KIDS DON'T BELONG IN AMERICA'S WORST PRISON!

The Governor's decision to house youth at Angola State Prison is cruel and outrageous. Angola is an adult facility built on former slave quarters that is historically known for horrific violence, abuse, and sexual assaults caused by institutional and systemic violence. To house children at this facility demonstrates the Governor’s lack of understanding of developmentally-appropriate rehabilitation and commitment to dismantling systems of racism and oppression in Louisiana.

Our leaders have not done nearly enough to ensure children, especially Black and brown children, entrusted in their care are safe, healthy, and getting the rehabilitative services they need. Instead, the state continues to ignore the needs of young people and their communities and perpetuate a cycle of harm.

We urge you to join our fight for children’s rights by signing this petition demanding that Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards:

· Immediately halt transfers of youth to Angola State Prison. Housing youth in the same facilities as adult inmates is in violation of children’s human rights and safety.

· Investigate the Office of Juvenile Justice’s failures to keep children safe in their custody.

· Call a special meeting of the Juvenile Justice Reform Act Implementation Commission (JJRAIC) to review alternative options and hear from youth justice experts.

· Place a moratorium on OJJ expenditures for the building or renovation of new, existing, or repurposed facilities and immediately downsize prison populations by initiating the removal of youth, especially those held for non-violent offenses.

· Commit to bringing in national experts provided by the JJRAIC Chair and Vice Chair to help assess our needs and develop an appropriate plan of action.

· Invest in and ensure access to education and holistic rehabilitative services for children rather than increasingly harsh punitive measures that escalate state violence against youth.

· Recommit to the evidence-based models that support youth rehabilitation, education, and wellbeing such as the Missouri Model.

· Commit to banning authorized use of force including pepper spray and tasers.

· Ban the use of solitary confinement for children.