US appeals court temporarily suspends order to better protect Angolan farm workers from heat

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — A federal appeals court has temporarily stayed an order that would have required the state to create a plan to better protect inmates sentenced to farm work at the Louisiana State Penitentiary from extreme heat.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson ordered the state of Louisiana to change the policies and procedures surrounding the Farm Line program at the prison, commonly called Angola. The order applied only to the plan, which goes into effect when temperatures are 88 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, and required more specific policies to protect inmates from heat-related health threats. The state was required to develop its plan and file it with the court within seven days.

Last week, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals granted the state a temporary stay through Friday, July 19, in an unpublished order. Plaintiffs have already filed a response, and the state has indicated its intention to file its response to that document on Tuesday, July 9, to speed up the process.

Voice of the Experienced (VOTE) and eight men currently in prison asked for the Farm Line to be closed because of the heat. It’s part of an ongoing lawsuit over working conditions. The first lawsuit was filed in September in the Western District of Louisiana. Plaintiffs allege that the conditions are cruel and violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The state claims that closing the Farm Line during high temperatures will force Louisiana to buy food to replace what would normally be harvested by inmates. Defendants say current guidelines are sufficient to keep people safe and that the state should not be held to a higher standard than other Louisiana farmers.

They also argue that the order violates the Prison Litigation Reform Act, a 1996 law that makes it harder for prisoners to file and succeed in federal court. There are narrow parameters for what can be changed as a result of a lawsuit.

VOTE and the other plaintiffs said the current guidelines fail to provide a basic level of care to help inmates avoid heat stroke or other health problems that can be caused by high humidity and temperatures. They also said the work is purely punitive and the equivalent of modern-day slavery.

Jackson noted in his order that there were several examples of inmates with health conditions or taking specific medications working the Farm Line in high temperatures, despite existing policies. He also said that information provided by the state was sometimes unclear and contradictory.

A trial date has been set for September 30.

The defendants include Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections Secretary James LeBlanc; Warden Timothy Hooper; Prison Enterprises Director Misty Stagg; the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections; and Prison Enterprises.

According to a press release, PJI, Rights Behind Bars and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP represent the plaintiffs.

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