All our children deserve to flourish and have equal access to opportunity, regardless of the color of their skin.
Because of the unprecedented action you have taken, the State is locking up children — mostly Black boys and many with histories of trauma — in abusive conditions inside the former death row building at Angola.
These children are being deprived of their right to rehabilitation services and education, they are being separated from their families and they are being held in abusive conditions of solitary confinement in sweltering cells.
What was supposed to be temporary has turned into nearly a year of unconscionable abuse.
Louisiana is the only state in the nation that holds kids in the juvenile delinquency system in an adult maximum-security prison. Pursuing the Angola plan has made Louisiana the first in the nation for the wrong reason, and it has made Louisiana a national pariah.
You have another choice. You can invest in Louisiana's young people by investing in rehabilitation, treatment, and care.
Governor Edwards, end the abuse. Get kids out of Angola now.
Instead, invest in community-based programs and interventions that protect youth, provide them the skills they need to get back on track, and improve public safety.
