From The Marshall Project:
It’s hot outside. Really, really hot.
I’m writing this newsletter from southern Louisiana, where the heat index has easily cleared 100 degrees Fahrenheit every day for the past week, with no relief in sight.
For the men picking crops on the “farm line” at Louisiana State Penitentiary, better known as Angola prison, that means a “substantial risk of injury or death,” according to a temporary restraining order granted by federal judge Brian Jackson last month. He wrote that prison officials had shown “deliberate indifference” to the risks for workers. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld most of Jackson’s ruling weeks later, calling it “common sense” that “working for long hours in the summer sun without shade, sufficient rest, or adequate protective equipment poses serious health risks.” The rulings are supposed to force the Louisiana Department of Corrections to make changes that improve safety for incarcerated laborers. Continue reading >>>
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