Louisiana State Penitentiary : Photo Album

Here are some great pictures from Louisiana State Penitentiary.  Click each thumbnail to see the full-size picture.

Main Prison Complex

The East Yard consists of 16 minimum and medium custody inmate dormitories and 1 maximum custody extended lockdown cellblock which houses long term extended lockdown inmates, inmates needing mental health attention, protective custody inmates, and in-transit administrative segregation inmates.

The West Yard consists of 16 minimum and medium custody inmate dormitories, 3 maximum custody working cellblocks, 2 administrative segregation cellblocks, and the Treatment Center which houses geriatric, hospice, and in-transit ill inmates.

Outcamps

Camp C consists of 8 minimum and medium custody dormitories, 1 extended lockdown cellblock, and 1 cellblock housing administrative segregation and working cellblock inmates.

Camp D consists of 8 minimum and medium custody dormitories, 1 working cellblock, and 1 cellblock housing administrative segregation and extended lockdown inmates.

Camp F consists of 4 minimum custody dormitories, and the Dog Pen.  The Dog Pen utilizes and contains beds for 11 minimum custody inmates.

Camp J consists of 4 extended lockdown cellblocks that houses inmates with disciplinary problems and 1 dormitory which houses medium and minimum custody inmates responsible for housekeeping functions of Camp J.

Other Locations

The Reception Center consists of 101 extended lockdown cells dedicated for inmates who have received the Death sentence (Death Row) and 1 minimum custody dormitory that houses inmates responsible for the housekeeping functions of the Reception Center.

Point Lookout Cemetery, the prisoner cemetery at LSP, is nestled at the base of the Tunica Hills on the prison's north side, surrounded by a white rail fence.  Scant information exists about its beginnings, but several "old-timers"--prisoners and employees--say it was located there after the 1927 flood covered much of Angola and washed away the existing cemetery near the river between the current Camp D and Camp C.  After the flood waters receded, caskets and remains were strewn along the levee, separated from grave markers and unidentifiable.  Those remains were reburied at Point Lookout, in what prison officials later discovered was a large, common grave.  White concrete grave markers, weathered but immaculately maintained and watched over by stately oaks, are arranged in military style rows giving it a sense of order.  At an area in the center no markers stand, disturbing the otherwise perfect symmetry.  Underneath lie the remains of those displaced by the flood and forever unknown.  In September 2001 a memorial, standing just inside the cemetery entrance, was dedicated to the unknown buried there.

    The original Point Lookout is full, its 331 grave markers are no testimony to the true number buried there.  In the mid-nineties an annex opened just across the road, 100 yards to the East.  With capacity for more than 700 graves, Point Lookout II has 90 prisoners buried there to date.  The youngest prisoner interred was 31, the oldest 83.  Until January 2002, when a cemetery was opened at Hunt Correctional Center near Baton Rouge, all state prisoners who died and not claimed by family, were buried at Point Lookout.

    Each Spring a group of prisoner-volunteers who form the "Point Lookout Project" refurbish the cemetery--painting grave markers, repairing broken ones and making sure flowers are placed on each grave.  The "Point Lookout Project" is sponsored by two inmate self-help clubs and, under the auspices of Warden Burl Cain, provides dignified funerals for prisoners buried at Angola.

The LSP Emergency Medical Services Department personnel (EMTs) are located in the Fire Station.  This department is responsible for all pre-hospital emergency care and transportation for the sick and injured inmate population and staff.  Mutual aid is also provided to the surrounding community.  In addition, this department provides:  pre-hospital medical coverage for public events (e.g., Angola Rodeo, Revivals, Arts and Crafts events, etc.), sick calls, Triage, and Assessment and Triage Unit coverage for the staff and inmate population.  These services are provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with 39 highly skilled and motivated Emergency Medical Technicians at the Basics, Intermediate, and Paramedic level.  LSP has six advanced life support ambulances that are certified through the same agencies that certify private ambulance services.  

Front Gate Visiting Processing Center is a new modern-day designed building with a rated capacity of 272 persons.  The Visiting Processing Center is the location where all inmates' visitors are received and processed.  The processing center is equipped with state of the art equipment, such as metal detectors, an x-ray machine, drug interdiction devices, and a modern computerized system for the prompt processing of visitors.  

St. Augustine Church is located on the grounds of LSP and is recognized as a Catholic Church by the Diocese of Baton Rouge.  The chapel was built in the early 1950's by inmates and has been staffed by a Catholic Priest since its existence.  The chapel was used for Sunday Mass by inmates until around 1960.  It was later used in the 1990's for security and their families for Sunday Mass by Rev. Joel LaBauve.  But it wasn't until the year 2000 when current Catholic Priest, Rev. Maynard Hurst, received permission to conduct services for minimum custody trusty inmates, along with staff and their families.  Holy Masses are now celebrated an average of once or twice a month on Saturday afternoon.

The New Life Interfaith Chapel was dedicated in 1982.  The chapel was built by the Louisiana Inter-Church Conference, the Louisiana Baptist Convention, and the State of Louisiana with contributions from the churches and citizens of Louisiana.  The Interfaith Chapel has a seating capacity for 145 people and each month holds approximately 50 regular services and religious programs for main prison inmates.  Inmates housed at the out camps also participate in special programs conducted in the Interfaith Chapel.  Inmates have the opportunity to worship with various denominations, including Baptist, Catholic, Pentecostal, Islamic, etc., on a regular basis.