Abraham Jewett  |  October 18, 2021

Category: Discrimination

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Death Row & Class Action Settlement
(Photo Credit: Katherine Welles/Shutterstock)

Death Row Prisoners Constitutional Rights Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

  • Who: A settlement agreement was finalized between death row prisoners at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola and the Department of Corrections. 
  • Why: Death row inmates argued their constitutional rights were being violated by the conditions they were forced to live in at the penitentiary.
  • Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Louisiana federal court.

A settlement agreement has been finalized to formally settle a class action lawsuit brought by around 70 death row prisoners housed at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. 

Death row prisoners argued in their 2017 class action lawsuit that their constitutional rights were being violated by being forced to stay in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day. 

The settlement agreement mandates that death row prisoners will get at least four hours outside of their cells each day, get an hour-long communal lunch five days a week, and get at least five hours of outside “yard” time each week, The Lens reports. 

Death row prisoners at the facility will also have access to a variety of educational courses and have access to group worship once every week. 

The Department of Correction (DOC) will be required to check in with the death row prisoners’ attorneys each month with records of how they are doing, in addition to allowing yearly inspections, The Lens reports. 

The DOC will be allowed to file a motion in four years to terminate the settlement agreement, if it feels so inclined. 

The penitentiary has already long-implemented the majority of what is mandated in the class action settlement agreement, according to the DOC, which loosened certain restrictions only months after complaint was filed. At the time, the DOC claimed the changes were not in response to the class action lawsuit. 

Prior to the class action lawsuit, death row prisoners at the Louisiana penitentiary were kept in their cells 23 hours a day and let out only to walk the prison halls, according to the class action.

Three days a week they were given an hour of outside time which consisted of being locked in small, concrete-floored cages. Now, the death row prisoners yard is mandated to have a basketball hoop, weights, and a grassy area. 

Female inmates within the New Jersey DOC’s Edna Mahan Correctional Facility may be entitled to part of a nearly $8 million class action settlement to resolve allegations of sexual abuse and harassment by staff at the facility

Do you believe death row prisoners should be entitled to more activities, outside time, and social interaction? Let us know in the comments! 


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