Louisiana Illuminator
BRIEF
An inmate takes out the trash at the Department of Corrections headquarters in downtown Baton Rouge. (Photo provided by Louisiana Department of Corrections)
The schedules for prison work crews who clean Louisiana state government office buildings in downtown Baton Rouge has been altered because of the threat of the Delta variant of COVID-19. There is also a possible COVID-19 outbreak at the prison where the crews usually live.
Incarcerated people who typically clean Baton Rouge state offices are now being asked to work at night as opposed to during the day so that they can limit contact with the state employees who work in those buildings. The prisoners who work in the Louisiana Capitol Cafeteria have been pulled completely from their work assignments causing the restaurant to temporarily shut down.
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In 2006, Randy Lavespere, a Louisiana doctor, was convicted of buying $8,000 of methamphetamine in a Home Depot parking lot with intent to distribute. He served two years in prison, and his medical license was revoked. But even though he had been convicted of a felony and barred from practicing medicine in most circumstances, he was allowed to treat patients in at least one setting: Louisiana state prisons.
In November 2009, just one month after the Louisiana State Medical Board reinstated his medical license and put him on indefinite probation, Lavespere was hired as a physician at the largest maximum security prison in the country, Louisiana State Penitentiary better known as Angola, after the plantation on which it was built. Lavespere rose through the ranks at the prison, becoming the institution’s medical director in November 2014, less than three weeks after his license was fully reinstated. Earlier this year, he was promoted again, and now serves as the top doct
Guy Frank, 67, became a free man on April 8, after serving 21 years of a 23-year sentence. The Innocence Project New Orleans (IPNO) worked to get Frank out of prison two years early.
At Least Seven States Have Prison Inmates Working in Governors Mansions and Capitol Buildings
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When activist Sam Sinyangwe was awaiting a meeting with the governor’s office at the Louisiana state capitol building in Baton Rouge, he noticed something odd. A black man in a dark-blue jumpsuit was printing papers while a correctional guard with a badge and gun stood watching over him. The pair stood out against the white, middle-aged legislators populating the building.
Sinyangwe said he did not know exactly what he was looking at, until he saw another black man in the same dark-blue outfit serving food at the capitol building’s cafeteria. This time, Sinyangwe noticed that the man had a patch on his chest labeling him a prisoner of the Louisiana State Department of Corrections, complete with an identification number.
DOC reinstates visitation at Louisianaâs state-run prisons By WAFB Staff | March 11, 2021 at 2:44 PM CST - Updated March 11 at 3:18 PM
The following information is from the department of public safety and corrections:
This week, the Louisiana Department of Corrections (DOC) will phase in visitation at Louisianaâs state-run prisons, beginning Saturday, March 13, 2021, at some facilities and Monday, March 15, 2021, for others. As Louisiana moves into Phase 3 and the COVID-19 vaccine availability increases, the DOC continues its work with the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) to maintain safe operations during the pandemic. This includes the development and implementation of reopening plans following LDHâs COVID-19 guidance. Visitation schedules and procedures will vary by prison depending on the space available to offer safe visitation.