A Louisiana sheriff faced a torrent of criticism Thursday after video surfaced in which he touted the importance of keeping “good” prisoners incarcerated to perform money-saving menial labor, comments some said depicted a form of modern-day slavery.
The controversy comes as a state with a notoriously large incarcerated population begins to implement a series of prison reforms.
Steve Prator, the sheriff of Caddo Parish, which includes the city of Shreveport and some surrounding areas, described state prisoners as a “necessary evil to keep the doors open” at the jail his office runs.
Among those are “the ones that you can work, that’s the ones that can pick up trash, the work release programs,” Prator said.
“In addition to the bad ones, and I call these bad, in addition to them, they’re releasing some good ones that we use every day to wash cars, to change oil in our cars, to cook in the kitchens, to do all that where we save money,” he said.
Prator made the comments during a news conference last week on the new state laws that will reduce the number of incarcerated residents at the jail, the Caddo Correctional Center in Shreveport, La., and other prison facilities across the state: About 60 of the approximately 350 state prisoners in the jail’s custody will be released when the laws take effect in November, said Cindy Chadwick, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...g-slavery-comparisons/?utm_term=.63271e27a8ae
The controversy comes as a state with a notoriously large incarcerated population begins to implement a series of prison reforms.
Steve Prator, the sheriff of Caddo Parish, which includes the city of Shreveport and some surrounding areas, described state prisoners as a “necessary evil to keep the doors open” at the jail his office runs.
Among those are “the ones that you can work, that’s the ones that can pick up trash, the work release programs,” Prator said.
“In addition to the bad ones, and I call these bad, in addition to them, they’re releasing some good ones that we use every day to wash cars, to change oil in our cars, to cook in the kitchens, to do all that where we save money,” he said.
Prator made the comments during a news conference last week on the new state laws that will reduce the number of incarcerated residents at the jail, the Caddo Correctional Center in Shreveport, La., and other prison facilities across the state: About 60 of the approximately 350 state prisoners in the jail’s custody will be released when the laws take effect in November, said Cindy Chadwick, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...g-slavery-comparisons/?utm_term=.63271e27a8ae
