Misplaced Pages

#120879

95-554: The housing of the warden of Dixon is in a pastoral setting by a lake. Dixon, which opened in 1976, was the first medium security prison in Louisiana. 7.5% of Dixon's beds are classified as "maximum security." Burl Cain served as the warden of DCI until he was named in the same position at Angola. By 1997 Cain continued to live at DCI even though he was by that time the warden of Angola. Therefore LeBlanc lived in his own house, 7 miles (11 km) away, and received $ 4,810 annually by

190-791: A 501(c)(4) corporation–called ACLU–which is entitled to lobby. Both organizations share staff and offices. ACLU affiliates are the basic unit of the ACLU's organization and engage in litigation, lobbying, and public education. For example, in 2020, the ACLU's New Jersey chapter argued 26 cases before the New Jersey Supreme Court , about one-third of the total cases heard in that court. They sent over 50,000 emails to officials or agencies and had 28 full-time staff. A leaked ACLU memo from June 2018 said that speech that can "inflict serious harms" and "impede progress toward equality" may be

285-502: A 38-month sentence in federal prison; both were also ordered to serve two years of supervised release and to pay more than $ 42,000 in restitution. American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union ( ACLU ) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C. , and Puerto Rico . The ACLU provides legal assistance in cases where it considers civil liberties at risk. Legal support from

380-399: A barrage of local ordinances that banned screenings deemed immoral or obscene. Even public health films portraying pregnancy and birth were banned, as was Life magazine's April 11, 1938, issue, which included photos of the birth process. The ACLU fought these bans but did not prevail. The Catholic Church attained increasing political influence in the 1930s; it used its influence to promote

475-522: A contentious six-hour debate – Flynn was voted off the ACLU's board. The 1940 resolution was considered by many to be a betrayal of its fundamental principles. The resolution was rescinded in 1968, and Flynn was posthumously reinstated to the ACLU in 1970. The ACLU had a decidedly mixed civil liberties record during World War II. While there were far fewer sedition prosecutions than in World War I, this did not mean that President Roosevelt

570-472: A county demanding the removal of a Ten Commandments display from its courthouse; a second Ten Commandments case in the state, in a different county, led to a $ 74,462 judgment. The State of Tennessee was required to pay $ 50,000, the State of Alabama $ 175,000, and the State of Kentucky $ 121,500, in similar Ten Commandments cases. Most of the organization's workload is performed by its local affiliates. There

665-590: A crime." The De Jonge case marked the start of an era lasting for a dozen years, during which Roosevelt appointees (led by Hugo Black , William O. Douglas , and Frank Murphy ) established a body of civil liberties law. In 1938, Justice Harlan F. Stone wrote the famous "footnote four" in United States v. Carolene Products Co. in which he suggested that state laws which impede civil liberties would – henceforth – require compelling justification. Senator Robert F. Wagner proposed

760-687: A former Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives and the Louisiana State Senate , and Alton Cain. Commissioner Cain holds a degree from Louisiana State University at Alexandria and a master's degree in criminal justice from Grambling State University in Lincoln Parish . He began his career with the Louisiana branch of the American Farm Bureau Federation . He

855-509: A legal aid society centered on store front offices in low-income neighborhoods. The ACLU directors rejected that proposal. Other ACLU members wanted the ACLU to shift focus into the political arena and be more willing to compromise their ideals to strike deals with politicians. The ACLU leadership also rejected this initiative. The ACLU's support of defendants with unpopular, sometimes extreme, viewpoints has produced many landmark court cases and established new civil liberties. One such defendant

950-552: A lower priority for the organization. The ACLU opposes any effort to create a national registry of gun owners and has worked with the National Rifle Association of America to prevent a registry from being created, and it has favored protecting the right to carry guns under the 4th Amendment. The ACLU opposes state censorship of the Confederate flag . A variety of persons and organizations support

1045-465: A more active role in protecting civil liberties—was De Jonge v. Oregon , in which a communist labor organizer was arrested for calling a meeting to discuss unionization. The ACLU attorney Osmond Fraenkel , working with International Labor Defense , defended De Jonge in 1937 and won a major victory when the Supreme Court ruled that "peaceable assembly for lawful discussion cannot be made

SECTION 10

#1732790483121

1140-842: A new name, the American Civil Liberties Union. Although a handful of other organizations in the United States at that time focused on civil rights, such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP ) and Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the ACLU was the first that did not represent a particular group of persons or a single theme. Like the CLB, the NAACP pursued litigation to work on civil rights, including efforts to overturn

1235-578: A newspaper from publishing, simply because the newspaper had a reputation for being scandalous. The late 1930s saw the emergence of a new era of tolerance in the United States. National leaders hailed the Bill of Rights , particularly as it protected minorities, as the essence of democracy. The 1939 Supreme Court decision in Hague v. Committee for Industrial Organization affirmed the right of communists to promote their cause. Even conservative elements, such as

1330-551: A personal friend of Luke E. Hart , the then–Supreme Advocate and future Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus , offered to join forces with the Knights to challenge the law. The Knights of Columbus pledged an immediate $ 10,000 to fight the law and any additional funds necessary to defeat it. The case became known as Pierce v. Society of Sisters , a United States Supreme Court decision that significantly expanded coverage of

1425-582: A prison-run hospice program in 1997. In 2008, Cain became the longest-serving warden in the history of Angola. While at Angola, in September/October 2005, Cain also became the warden of Camp Greyhound , a temporary jail in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina . In 2016, when he resigned, the prison had 3,600 inmates on 18,000 acres. Gordon Russell and Maya Lau of The Advocate reported that Cain's salary, $ 167,211 per year

1520-679: A town, state, or federal agency may be required to change its laws or behave differently, but not to pay monetary damages except by an explicit statutory waiver. In some cases, the law permits plaintiffs who successfully sue government agencies to collect money damages or other monetary relief. In particular, the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Award Act of 1976 leaves the government liable in some civil rights cases. Fee awards under this civil rights statute are considered "equitable relief" rather than damages, and government entities are not immune from equitable relief. Under laws such as this,

1615-628: Is at least one affiliate organization in each state, as well as one in Washington, D.C. , and in Puerto Rico . California has three affiliates. The affiliates operate autonomously from the national organization; each affiliate has its own staff, executive director, board of directors, and budget. Each affiliate consists of two non-profit corporations: a 501(c)(3) corporation–called the ACLU Foundation–that does not perform lobbying, and

1710-489: Is not guilty of the murder of Brent Miller. … Okay, I would still keep him in CCR…I still know that he is still trying to practice Black Pantherism , and I still would not want him walking around my prison because he would organize the young new inmates. I would have me all kind of problems, more than I could stand, and I would have the blacks chasing after them. "In a 2008 deposition, attorneys for Woodfox asked Cain, 'Let's just for

1805-746: Is the commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and the former warden at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola in West Feliciana Parish , north of Baton Rouge , Louisiana . He worked there for twenty-one years, from January 1995 until his resignation in 2016. Cain was reared in Pitkin in Vernon Parish in western Louisiana . He is the brother of James David Cain,

1900-588: The American Bar Association , began to campaign for civil liberties, which were long considered to be the domain of left-leaning organizations. By 1940, the ACLU had achieved many of the goals it set in the 1920s, and many of its policies were the law of the land. In 1929, after the Scopes and Dennett victories, Baldwin perceived that there was vast, untapped support for civil liberties in the United States. Baldwin proposed an expansion program for

1995-647: The American Legion , the National Civic Federation , and Industrial Defense Association and the Allied Patriotic Societies. ACLU leadership was divided on how to challenge civil rights violations. One faction, including Baldwin, Arthur Garfield Hays , and Norman Thomas , believed that direct, militant action was the best path. Another group, including Walter Nelles and Walter Pollak , felt that lawsuits taken to

SECTION 20

#1732790483121

2090-610: The Communist Party USA , leading it to be the primary client of the ACLU. At the same time, the Communists were very aggressive in their tactics, often engaging in illegal conduct such as denying their party membership under oath. This led to frequent conflicts between the Communists and ACLU. Communist leaders sometimes attacked the ACLU, particularly when the ACLU defended the free speech rights of conservatives, whereas Communists tried to disrupt speeches by critics of

2185-583: The Due Process Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment . In a unanimous decision, the court held that the act was unconstitutional and that parents, not the state, had the authority to educate children as they thought best. It upheld the religious freedom of parents to educate their children in religious schools. Leaders of the ACLU were divided on the best tactics to use to promote civil liberties. Felix Frankfurter felt that legislation

2280-498: The Garland Fund . Lucille Bernheimer Milner was cofounder of the American Civil Liberties Union. She also served for a time as Executive Secretary. During the 1920s, the ACLU's primary focus was on freedom of speech in general and speech within the labor movement particularly. Because most of the ACLU's efforts were associated with the labor movement, the ACLU itself came under heavy attack from conservative groups, such as

2375-596: The National Labor Relations Act in 1935, which empowered workers to unionize. Ironically, after 15 years of fighting for workers' rights, the ACLU initially opposed the act (it later took no stand on the legislation) because some ACLU leaders feared the increased power the bill gave to the government. The newly formed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) posed a dilemma for the ACLU because, in 1937, it issued an order to Henry Ford , prohibiting Ford from disseminating anti-union literature. Part of

2470-482: The National Organization for Women . The ACLU has been criticized by liberals such as when it excluded communists from its leadership ranks, when it defended Neo-Nazis , when it declined to defend Paul Robeson , or when it opposed the passage of the National Labor Relations Act . In 2014, an ACLU affiliate supported anti-Islam protesters, and in 2018 the ACLU was criticized when it supported

2565-623: The New Deal to combat the depression. ACLU leaders were of mixed opinions about the New Deal since many felt that it represented an increase in government intervention into personal affairs and because the National Recovery Administration suspended antitrust legislation. The economic policies of the New Deal leaders were often aligned with ACLU goals, but social goals were not. In particular, movies were subject to

2660-524: The disfranchisement of African Americans in the South that had taken place since the turn of the century. During the first decades of the ACLU, Baldwin continued as its leader. His charisma and energy attracted many supporters to the ACLU board and leadership ranks. The ACLU was directed by an executive committee and was not particularly democratic or egalitarian. New Yorkers dominated the ACLU's headquarters. Most ACLU funding came from philanthropies, such as

2755-420: The right of LGBT people to adopt ; supporting reproductive rights such as birth control and abortion rights ; eliminating discrimination against women, minorities , and LGBT people; decarceration in the United States ; protecting housing and employment rights of veterans ; reforming sex offender registries and protecting housing and employment rights of convicted first-time offenders; supporting

2850-422: The rights of prisoners and opposing torture ; upholding the separation of church and state by opposing government preference for religion over non-religion or for particular faiths over others; and supporting the legality of gender-affirming treatments, including those that are government funded, for trans youth. Legally, the ACLU consists of two separate but closely affiliated nonprofit organizations, namely

2945-577: The ACLU Foundation, on average, has accounted for roughly 70% of the combined budget, and the ACLU roughly 30%. The ACLU solicits donations to its charitable foundation. The local affiliates solicit their own funding; however, some also receive funds from the national ACLU, with the distribution and amount of such assistance varying from state to state. At its discretion, the national organization provides subsidies to smaller affiliates that lack sufficient resources to be self-sustaining; for example,

Dixon Correctional Institute - Misplaced Pages Continue

3040-522: The ACLU and its state affiliates sometimes share in monetary judgments against government agencies. In 2006, the Public Expressions of Religion Protection Act sought to prevent monetary judgments in the particular case of violations of church-state separation. The ACLU has received court-awarded fees from opponents; for example, the Georgia affiliate was awarded $ 150,000 in fees after suing

3135-488: The ACLU by a major US newspaper. The ACLU continued to fight for the separation of church and state in schoolrooms, decade after decade, including the 1982 case McLean v. Arkansas and the 2005 case Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District . Baldwin was involved in a significant free speech victory of the 1920s after he was arrested for attempting to speak at a rally of striking mill workers in New Jersey. Although

3230-436: The ACLU can take the form of direct legal representation or preparation of amicus curiae briefs expressing legal arguments when another law firm is already providing representation. In addition to representing persons and organizations in lawsuits, the ACLU lobbies for policy positions established by its board of directors. The ACLU's current positions include opposing the death penalty ; supporting same-sex marriage and

3325-427: The ACLU does not always agree on policy decisions; differences of opinion within the ACLU leadership have sometimes grown into major debates. In 1937, an internal debate erupted over whether to defend Henry Ford 's right to distribute anti-union literature. In 1939, a heated debate took place over whether to prohibit communists from serving in ACLU leadership roles. During the early 1950s and Cold War McCarthyism ,

3420-465: The ACLU from Communism; opposing them were Harry F. Ward, Corliss Lamont , and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn , who rejected any political test for ACLU leadership. A bitter struggle ensued throughout 1939, and the anti-Communists prevailed in February 1940 when the board voted to prohibit anyone who supported totalitarianism from ACLU leadership roles. Ward immediately resigned, and – following

3515-492: The ACLU leadership habitually took the side of labor, and that faction supported the NLRB's action. But part of the ACLU supported Ford's right to free speech. ACLU leader Arthur Garfield Hays proposed a compromise (supporting the auto workers union, yet also endorsing Ford's right to express personal opinions), but the schism highlighted a deeper divide that would become more prominent in the years to come. The ACLU's support of

3610-515: The ACLU lobbied for the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act , which restored some autonomy to Native American tribes, and established penalties for kidnapping Native American children. Although the ACLU deferred to the NAACP for litigation promoting civil liberties for African Americans, the ACLU engaged in educational efforts and published Black Justice in 1931, a report which documented institutional racism throughout

3705-797: The ACLU represents an individual or organization that promotes offensive or unpopular viewpoints, such as the Ku Klux Klan , neo-Nazis, the Nation of Islam , the North American Man/Boy Love Association , the Westboro Baptist Church or the Unite the Right rally . The ACLU's official policy is "... [we have] represented or defended individuals engaged in some truly offensive speech. We have defended

3800-517: The ACLU to broaden their freedom of speech efforts beyond labor and political speech to encompass movies, press, radio, and literature. The ACLU formed the National Committee on Freedom from Censorship in 1931 to coordinate this effort. By the early 1930s, censorship in the United States was diminishing. Two major victories in the 1930s cemented the ACLU's campaign to promote free speech. In Stromberg v. California , decided in 1931,

3895-668: The ACLU was founded – it had achieved significant success; the Supreme Court had embraced the free speech principles espoused by the ACLU, and the general public was becoming more supportive of civil rights in general. But the Great Depression brought new assaults on civil liberties; the year 1930 saw a large increase in the number of free speech prosecutions, a doubling of the number of lynchings, and all meetings of unemployed persons were banned in Philadelphia. The Franklin D. Roosevelt administration proposed

Dixon Correctional Institute - Misplaced Pages Continue

3990-453: The ACLU was mentioned several times, leading the HUAC to mention the ACLU prominently in its 1939 report. This damaged the ACLU's reputation severely, even though the report said that it could not "definitely state whether or not" the ACLU was a Communist organization. While the ACLU rushed to defend its image against allegations of being a Communist front, it also protected witnesses harassed by

4085-696: The ACLU were hostile towards Nazism and fascism and objected when the ACLU defended Nazis. The ACLU defended numerous pro-Nazi groups, defending their rights to free speech and free association. In the late 1930s, the ACLU allied itself with the Popular Front , a coalition of liberal organizations coordinated by the United States Communist Party . The ACLU benefited because affiliates from the Popular Front could often fight local civil rights battles much more effectively than

4180-496: The ACLU's board of directors, leads fundraising, and facilitates policy-setting. The executive director manages the day-to-day operations of the organization. The board of directors consists of 80 persons, including representatives from each state affiliate and at-large delegates. The organization has its headquarters in 125 Broad Street , a 40-story skyscraper located in Lower Manhattan , New York City. The leadership of

4275-425: The ACLU, focusing on police brutality, Native American rights, African American rights, censorship in the arts, and international civil liberties. The board of directors approved Baldwin's expansion plan, except for the international efforts. The ACLU played a significant role in passing the 1932 Norris–La Guardia Act , a federal law that prohibited employers from preventing employees from joining unions and stopped

4370-639: The ACLU. The ACLU receives thousands of grants from hundreds of charitable foundations annually. Allies of the ACLU in legal actions have included the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People , the American Jewish Congress , People for the American Way , the National Rifle Association of America , the Electronic Frontier Foundation , Americans United for Separation of Church and State and

4465-521: The American Civil Liberties Union, a 501(c)(4) social welfare group; and the ACLU Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity . Both organizations engage in civil rights litigation, advocacy, and education, but only donations to the 501(c)(3) foundation are tax deductible, and only the 501(c)(4) group can engage in unlimited political lobbying . The ACLU is led by a president and an executive director, Deborah Archer and Anthony D. Romero , respectively, as of March 2024. The president acts as chair of

4560-452: The Bible should be interpreted literally in teaching creationism in school. The ACLU lost the case, and Scopes was fined $ 100. The Tennessee Supreme Court later upheld the law. Still, it overturned the conviction on a technicality. The Scopes trial was a phenomenal public relations success for the ACLU. The ACLU became well known across America, and the case led to the first endorsement of

4655-502: The CLB was on freedom of speech , primarily anti-war speech, and on supporting conscientious objectors who did not want to serve in World War I. In 1918, Crystal Eastman resigned from the organization due to health issues. After assuming sole leadership of the CLB, Baldwin insisted that the organization be reorganized. He wanted to change its focus from litigation to direct action and public education. The CLB directors concurred, and on January 19, 1920, they formed an organization under

4750-507: The Department of Public Safety and Corrections. Cain said that he never doubted that he would be cleared because he had stolen nothing, had merely "thought outside the box" to bring needed changes to the penitentiary. He said that prayers from his fellow Southern Baptists assured that he would receive justice in the investigations. The district attorney for the Louisiana 20th Judicial District, Sam D'Aquilla, indicated that he would refer

4845-612: The HUAC. The ACLU was one of the few organizations to protest (unsuccessfully) against the passage of the Smith Act in 1940, which would later be used to imprison many persons who supported Communism. The ACLU defended many persons who were prosecuted under the Smith Act, including labor leader Harry Bridges . ACLU leadership was split on whether to purge its leadership of Communists. Norman Thomas , John Haynes Holmes , and Morris Ernst were anti-Communists who wanted to distance

SECTION 50

#1732790483121

4940-626: The Louisiana Department of Corrections. Cain, II, had advanced to become warden of Avoyelles Correctional Center in Cottonport , a facility since named for former state Representative Raymond Laborde of Marksville . He vacated the warden's position in Cottonport on May 24, 2016. Marshall Cain is a manager of Prison Enterprises. Cain's son-in-law, Seth Henry Smith, Jr. (born January 1974), of East Feliciana Parish, also works for

5035-466: The NLRB was a significant development for the ACLU because it marked the first time it accepted that a government agency could be responsible for upholding civil liberties. Until 1937, the ACLU felt that citizens and private organizations best upheld civil rights. Some factions in the ACLU proposed new directions for the organization. In the late 1930s, some local affiliates proposed shifting their emphasis from civil liberties appellate actions to becoming

5130-603: The NRA. Conversely, it has been criticized by conservatives such as when it argued against official prayer in public schools or when it opposed the Patriot Act . The ACLU has supported conservative figures such as Rush Limbaugh , George Wallace , Henry Ford and Oliver North as well as liberal figures such as Dick Gregory , Rockwell Kent and Benjamin Spock . Major sources of criticism are legal cases in which

5225-672: The New York-based ACLU. The association with the Communist Party led to accusations that the ACLU was a "Communist front", particularly because Harry F. Ward was both chairman of the ACLU and chairman of the American League Against War and Fascism , a Communist organization. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was created in 1938 to uncover sedition and treason within the United States. When witnesses testified at its hearings,

5320-549: The South, including lack of voting rights, segregation, and discrimination in the justice system. Funded by the Garland Fund , the ACLU also participated in producing the influential Margold Report , which outlined a strategy to fight for civil rights for blacks. The ACLU planned to demonstrate that the " separate but equal " policies governing the Southern discrimination were illegal because blacks were never, in fact, treated equally. In 1932 – twelve years after

5415-478: The Supreme Court sided with the ACLU and affirmed the right of a communist party member to salute a communist flag. The result was the first time the Supreme Court used the Due Process Clause of the 14th amendment to subject states to the requirements of the First Amendment . In Near v. Minnesota , also decided in 1931, the Supreme Court ruled that states may not exercise prior restraint and prevent

5510-514: The Supreme Court were the best way to achieve change. In addition to labor, the ACLU also led efforts in non-labor arenas, for example, promoting free speech in public schools. The ACLU was banned from speaking in New York public schools in 1921. The ACLU, working with the NAACP , also supported racial discrimination cases. The ACLU defended free speech regardless of espoused opinions. For example,

5605-574: The Supreme court reversed itself. The rise of totalitarian regimes in Germany, Russia, and other countries that rejected freedom of speech and association greatly impacted the civil liberties movement in the US; anti-Communist sentiment rose, and civil liberties were curtailed. The ACLU leadership was divided over whether or not to defend pro- Nazi speech in the United States; pro-labor elements within

5700-681: The USSR. This uneasy relationship between the two groups continued for decades. Five years after the ACLU was formed, the organization had virtually no success to show for its efforts. That changed in 1925, when the ACLU persuaded John T. Scopes to defy Tennessee's anti- evolution law in The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes . Clarence Darrow , a member of the ACLU National Committee, headed Scopes' legal team. The prosecution, led by William Jennings Bryan , contended that

5795-714: The United States Constitution , which forbids " cruel and unusual punishment ". The judge demanded a plan to cool death row. Prison officials appealed the order. Cain's resignation as warden came amid allegations about his private real estate dealings raised by The Baton Rouge Advocate . The capital city newspaper claimed that Cain sold interest in land that he owned in West Feliciana Parish to two developers who were reportedly either family or friends of two Angola inmates incarcerated for conviction of murder. The state legislative auditor and

SECTION 60

#1732790483121

5890-417: The Wyoming ACLU chapter received such subsidies until April 2015, when, as part of a round of layoffs at the national ACLU, the Wyoming office was closed. In October 2004, the ACLU rejected $ 1.5 million from both the Ford Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation because the foundations had adopted language from the USA PATRIOT Act in their donation agreements, including a clause stipulating that none of

5985-404: The blacks chasing after them.'" Cain has been compared by both supporters and detractors to the Dukes of Hazzard character Boss Hogg . In 2010, Cain was among the speakers in a series at Calvin College in Grand Rapids , Michigan . In December 2013, a federal judge ruled that death row at Angola is so hot during part of the year that the temperatures undermine the Eighth Amendment to

6080-436: The board was divided on whether to defend communists. In 1968, a schism formed over whether to represent Benjamin Spock 's anti-war activism. In 1973, as the Watergate Scandal continued to unfold, leadership was initially divided over whether to call for President Nixon 's impeachment and removal from office. In 2005, there was internal conflict about whether or not a gag rule should be imposed on ACLU employees to prevent

6175-687: The case to a grand jury . As of 2020 he became the head of the Mississippi Department of Corrections . Governor of Mississippi Tate Reeves chose Cain as the agency head. In June 2020 a Mississippi legislative committee approved Cain's nomination. The Mississippi Senate confirmed Cain that month. According to a biography by Ridgeway, Cain "enjoys hunting and traveling around the country on his motorcycle ." Both he and his brother, former state senator James David Cain, are Republicans. Cain's eldest son, Nathan "Nate" Cain, II (born April 1967), and his younger son, Marshall Arbuthnot Cain (born October 1971), of Ouachita Parish , also have had careers with

6270-455: The censorship of movies and to discourage the publication of birth control information. This conflict between the ACLU and the Catholic Church led to the resignation of the last Catholic priest from ACLU leadership in 1934; a Catholic priest would not be represented again until the 1970s. The first decision that marked the Supreme Court's major shift in policy —no longer applying strict constitutional limits to government programs, and taking

6365-433: The construction of five new chapels built with privately raised funds. Cain said that it was his being creative and thinking outside the box that got me in trouble. These kinds of things discourage state employees from being entrepreneurial . … I stole nothing. I gave. … I should be tossed off rather than condemned. Ultimately Cain was cleared by the Daryl Purpera investigation and by another probe into his activities by

6460-430: The construction of the "Ranch House" building at the Avoyelles prison, a structure for which some $ 76,000 had already been spent. Nate Cain had built an identical structure at the C. Paul Phelps Correctional Center in DeQuincy in Calcasieu Parish , where he was earlier the deputy warden. Nate and Tonia Cain divorced in 2017, and she resumed her maiden name of Bandy. She agreed to plea bargain and admitted to some of

6555-449: The corrections department, as a "confidential assistant" to one of the appointed officials. Prior to Nate Cain's decision to resign from Avoyelles Correctional Center, his wife, the former Tonia Bandy, business manager of the prison and another top official, also stepped down. Tonia Cain's attorney cited her client's health issues as the principal reason for the resignation. Meanwhile, the state corrections department said that it had halted

6650-433: The decision was limited to the state of New Jersey, the appeals court's judgment in 1928 declared that constitutional guarantees of free speech must be given "liberal and comprehensive construction", and it marked a major turning point in the civil rights movement , signaling the shift of judicial opinion in favor of civil rights. The most important ACLU case of the 1920s was Gitlow v. New York , in which Benjamin Gitlow

6745-414: The department will file a civil suit or seek restitution if Cain faces prosecution in the matter. Cain discounted the findings of the Purpera report, saying it had misinterpreted his "creative" approach to handling his duties as warden. Cain claims to have transformed the long-running Angola Prison Rodeo into a self-sustaining facility, resulting in a financial windfall for the state. He also authorized

6840-427: The distribution of sex education information based on the premise that it was obscene and led to promiscuous behavior. Mary Ware Dennett was fined $ 300 in 1928 for distributing a pamphlet containing sex education material. The ACLU, led by Morris Ernst, appealed her conviction and won a reversal, in which judge Learned Hand ruled that the pamphlet's primary purpose was to "promote understanding". The success prompted

6935-610: The faith were rewarded and those who did not were punished. A branch of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary was established at Angola during Cain's tenure, one of the prison's eight churches. In August 2006, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit accusing then-Warden Cain and the Louisiana state prison system of hindering a Mormon inmate's access to religious texts. At least one Catholic inmate

7030-426: The federal corruption case against both her and her former husband. The government then dropped seventeen fraud charges pending against her. Sentencing was originally scheduled for October 9, 2018, with Tonia Cain facing up to twenty years in a penitentiary, though she was expected to receive a more lenient sentence. On June 17, 2019, Tonia Cain received an eight-month sentence in federal prison, while Nate Cain received

7125-512: The inmate population as the prison transitioned to a model based on a Christian religious atmosphere and manual labor, enforced in part with threats of solitary confinement and other punishments. But his claims are highly disputed. During his tenure he became the most famous warden in U.S. history , but before he retired he also became one of the most controversial wardens in U.S. history. As warden, Cain created an exclusively Christian religious environment in which inmates who displayed adherence to

7220-414: The labor which Cain received, the audit alleges that the former warden obtained appliances and furnishings, such as iron gates, and food and lodging at the penitentiary for a number of his relatives, mostly his children. Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc , Cain's long-term friend and business partner, said that Cain was "personally liable" for $ 20,000 for the costs of the food, lodging and gates; and that

7315-529: The landmark case United States v. One Book Called Ulysses in 1933, which reversed a ban by the Customs Department against the book Ulysses by James Joyce . The ACLU only achieved mixed results in the early years, and it was not until 1966 that the Supreme Court finally clarified the obscenity laws in the Roth v. United States and Memoirs v. Massachusetts cases. The Comstock laws banned

7410-406: The money would go to "underwriting terrorism or other unacceptable activities". The ACLU views this clause, both in federal law and in the donors' agreements, as a threat to civil liberties, saying it is overly broad and ambiguous. Due to the nature of its legal work, the ACLU is often involved in litigation against governmental bodies, which are generally protected from adverse monetary judgments;

7505-467: The practice of outlawing strikes, marriages, and labor organizing activities with the use of injunctions. The ACLU also played a key role in initiating a nationwide effort to reduce misconduct (such as extracting false confessions) within police departments by publishing the report Lawlessness in Law Enforcement in 1931, under the auspices of Herbert Hoover 's Wickersham Commission . In 1934,

7600-443: The publication of internal disputes. In the year ending March 31, 2014, the ACLU and the ACLU Foundation had a combined income from support and revenue of $ 100.4 million, originating from grants (50.0%), membership donations (25.4%), donated legal services (7.6%), bequests (16.2%), and revenue (0.9%). Membership dues are treated as donations; members choose the amount they pay annually, averaging approximately $ 50 per member. In

7695-460: The reactionary, anti-Catholic, anti-black Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was a frequent target of ACLU efforts, but the ACLU defended the KKK's right to hold meetings in 1923. There were some civil rights that the ACLU did not make an effort to defend in the 1920s, including censorship of the arts, government search and seizure issues, right to privacy , or wiretapping . Government officials routinely hounded

7790-399: The sake of argument assume, if you can, that he is not guilty of the murder of Brent Miller.' Cain responded, 'Okay, I would still keep him in CCR…I still know that he is still trying to practice Black Pantherism, and I still would not want him walking around my prison because he would organize the young new inmates. I would have me all kind of problems, more than I could stand, and I would have

7885-424: The seventeen wire fraud charges (and an additional count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud) in hopes of getting a lighter sentence than she would have received if convicted of the crimes. The two stood accused of purchasing personal items, including television sets, furniture , and guns and ammunition, on a state credit card. As it developed, Bandy pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in

7980-651: The speech rights of communists, Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members, accused terrorists, pornographers, anti-LGBT activists, and flag burners. That's because the defense of freedom of speech is most necessary when the message is one most people find repulsive. Constitutional rights must apply to even the most unpopular groups if they're going to be preserved for everyone." The ACLU developed from the National Civil Liberties Bureau (CLB), co-founded in 1917 during World War I by Crystal Eastman , an attorney activist, and Roger Nash Baldwin . The focus of

8075-632: The state Department of Public Safety & Corrections began investigations into the issue. In May 2016, Cain was exonerated of any wrongdoing, with respect to using his employees to perform home renovations. In January 2017, a separate report from the office of Daryl G. Purpera, the state legislative auditor, said that some ten correctional department employees performed work on Cain's private residence near Central in East Baton Rouge Parish . One worked for Cain for three weeks while on official duty at his regular state job. In addition to

8170-729: The state as compensation. LeBlanc later became the Secretary of Corrections of Louisiana. Its current warden is Edward D. Bickham. Another former Dixon warden is Richard Stalder of Zachary , who was the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections from 1992 to 2008. Around 2003 the prison held boxing matches for prisoners. 30°48′47″N 91°12′28″W  /  30.81306°N 91.20778°W  / 30.81306; -91.20778 Burl Cain Nathan Burl Cain (born July 2, 1942)

8265-550: The vice chairperson of the Louisiana Civil Service Commission. Louisiana State Penitentiary, also called Angola after the name of the slave plantation that formerly occupied its land, is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States. Many of the inmates are imprisoned for life or for equivalently long terms and are unlikely ever to be released. Commissioner Cain claims that under his tenure violent incidents decreased significantly among

8360-399: The year ending March 31, 2014, the combined expenses of the ACLU and ACLU Foundation were $ 133.4 million, spent on programs (86.2%), management (7.4%), and fundraising (8.2%). (After factoring in other changes in net assets of +$ 30.9 million, from sources such as investment income, the organization had an overall decrease in net assets of $ 2.1 million.) Over the period from 2011 to 2014,

8455-490: Was $ 30,000 higher than that of James LeBlanc, Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Corrections and a previous subordinate and personal friend of Cain. According to Russell and Lau, many observers said that Cain was de facto the head of the department. In 2008 Cain said he supported continuing solitary confinement for the men known as the Angola 3 , stating: Let's just for the sake of argument assume, if you can, that he

8550-431: Was a growing willingness to protect freedom of speech and assembly via court decisions. Starting in 1926, the ACLU expanded its free speech activities to encompass censorship of art and literature. In that year, H. L. Mencken deliberately broke Boston law by distributing copies of his banned American Mercury magazine; the ACLU defended him and won an acquittal. The ACLU went on to win additional victories, including

8645-487: Was also allegedly harassed for requesting to receive Mass while imprisoned on Death Row. Cain increased media access to the prison, and several documentaries were filmed at the prison during his tenure. He also established a television station at the prison and supported the newsmagazine and radio. Filmed events at the prison include the Angola Prison Rodeo, football, and boxing matches. Cain established

8740-578: Was appointed as the assistant secretary of agribusiness for the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections . In 1981, he was appointed as the warden of the Dixon Correctional Institute (DCI). After fourteen years there, he was elevated to warden of the Louisiana State Penitentiary. After accepting the job at Angola, he continued to live on the grounds of Dixon. Until 2011, Cain served as

8835-672: Was arrested for violating a state law against inciting anarchy and violence when he distributed literature promoting communism. Although the Supreme Court did not overturn Gitlow's conviction, it adopted the ACLU's stance (later termed the incorporation doctrine ) that the First Amendment freedom of speech applied to state laws, as well as federal laws. The Oregon Compulsory Education Act required almost all children in Oregon between eight and sixteen years of age to attend public school by 1926. Associate Director Roger Nash Baldwin ,

8930-631: Was the Jehovah's Witnesses , who were involved in a large number of Supreme Court cases . The most important cases involved statutes requiring flag salutes. The Jehovah's Witnesses felt that saluting a flag was contrary to their religious beliefs. Two children were convicted in 1938 of not saluting the flag. The ACLU supported their appeal to the Supreme Court, but the court affirmed the conviction in 1940. But three years later, in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette ,

9025-452: Was the best long-term solution because the Supreme Court could not mandate liberal interpretations of the Bill of Rights. But Walter Pollak , Morris Ernst , and other leaders felt that Supreme Court decisions were the best path to guarantee civil liberties. A series of Supreme Court decisions in the 1920s foretold a changing national atmosphere; anti-radical emotions were diminishing, and there

#120879