Idaho Inmates Riot In Louisiana

Idaho inmates rioted at a private prison in Louisiana early Tuesday, destroying beds and light fixtures and smashing windows, televisions and microwave ovens.

The 101 Idaho inmates and one Louisiana prisoner were locked down in eight segregation cells, 12 to a cell, and in part of a dorm at the Basile Detention Center. They were questioned one by one about the hourlong disturbance, which ended only when guards fired tear gas into the dormitories.

One guard suffered a minor cut, but prison officials said there were no other injuries. Property damage was estimated at $30,000 to $35,000.

Floyd Antley, operations manager for Louisiana Corrections Services Inc., which runs the prison, said it’s “very possible” some of the inmates will face charges in Louisiana.

“They could range from anything from inciting a riot, participation in a riot, criminal damage to property, there could be a number of charges,” he said.

If Idaho inmates are convicted on Louisiana charges, Antley said, “I assume what they would have to do is finish their Idaho time, then they would probably serve the remainder of their sentence right here at the same facility.”

Those offenses are misdemeanors under Louisiana law, according to the Law Library of Louisiana. But inciting or participating in a riot that causes either serious bodily injury or more than $5,000 in damage is a felony punishable by up to five years imprisonment at hard labor.

Relatives of Idaho inmates reacted with horror to the news.

“This is just a nightmare,” said Tena Nielson, whose fiance was among those taken to segregation cells after the incident.

“He repeatedly told me that he was really scared that they were going to have a riot, because he’s almost done with his time,” Nielson said. “He wants to get done.”

Mark Carnopis, Idaho Correction Department spokesman, said the 15 or 20 inmates who instigated the disturbance probably will be transferred to another facility in Louisiana “that will be better equipped to handle them. That means cells, basically.”

There have been complaints from the 300 Idaho inmates since they were sent to Louisiana last month for lack of prison space in Idaho. Many have objected to the dormitory-style housing, which has bunk beds for 60 men, toilets and showers all in an open room fully visible to guards.

Prisons in Texas and Minnesota that are housing Idaho inmates also have some dormitory-style housing, as do some Idaho prisons. Carnopis said the Louisiana prison officials have agreed to consider screening toilet areas in the prison for privacy because of the complaints. “They’re looking for fabric right now,” he said.

“We’re still very comfortable with the facility out there,” Carnopis said. “They responded to this in a very professional manner, the security out there and the prison officials. It was basically defused within an hour, and no one was injured.”

Antley said he expected to have one of the three damaged dormitories repaired and reopened by the end of the day Tuesday. Repairs to the other two may take another day or two, he said.

“We’ll put the beds back down, secure them to the floor again,” he said. “They may not have a microwave, and may not have a television set that they destroyed.”

Prison officials have been meeting with inmates about their complaints, and Antley said close to 50 Idaho inmates have been given prison jobs, such as working in the kitchen. Under terms of the prison’s contract with Idaho, the inmates who work are paid 25 cents an hour.

The 200 Louisiana inmates at the facility aren’t paid for working prison jobs, Antley said, but that hasn’t caused friction between the two groups. Louisiana inmates get time off their sentences for good behavior, which Idaho law doesn’t allow.

“It kind of balances off,” he said.

Phillip Carle, an Idaho inmate in one of the unaffected dorms, said Tuesday, “We’re locked down 23 hours a day in a garage, basically. We have to urinate and do our bodily functions in front of female guards. We just don’t like it. We want to be treated like human beings.”

Antley said the disturbance, which started about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, was the first at Basile or at any of his company’s private prisons.

“You have a lot of people that are a long way from home,” he said. “They’re not happy to be here. Unfortunately, they can’t choose where they’re going to do time. It’s just the way the game works, you know.”

, DataTimes