Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women

Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women
Location 7205 LA-74
St. Gabriel, Louisiana
Status Temporarily closed due to August 2016 flooding
Security class mixed
Capacity 1100
Opened 1961
Managed by Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections

Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women (LCIW) is a prison for women located in St. Gabriel, Louisiana. It is the only female correctional facility of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. Elayn Hunt Correctional Center is immediately west of LCIW.[1] LCIW includes the state's female death row.[2] As of 2017 the prison is temporarily closed due to flooding that occurred in August 2016, and its prisoners are housed in other prisons.

History

In 1961 the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women opened on the grounds of a former prison farm camp. Female inmates were moved from the Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola) to LCIW.[3] A 200 bed dormitory intended to alleviate an overcrowding of female prisoners was scheduled to open in the northern hemisphere spring of 1995.[4] In 1995 the state received federal approval for its plan to double-bunk inmates. That way the state could transfer state-sentenced female prisoners who were held in parish jails to the women's prison.[5] The television special 900 Women: Inside St. Gabriel's Prison is about the women inside the facility.[6]

2016 flooding

In August 2016 the facility, which had 985 prisoners,[7] experienced flooding, ranging from 8 inches (200 mm) to 3 feet (0.91 m).[8] LCIW, the only state-operated prison to receive flooding during that incident, temporarily closed.[7] It was the first time in state history that the whole population of a particular prison was evacuated to other facilities.[9]

LCIW prisoners were immediately transferred to the former C. Paul Phelps Correctional Center a facility near DeQuincy, which received 678 prisoners; the private Louisiana Transitional Center for Women in Tallulah, which received 221 prisoners; Avoyelles Parish Jail in Marksville, which received 47 prisoners; and Angola, which received 39 prisoners.[7] By September the prisoners housed near DeQuincy were transferred to the former Jetson Youth Center, a youth prison near Baker which closed in 2014.[10] As of 2017 the prisoners are divided between Jetson, where the administration of LCIW is temporarily located; Angola; and Elayn Hunt.[11]

Demographics

As of circa the 2010s the prison has about 1,100 prisoners. 80% of the prisoners had children. 126 of the prisoners had sentences of six or fewer years, 126 had life sentences, and two had death sentences. Many prisoners were convicted of drug use and/or of prostitution, as Louisiana law treats prostitution as a sexual offense.[12]

Programs

The prison has the Program for Caring Parents and the Christmas Extravaganza, and women may also participate in some programs offered by Hunt Correctional Center.[12]

Notable inmates

Death row

Non-death row:

  • Amy Hebert - She was held at LCIW as a pretrial inmate since Lafourche Parish lacked adequate facilities for female inmates who needed medical care,[14] and she remained at LCIW as a sentenced felon[15]

References

  1. ↑ "Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women." Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. Retrieved on August 24, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Classification–Where Inmates Serve Their Time." Inside the System: How Inmates Live and Work. Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections. 14/40. Retrieved on June 30, 2010.
  3. ↑ "LOUISIANA CORRECTINS TIMELINE." [sic] The Advocate. March 12, 2000. News 13A. Retrieved on August 29, 2010. "1961 Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women opened in an old prison farm camp at St Gabriel with female prisoners moved from Angola..."
  4. ↑ "Women inmates overflow prisons, parish jails in La.." The Advocate. December 1, 1994. Retrieved on August 29, 2010. "this spring when the state opens a 200-bed dormitory complex now under construction at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women in St. Gabriel"
  5. ↑ "State to double-bunk women inmates." The Advocate. November 18, 1995. Retrieved on August 29, 2010.
  6. ↑ "900 Women: Inside St. Gabriel's Prison." The New York Times. Retrieved on August 29, 2010.
  7. 1 2 3 Lau, Maya (2016-08-30). "Louisiana women's prison shuttered after flood, nearly 1,000 inmates relocated to various lockups". The Advocate. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  8. ↑ Nakamoto, Chris (2016-08-23). "Crews begin cutting road to relieve flooding". WBRZ. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  9. ↑ Chawla, Kiran (2016-08-24). "Mold growing inside women's prison where floodwaters refuse to recede". WAFB. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  10. ↑ Chawla, Kiran (2016-09-09). "Hundreds of evacuated female inmates transferred to closed EBR youth center". WAFB. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  11. ↑ "Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women." Louisiana Department of Corrections. Retrieved on June 29, 2017. Archive, Archive #2
  12. 1 2 Piche, Brianna; Kieu Tran; Josh Auzenne (digital). "Mother tells of life behind bars". WAFB. Retrieved 2016-12-27.
  13. ↑ "Ex-officer denies link to bone find." Associated Press at The Dallas Morning News. November 12, 1995. Retrieved on October 14, 2010. "Robert Jenkins, Ms. Frank's attorney, said he discussed the case with Ms. Frank last week at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women in St. Gabriel, where she is awaiting execution.."
  14. ↑ Fontenot, Brian (2007-08-28). "Hebert transferred to St. Gabriel". Houma Times. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  15. ↑ Ruffin, Sophia (2009-05-20). "Mom will live out her days at state prison". Houma Times. Retrieved 2017-01-24.

Coordinates: 30°15′47″N 91°04′23″W / 30.26306°N 91.07306°W / 30.26306; -91.07306

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