years of sitting around pulled over his head, his beaded neck- with nothing to do. Statewide, 50 per- lace and tattoo-covered legs distinguish- cent of ex-cons end up back in prison ing him in a sea of orange jumpsuits. “You know what’s different now? “We’re helping people reconnect with You’re going back out there with me their humanity,” Hayden said. “If we in your corner,” Hayden replied, to do that, the killings will stop. People applause. One inmate, then another, will realize that losing their freedom is came up to shake Hayden’s hand. No not a rite of passage but a sentence to more idleness. Their days are now occu- death.” pied with coursework — anger manage- Re-entry programs scarce ment, character-building, job interview- Louisiana’s prison system has a ing, computer training, money manage- unique and damaging wrinkle. Fewer ment, resume writing. than half of inmates are housed in state Hayden is like a rock star with this prisons like Angola, Dixon or Hunt. The audience of convicted felons, singing of the troubles they’ve known and how to CONTINUED 7

— CONTINUED —

rest serve out their time in the are ready to offer ex-cons what custody of a sheriff, whether in state custody, with many more they need most: jobs. their home parish or somewhere having served time at some point The average education level in rural north Louisiana’s prison in their lives. At any given time, among Louisiana prison inmates belt — often so the sheriff can about 6,600 people in the city are is seventh grade, limiting many on probation or parole. to menial, low-paying jobs. These are the very people who Jimmy LeBlanc, head of the In addition to whatever got will soon be back on the streets Department of Corrections, is a because they are serving less believer in re-entry. He started they now have the stigma of a time for less serious crimes. Of the re-entry program at Dixon criminal record. Usually, the path the 15,000 prisoners released Correctional Institute when he to success requires avoiding old each year, 11,000 come from local was the warden there, and he has friends and old haunts. prisons. made re-entry a centerpiece of The obstacles are daunting. All inmates leaving state pris- his systemwide reform efforts. But there is increasing recogni- ons receive a version of the Under LeBlanc’s plan, the pilot tion that turning miscreants into 10-week re-entry program. While program in Orleans, along with a productive citizens could some- behind bars, they can learn trades similar one in Shreveport, will day make the city safer. such as auto mechanics and weld- eventually develop into region- “They’re at this place, 60 miles ing. Lifers in the state penitentia- al re-entry centers, hosting all from nowhere, and we’re giv- ry at Angola have ample oppor- soon-to-be released inmates from ing them a timeout,” said Arthur tunities to better themselves. those areas. LeBlanc hopes that, Hunter, an Orleans Parish Crimi- But most in local prisons are someday, all local prison inmates nal Court judge who co-found- not even getting the basic re- will graduate from re-entry. But ed a re-entry program at the entry curriculum, let alone new with budget cutbacks, as well as Louisiana State Penitentiary at skills that could help them land the need for buy-in from every Angola. “Are they just sitting in a decent job. Louisiana’s world- sheriff, the goal remains elusive. a chair and looking at the wall, or leading incarceration rate — Re-entry has also become a is something constructive being buzz word among New Orleans done so they won’t have to get — makes the question of re- city officials, who are making that timeout again? It goes back entry especially crucial. In New room for it in their anti-violence to not only being tough and giv- Orleans, the nation’s murder initiatives. More business owners ing them punishment but also 7

— CONTINUED —

being smart as well. Re-entry is Dixon was more likely to beat the being smart. Smart is also cheap- odds and turn his life around. er for taxpayers.” Many of those who end up ‘You can make a dent’ incarcerated again have not Almost two years in, the committed new crimes but have OPP program is too young to merely violated the conditions of have generated hard statistics. their parole. Staying out of trou- Hayden estimates that about ble also includes keeping appoint- half have found jobs, but it is too ments, cutting ties with other soon to tell how many will end up convicted felons and not going back in prison. There are some near drugs or alcohol — some of who can’t be helped, like the four the same “soft skills” emphasized graduates who were murdered in the re-entry curriculum. in their short time back on the “You can make a dent,” Frank streets. Palestina, head of probation and “When we lose one, it’s always parole for the New Orleans dis- a gut check, because the work trict, said of re-entry. “Focus on becomes life and death,” Hayden not having anything — like I said. said, inmate in, inmate out. I’m Hunter’s Angola program, telling you, my first 10 years,’ which he started with another 91 to ‘01, these people didn’t Orleans Parish judge, Laurie change. ... How can you change White, could be described as the when you’re not adding any new Cadillac of re-entry. About 60 good. That’s the hope. That’s the ingredients?” young men who would other- intent.” Getting a chance wise be doing their time at OPP Gusman, the Orleans Par- “How many of you guys truly have been sent to Angola to learn ish sheriff, sees Lafayette as a think that you are a bad person?” from reformed lifers who serve model, but one that may be out Hayden asked the class. as mentors. Participants receive of reach. More than money, he “In other’s eyesight, there’s instruction in a trade, such as needs space. His annual re-entry always going to be judgment,” auto mechanics, plumbing or air- - one inmate responded. “The conditioning repair, from fellow modate more students, but the things you’ve done are always inmates. makeshift classrooms can only going to be there. You this, you They are also assigned “social hold so many at a time. The cur- that, you going to be there for- mentors” who know the crim- rent plan for a new FEMA-fund- ever. I don’t feel like I’m a bad inal mindset and counsel the ed prison calls for a drastically person myself, but the rest of the younger men on how to leave it downsized facility that may not world is going to feel that way.” behind. The program may even- have much space for education It was the perfect lead-in to tually expand, but because of the programs such as re-entry. A one of Hayden’s favorite max- resources required, its reach is recent move to temporary quar- ims: “Living justly in an unjust limited. ters doubled re-entry from 90 to world.” You may have been dealt Lafayette Parish Sheriff Mike 200 inmates. Others, such as vio- a bad hand, but you need to stop Neustrom is one of the few Lou- lent offenders, do not qualify for blaming others and make the isiana sheriffs who has made the program at all, even though best of it. rehabilitating inmates a priority. they, too, will soon be back on the “When they view us as felons, streets of New Orleans. that’s when we need to be our his annual budget to an array of “We’re doing the right thing. I most gracious, our most intel- educational, substance abuse and think we need to do more, offer ligent, our most committed, to mental-health services that begin more and invest more resourc- dispel all those myths about us, as soon as a person is sentenced. es,” Gusman said. “Real evil peo- to be the most human,” Hayden Neustrom said he believes the ple? I don’t see them here.” said. “They’ll give you a chance.” investment is worth it because For those who work with parol- it will ultimately result in less ees and are used to seeing the time for forgery, was not con- crime. same names reappear on their tent with making do. He seized “The bottom line is, most of rolls, the positive impact of re- on Hayden’s use of the word them are going to come back entry is a given. After LeBlanc “chance.” Why aren’t there voca- to Lafayette — it’s where they started the Dixon program, tional programs in prison, so we grew up,” he said. “If they’re bet- parole officers noticed a differ- ter when they come back, that’s ence: A person released from CONTINUED 7

— CONTINUED —

can learn a “Re-entry.” t r a d e a n d He had fina- have a bet- g l e d a f e w ter chance of hundred dol- becoming pro- lars so the stu- ductive mem- dents could bers of soci- t a k e p r i d e ety? he asked. in their uni- The class forms, a cut applaud- a b o v e t h e ed. Hayden usual prison explained that orange. he is doing “Don’t for- the best he can with limited hiring the college student? I don’t get us, Mr. Leo!” several called resources. He described the bul- know. We’ve got to figure it out as Hayden left. and make you competitive, gen- ‘Don’t stop, don’t give up’ covered with the business cards tlemen, make you somebody that As Hayden pointed out, it is a he requests from every single somebody wants to hire.” tough world for ex-cons, made person he meets — his doctor, a One man asked about work even tougher by the slow econ- visiting journalist — on the off release — with the limited slots omy. At the Community Ser- chance of procuring a job for an in the city, could they be shipped vice Center in Uptown, tales ex-con. Then he laid out the chal- up north to gain a foothold in the of woe from former prisoners lenges, without sugar coating. workforce there? Hayden noted are common, despite the help “The problem is, the economy that most of the guys in the room with housing and job placement is at rock bottom. I know there were not even eligible for work they receive from the small non- are college students looking for release. profit. Several said they were the same jobs,” Hayden said. A morale boost arrived a few homeless. “We’ve got to be real creative. minutes later. Hayden pulled What’s going to keep me from out a turquoise jumpsuit embla- years for theft and aggravated zoned on the back with the word 7

— CONTINUED —

flight from a police officer, has racked up six convictions actions he says were brought on burglary, theft and drug on by a substance-abuse prob- charges. lem. He started at LaSalle His re-entry instructors Correctional, a privately run advised him to make a detailed prison near Jena, before being transferred to the custody of the outside, and he followed it the Madison Parish sheriff. to the letter. Mock job inter- He says the move cost him a chance at a work-release job, face real employers. Within which could have gotten him days, he had secured a posi- back on his feet. He was will- tion at a restaurant on the ing to consider relocating up Riverwalk from a manager north if that job had led to a willing to give him a chance. permanent offer. On weekends, he waited In seven months living with tables. During the week, he his mother and young daugh- loaded a chicken boat. He ter in Gentilly, Best sent out recently started a new job at a numerous job applications. concrete plant in eastern New Despite two decades of experi- Orleans. ence in the hospitality industry, He is slowly earning back he did not get a single inter- the trust he lost with his view, a failure he attributes relatives, who used to hide in part to his criminal record. their wallets and car keys Patience and perseverance are from him. Now, he shares a must. In January, he moved a car with his mother and to Connecticut to try his luck mows her lawn in his spare there, and he is now employed time. He has a steady girl- as a restaurant cook. friend, instead of splitting his “Don’t stop, don’t give up,” time among “three or five” he said. “Even if you may women. have several doors closed and He often recites one of you’re on the brink of giving Hayden’s mantras: To stay up, one of those doors might out of trouble, he must open.” change “people, places and As part of a growing city- things.” He still keeps the wide re-entry initiative, the journal he started while in re- New Orleans Business Coun- entry. Recently, he returned cil is recruiting companies to the prison on Broad Street, willing to employ ex-offend- to their old ways. neatly dressed in a button- ers. But the solution is not as “You can’t distance yourself down shirt and jeans, not as a simple as providing jobs, said from them. They’re not on an convict, but as an inspirational Dwayne Bernal, president of island and you can expect them speaker for the class. Royal Engineering, who is coor- not to exist,” Bernal said. “If you “Look at me, I’m a big old boy, dinating the Business Council don’t provide that opportunity, I’m going to work in the morning effort. The thousands of former you will see recidivism.” and coming back tired,” Payton prisoners living in New Orleans Success story told his former cohorts. “I’m not also need help with housing, Kevin Payton is one success running from the police. There transportation and mental story to come out of Orleans ain’t nobody kicked my mom- health issues, or they will revert ma’s door in looking for me.”

8

AN UNLIKELY MODEL OF PRISON REFORM, TE X AS PUTS MORE PEOPLE IN TREATMENT AND FEWER PEOPLE IN PRISON — CUTTING COSTS AND THE CRIME RATE MAY 20, 2012

By Jonathan Tilove Sta! writer worth of powder cocaine, took a plea

HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS n the eve of their release, quickly revoked when he missed some inmates in their prison whites meetings and some payments. file silently into the churchly The rest — the aging pedophile fac- light of the Chapel of Hope in ing 16 years on parole, the chipper coun- the Texas State Penitentiary. terfeiter, the withered man with eight They slide into the pews for DWIs under his belt and a frightened the “Welcome Back” program look in his eyes — make their way to the conducted by the Rev. Emmett mangy Greyhound bus station. They Solomon, the former chief chaplain Ofor the Texas prisons, who, in his soft, a smoke, a snack or some newer used unhurried drawl, offers a few words of - wisdom. ton or Dallas. Freedom never looked so “Go slow. Don’t zoom. fraught or frayed. “Be thoughtful. There are no small “The one thing we know is they make decisions.” people worse,” said Solomon. Since He urges them to get involved in church or civic or political groups: “Join Restorative Justice Ministries Network, up, and you will never be as weak as you - are now.” tling the prison system, where he had And, come tomorrow, go with the But standing opposite the red brick “They know how to do this. They’ve of “The Walls,” as the Huntsville pris- on is called, Solomon is hardly forlorn, — 1.5 million. Let them do it their way. because here in the beating heart of the Put on your pleasant face and let it car- Texas prison system, he is a witness to ry you along.” change. But when tomorrow comes, these The state’s prison population has sta- men emerge from the custody of the bilized, an equilibrium made possible by Texas Department of Criminal Justice fewer people — like those making their — as 100 or more do every weekday — way past Solomon — sent to prison in like disoriented time travelers, squint- the first place or sent back for viola- ing into the bright light of a decade, tions, often minor. even a century, they have never inhabit- Texas accomplished this through an ed as free men, wearing cast-off clothes expansion of treatment and diversion and carrying their meager belongings programs and through sanctions short in recycled onion sacks. of incarceration for probationers and The lucky few are greeted by kin: parolees who make mistakes — two- The “Castaneda Family Reunion 2011” thirds of the prison admissions. These — as their T-shirts say — reclaiming changes have saved the state money their long-lost brother, son and lover and spared many the life-damaging with hugs, kisses and photographs, like experience of imprisonment. the graduation that it is. A prison guard from Galveston picking up his son: a CONTINUED 8

— CONTINUED —

Since 1997, the last year Tex- — so long the Lone Star State’s “It’s not a badge of honor to as’ incarceration rate exceeded soulmate on matters of crime and incarcerate more people than Louisiana’s, the Texas rate has punishment — bristle at being anybody else,” said Creuzot, who declined by nearly 10 percent the buckle on the incarceration has emerged as a leading apostle while Louisiana’s has soared by belt. of the Texas reform agenda. almost a third. It is a story of leadership, of “Texas is the beacon of hope, Most telling, Texas did some- a remarkable synergy between no doubt about it, and no reason thing last summer it had never the interests of right and left, that Louisiana can’t follow that done before: close a prison. and of a fiscal crisis in which it model,” said Will Harrell, a lead- “All of this is changing the men- was cheaper to invest in keeping ing figure in the reform effort tality of the criminal justice appa- people out of prison than to build as former head of the American ratus,” Solomon said. “They’re new prisons to keep them in. Civil Liberties Union of Texas seeing that people don’t neces- It may be that Louisiana’s pre- and ombudsman for the state’s sarily want us to lock them up dicament is so peculiar that the juvenile justice system, who now and throw away the key. They lessons of Texas are largely lost lives in New Orleans. Harrell is want us to be smart on crime on it. No other state has a sys- referring not just to what Texas because we know what works tem in which so many prisoners did but how it found the will and and what doesn’t from empirical are kept by local jailers with the the way to do it, how what for so evidence the last 10 years.” long appeared the most intracta- The state that burned its clout to maintain the status quo. ble issue gave way to consensus brand on the “lock-’em-up” age But “if they want a model, it’s that cut across partisan, ideologi- of American corrections has right next door,” said Dallas Dis- cal and racial lines. become the unlikely champion of trict Court Judge John Creuzot, a Reform gets results “smart on crime” penal reform, New Orleans native who presides Five years ago — already extolled across the ideological over a court that enables first- spectrum and emulated in one time drug offenders to escape a on prisons, probation and parole state after another. It is the obvi- criminal record if they complete — Texas faced the prospect of ous prototype should Louisiana the program. 8

— CONTINUED —

and operate new prisons to meet shutter the century-old Sugar Tough: The Rise of America’s the projected demand that would Land Central Unit. Prison Empire.” require 17,000 new beds by 2012. The Central Unit was an easy The changes in Texas are Instead, the Texas Legisla- mark: creaky, costly and occupy- neither novel nor unique. One ture, guided by state Sen. John ing coveted real estate in a plush state after another, including Whitmire, a wily, tightly coiled Houston suburb where million- most of its Southern sisters, are Houston Democrat who earned dollar homeowners won’t miss the working to reduce their prison his spurs riding herd on what he highway signs warning motorists populations. calls the “prison boys,” and Rep. not to pick up hitchhikers. What sets Texas apart, and Jerry Madden, a genial Repub- Any talk of Texas as a para- lican insurance man from Plano, gon of prison reform invites is that it has, because of its size, enacted an overhaul package that snide comments crediting capi- been able to demonstrate results - tal punishment — a Texas forte on an impressive scale — and ment programs and diversion exclusively executed within The without shedding its fearsome options. Gov. Rick Perry, who the Walls — with curbing the inmate reputation for punishment. previous session had vetoed a population. Texas still has more “Nobody can say Texas is not package crafted by the same two prisoners than any other state, legislators, signed it into law. more than all the states of the the reason Texas is now seen as a The result: Texas saved money, Northeast combined, and the model,” said Ana Yanez-Correa, the incarceration rate is down, fourth-highest incarceration rate who, as executive director of the probation and parole revocations in the nation, tied with Alabama, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, are down, the prison population behind Louisiana, Mississippi has honed her social justice advo- has remained stable, recidivism and Oklahoma. cacy into that of a measured and has been declining, the crime “It’s more that Texas has tak- widely respected voice in the Cap- rate continues to tumble to his- en a foot off the gas pedal than itol. “I think any state can do it.” toric lows, and instead of building changing direction or putting Or, to quote Whitmire, the a foot on the brake,” said Rob- million a pop, they were able to ert Perkinson, author of “Texas CONTINUED 8

— CONTINUED —

Democratic state biggest, most intrusive senator: “I’m not and most expensive. the smartest guy on “We need a crimi- nal justice system that supports self-gov- as that goes, but the ernment and freedom bottom line is this and markets and love ain’t rocket-science your neighbor, and all stuff.” the things we say we Perhaps, but, like care about,” said Tim Nixon to China, crim- Dunn, a Midland oil inal justice over- man and vice chair- haul is most effec- man of the Texas Pub- tively championed lic Policy Foundation, by tough-on-crime an influential con- conservatives. servative think tank. “ You’ve got to Dunn persuaded the establish your cre- foundation in 2005 dentials for being to launch the Center tough. I talk about for Effective Justice asking a masked and hire Marc Levin, guy not to shoot me a cheerfully wonk- and my family,” said ish movement con- Whitmire, referring servative who began to a harrowing expe- churning out position rience being robbed papers. Levin creat- by a crackhead at ed a national presence gunpoint along with for an approach that his wife and 9-year- came to be known as old daughter in the “right on crime” and, garage of their Hous- in Austin, became the ton home in 1992. yang to Yanez-Cor- Last September, rea’s yin — ideologi- when one of the men cal opposites who on responsible for the these issues spoke dragging death of with a single voice. James Byrd in Jasper It was also in 2005 ordered a smorgas- that Tom Craddick bord of Texas cook- Republican arsenal, leaving Dem- of Midland, the first ing for his last meal, only to lose ocrats to bleed or exceed. Republican House speaker since his appetite and not eat a bite, it Reconstruction, named Mad- was Whitmire who dashed off a and 1990s, under both Democratic den to head the Corrections letter the next day to Brad Liv- Gov. Ann Richards and Repub- Committee. ingston, the head of the prison lican Gov. George W. Bush, the “He said,’ Don’t build new pris- system, demanding a stop to let- state embarked on the largest ting the condemned choose their prison-building binge in the his- are the eight words that changed last meal, a privilege they “did tory of the free world, creating my life,” said Madden, who in not provide to their victim.” Liv- 100,000 new prisons beds and qua- November announced that he ingston quickly complied. drupling its inmate population. will not seek an 11th term to ‘Right on crime’ “We tried locking everybody devote himself to proselytizing For at least the past half cen- up,” Whitmire said. nationally on these issues. tury, criminal justice policy in But in the past several years, A West Point-trained engineer, America was a prisoner of fear, with the crime rate dropping, Dem- Madden sought to reduce the the citizenry’s fear of crime and ocrats left for dead, and money number of people entering pris- the politicians’ fear of being seen dear, Republicans began rethink- on by giving judges, prosecutors, as soft on crime. From Nixon’s ing their top dogma — building probation and parole officers a law-and-order campaign to the prisons or cutting taxes? Revi- deeper, broader range of treat- war on drugs to Willie Horton, sionists on the right came to view ment and punishment options for it was the sharpest shiv in the prisons as Big Government at its nonviolent offenders, enlisting 8

— CONTINUED —

the help of Levin and Yanez-Cor- it was driving our population.” another 10-month stretch, this rea in crafting a plan that ulti- Now, he said, “we’re not going time in a federal prison. mately won near-unanimous sup- to use one of our valuable prison No treatment there either, but port in the Legislature. beds. We’re going to send you to “seeing people get a lot of time Nearly as impressive, it sur- an intermediate sanction facility woke me up a bit.” vived the budget cutting of the for a little attitude adjustment, He stopped selling crack, he last session mostly intact. a little jail therapy to give you said, and started selling pot. The effort has its skeptics, like chance to demonstrate that you “I stayed out of jail, but I John Bradley, the district attor- just had a bad day.” wasn’t exactly acting right,” Pat- ney in Williamson County, who In 2005, Geraldine Nagy took ton said. has emerged as its most outspo- over as head of the Travis County After his 2010 arrest, Travis ken critic in Austin. Probation Department, with the County Probation recommended “I have no doubt that they will ambition to create a national model. sending Patton to the county’s not sustain it,” said Bradley, who “I just wanted to show that 20-week Smart residential sub- once served as Whitmire’s general probation could work — that it stance-abuse treatment facility counsel. “I know the public sup- could reduce recidivism and that as a last chance before a third port for funding of incarceration it could reduce costs, hand in trip to prison. has been steady and strong for hand,” Nagy said. “The view of the Probation over 100 years, whereas the pub- She streamlined and improved Department was, if he just goes lic understanding, acceptance and the interviewing of probationers, back to prison it won’t change support for programs that suppos- scrapped the rambling narra- his behavior. But if you can make edly reform are very ambivalent.” tives probation officers labored him change, we can see if we can But Rep. Charles Perry, a tea- to prepare in favor of crisp, color- get him out of the criminal jus- party-backed freshman from coded diagnostic matrices that tice system,” said Paul Ellis, the Lubbock who arrived in Austin provided judges and prosecutors senior probation officer at the as part of huge new Republican with better, clearer information Smart program. They saw Pat- class with “lock ‘em up” in his about a probationer’s risk fac- ton as at a point in his life where heart, was, on his appointment tors and criminal tendencies. She he might be ready to grow up. to the Corrections Committee, a put an end to the “false fairness” quick convert to the new regime. of treating all probationers the “limit-setter,” someone to keep a “We can all agree that we’d like same, realizing that paying too close eye and tight rein on. to lock up every guy that doesn’t much attention to those at the “I can see the reason why they abide by our laws, but that’s not least risk could be as counterpro- would want to watch me,” Pat- realistic. And I think that’s where ductive as paying too little atten- ton said. “I made a mistake right Texas tried to strike a balance tion to those at highest risk. after I was released each time.” Nagy said she took over a Smart worked on his drug balance. We have interjected, if department that “was very good problem, his attitudes and his val- you will, common sense,” Per- at what they were doing, but they ues. He had courses in parenting ry said. “I would think that with had a very limited mission and and problem solving, job hunting (Louisiana Gov. Bobby) Jindal that was to make sure if some- and basic social skills — “stuff over there, our kinds of reforms body messed up on probation they you think you’d already have.” would be warmly received. You were taken back to court and sanc- “I learned stress manage- don’t have to reinvent the wheel.” tioned. That’s not my vision of pro- ment,” he said. “I learned to stop But, he cautions, “you’ve got bation. My vision of probation is and think.” to have leadership, a visionary, broader than that. It’s also to use He’s now back home with his someone that’s willing to start probation as a window of opportu- wife, 12-year-old and 6-year-old over and not afraid to be bold nity to change a person’s life.” daughters, helping them with with those initiatives.” Like that of Antoine Patton. homework, dropping them off and Probation as opportunity picking them up from school. He The key, Whitmire said, is to arrested on marijuana charges recognize that parolees and pro- in Austin in 2010, he already had bationers “are going to have a two strikes against him. to stick,” Patton said. “I feel like bad day ... are not going to show I’m on the right path.” up sometimes, or show up and not have money for fees, and months in a state jail. He didn’t felony revocations in Travis some days might even show up get any treatment there. “I was dirty for drugs. In the past, those finding other people to mess “It’s the only business I know guys were routinely revoked and around with,” he said. “As soon where we don’t want repeat cus- I got out, I was right back in tomers,” Ellis said. trouble.” Another crack arrest, Except, of course, in Louisiana. 8

HOUSTON STOPS HELPING LOUISIANA FILL BEDS IN ITS FOR-PROFIT PRISONS By Jonathan Tilove wrong. It ended because of some- model, making money off each Sta! writer thing Harris County did right. HOUSTON The jail population in Har- and the less they spend on each - - of them the better. ris County Jail in Houston and cent in three years, and Sheriff It is no coincidence that Loui- the mundane LaSalle Correc- siana has both the highest incar- announced he wouldn’t be send- ceration rate and the lowest per- Louisiana, carried on a long-dis- ing prisoners to Louisiana any- capita spending on inmates in the tance relationship built on mutu- more, not to Olla and not to its nation. al dependency. other partner, an even further- The Texas jail, the third-larg- flung private prison, the West million population nearly equals est in the United States after Carroll Detention Center some those in Chicago and Los Ange- seven hours from Houston in consumes a third of the budget in les, was bursting at the seams. It Epps. a county reliant on diminishing had the federal Justice Depart- Between them, Olla and Epps property-tax receipts. Spending ment looking over its shoulder, — the latter one of a half-doz- and it was under enormous pres- en detention centers run by the years, to stash prisoners in Loui- sure to reduce overcrowding. In Emerald Prison Enterprises, siana and elsewhere in Texas, no 2007, the county’s voters had, another Louisiana-based outfit matter how cheap the per diem, by a narrow margin, nixed con- with facilities in Texas, Arizona was untenable. struction of a new jail. It des- and New Mexico as well as Loui- The biggest single factor in the perately needed places to send siana — had held as many as drop in the Harris County Jail more than a thousand prison- 1,200 of their inmates at a time, population was a decision not by ers it could no longer legally and according to Harris County. But Garcia, a Democrat, but by District safely accommodate. by the end of 2011, the aver- Attorney Pay Lykos, a Republican, The 750-bed LaSalle Correc- age daily population of the Har- ris County Jail, which had once Beginning in January 2010, the north of Alexandria, sits in the climbed above 12,000, had fall- Harris County district attorney’s middle of nowhere looking for office stopped bringing felony all the world like a warehouse. It charges against those arrested is one of 12 correctional centers For Olla and Epps, the break- with crack pipes or other drug in Louisiana and Texas run by up was tough. paraphernalia that contained LaSalle Corrections, a Louisi- “We’ll recoup, but it hit us pret- trace amounts — less than one- ty hard when they left,” Wind- hundredth of a gram — of drug ham said. residue, not even enough to allow beds and can provide them at a But for Harris County, the out- the defense to do its own indepen- very competitive price — pickup dent testing. That alone meant and delivery included. efforts to reduce its population that on any given day, there were So it was that every Sunday and curb recidivism were pay- the LaSalle bus with bars on the ing off. “It’s been more success- Meanwhile, with roughly a ful than we anticipated,” Garcia quarter of the jail population from Olla to Houston to swap said. And it showed what can exhibiting some kind of mental- prisoners whose time was up for happen when a jail’s bottom line health problem requiring psycho- a fresh batch with time to serve. is to reduce occupancy, not main- tropic medication, the county cre- “We didn’t have any prob- tain it. ated a crisis-intervention team to lems,” said LaSalle Warden Jeff Crisis intervention respond to police calls when men- Windham, a former chief deputy While the lockups in Olla and tal illness seemed a likely part of of the LaSalle Parish Sheriff’s Epps are private facilities — the mix and treatment might be paying annual sponsorship fees more appropriate than jail. Until the end of last year, when Garcia doubled the number of it all abruptly ended. chaplains in the jail from 100 to The relationship didn’t end of Epps — Louisiana’s local pris- 200, mostly volunteers, and insti- because of anything LaSalle did ons operate on the same business tuted a new earned early-release program for nonviolent offenders 8

actively participating in an edu- considered bogus drug charges. sent off to dealerships around the cational or vocational program. “I was going to the library and country. “What’s ground breaking Gonzalez said that before his about this is that we’re doing it in fliers: ‘You interested in taking time in jail, “I had veered off, not a jail setting as opposed to a pris- a course?’ There were several doing much of nothing positive. on,” said Wayne Heintze, direc- choices,” Gonzalez said. The one I was a functioning addict, doing tor of chaplaincy services for the on auto repair caught his eye. “I odd jobs here and there and play- jail, where the average stay is ing around with alcohol, drugs, only a month and no one is serv- little knowledge of that. Let me dealing with the devil. I got in ing longer than a year. “These get into that. I was waiting to go trouble. I’ve been running from are short-time folks. However, on trial, fighting my case, but I the Lord.” the recidivism is there. They do just enrolled in the class, trying But now, he said, pushing come back. If you look at the to learn as much as I could while 50 with a grown daughter and I was there. grandchildren, “I’m putting the folks we have come in, over the “It opened my eyes to a lot of foolish things behind me. I’ve course of the next three years, new materials, different kinds grown up mentally. I want to see will come back. Now some stud- of paints, how to refurbish head- my grandkids grow up, and I ies have shown that if you plug lights, lots of things,” he said of want to take them fishing. It’s them into a program, plug them the course taught by Gustavo time to make up for the things I into a church, plug them into a Gomez, an instructor from Hous- did not do.” job, into education — whatever it ton Community College. Gonzalez thanks God, and he takes to plug them back into soci- Ultimately, nearing a year thanks Gomez. ety — that number drops you to locked up, Gonzalez relented Back in Olla, Warden Wind- about 15 percent. There’s a huge and pleaded out in exchange for ham said, “We’re just trying to percent for us to capture there.” time served. After his release, build back up with DOC (Louisi- ‘It opened my eyes’ he was able to use his training to ana Department of Corrections) Jesus Gonzalez was “captured” get work at the Port of Houston, inmates.” Jefferson Parish, he while awaiting trial on what he touching up Volkswagens that said, can always be counted on to arrive at the port before they are provide a steady supply.