Why “The Worst Prison In America” Was Also Called “The Bloodiest Prison In America”
The largest maximum security prison in the United States houses 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff on 18,000 acres and is called a “gated community.”
Murders and bloody fights occurred, and prisoners were tortured, beaten, sexually abused, and often kept in solitary confinement — for lengthy periods in this Southern prison,,, also known as the “Alcatraz of the South.”
The Walls
Louisiana’s first Penitentiary was begun in 1832 in what is now downtown Baton Rouge. It was called “The Walls” because the buildings and yards were behind tall enclosed structures. During the 82 years it was open (1835–1917), it housed thousands of men, women, children, blacks, and whites. The cells were 7 ft. x 3.5 ft. with concrete floors and no bed or mattress!
“In Louisiana, black women were put in cells with male prisoners and some became pregnant. In 1848, legislators passed a new law declaring that all children born in the penitentiary of African-American parents serving life sentences…
