BATON ROUGE— A federal judge is giving the Louisiana State Penitentiary a week to come up with a plan to protect prisoners working outside from extreme heat after advocates sued the prison in September.Judge Brian Jackson issued a temporary restraining order that will prevent Angola officials from sending prisoners to work on the Farm Line when heat index values reach or exceed 88 degrees. The state must send a memorandum detailing its proposed solutions.  In his opinion, Jackson argued Angola fails to meet the minimum federal and state requirements for heat safety."The wealth of evidence here shows that incarcerated person laboring on the Farm line are not provided with shade, sunscreen, or required rest breaks. Further, the declarations from named Plaintiffs uniformly provide that breaks are seldomly given, that the water provided is dirty, that they are required to work beyond their physical capacities and that they are not provided with other necessary protective equipment," wrote Jackson.Lydia Wright, Associate Director Civil Litigation at the Promise of Justice Initiative and one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, praised the ruling.“Today’s ruling is validation that the unconstitutional and inhumane conditions of forced labor that exist at Louisiana State Penitentiary will no longer stand unchallenged,” said Wright.The ruling comes as most of the state remains under either an extreme heat alert or advisory. West Feliciana Parish is under an excessive heat warning, meaning heat index values exceed 113 degrees. Permalink| Comments