The following description came by letter from a prisoner being held in solitary in a Louisiana state prison. His name and the name of his prison are withheld to protect against the possibility of retaliation.

I am being housed in solitary in the worst, most unconstitutional conditions in Louisiana–even worse and more strict than the infamous Angola.

According to the Department of Justice Bureau of Statistics, only one percent of Louisiana law suits make it to trial, let alone win or change anything.  The local FBI will only investigate murders or rapes involving correctional officers, so getting good help is futile to say the least…

We’re being forced to wear handcuffs and schackles in the exercise pens which is just a start–the equivalent of no rec or exercise in a period of over 10 months. That’s just for me. Some of these guys have been down here for years.

We are even forced to have all sick call visits and psychiatric visits while we are in our cells in the hearing range of all the other inmates and guards. Social workers, psychiatrists, nurses etc. stand in the hall (on the cat walk) in front of our cells. Our cells have only one opening. This is the equivalent of no treatment at all with people being mocked and ridiculed by what they say.

This is only a couple of things, but serious enough to warrant a federal investigation…

We need help!