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CNN Saturday Morning News
Life Inside a Maximum Security Prison
Aired January 26, 2002 - 08:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A congressional delegation in Cuba says firsthand visits shows Afghan detainees are being treated well at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. The U.S. says conditions are adequate. But some U.S. allies have complained about conditions at the camp. Law makers addressed that issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PETER DEFAZIO (D), OREGON: It's unfortunate that someone at the Pentagon chose to release one photograph which was a picture of prisoners in transit. These are very, very dangerous people. They were screened and chosen and sent first because of their leadership roles either in al Qaeda or the Taliban.
REP. JOHN MICA (R), FLORIDA: And I don't think there was any misuse in any way of these prisoners who take great offense -- now that I've seen it firsthand -- at the comments from some of our allies and foreign sources, who have no idea what they're talking about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: The U.S. says it is holding dozens of al Qaeda operatives at the base in Cuba.
In this country, life in prison for most convicted murderers is often less harsh than conditions at Guantanamo for Afghan detainees.
We have a look at life in the maximum security prison in Angola, Louisiana from CNN's Brian Cabell.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Jerry McAllister is 24 years old, a convicted armed robber facing his next 26 years in prison. Peter Davis is 41, a convicted murderer doing life with virtually no hope of getting out. But at least he's outside.
PETER DAVIS, INMATE: Most people would be looking forward to going to work, to just get out, stretch their legs, you know, get some fresh air.
CABELL: Davis and McAllister are serving time at the sprawling Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. Eighteen thousand acres for 5,000 inmates, half of them murderers, almost two-thirds doing life terms. They're dangerous men but McAllister insists they're generally treated fairly.
JERRY MCALLISTER, MAXIMUM SECURITY INMATE: Through my experiences, I've never really had no, you know, I've never been mistreated as far as, you know, to an extreme. So, in my experience I can say, you know, I've been treated pretty well, you know.
CABELL: McAllister admits he lives in some fear, but it's primarily because of other inmates.
(on camera): What's remarkable about Angola, aside from its enormous size, is the freedom that most inmates can enjoy here, including convicted murderers, as long as they behave.
(voice over): If they behave, they live in secured dorms, with access to a TV, even a pool table. They can buy food from a canteen. They work outside. They even harvest their own vegetables.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you doing? Good morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you doing?
CABELL: If they misbehave seriously, holding contraband, for example, or starting a fight, they go to Camp J at Angola. Four hundred inmates here in conditions close to what prisoners are experiencing at Guantanamo -- one man cells with a cot, a commode and a sink. No TV, no radio. Fifteen minutes a day outside the cell, only three days a week in the outdoors in a confined pen. Throw your food or steal eating utensils at Camp J and you get this...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we just put it, here's the beans and here's some meat.
CABELL: ... your meal ground up and baked into a loaf. Threaten to kill yourself and you wear a paper gown.
Peter Davis and Jerry McAllister have it better, but they're still being punished for more minor infractions. They live in what's known as a working cell block, six by eight foot cells with a roommate, a TV, a radio, newspapers and books if they want. Most important, they get outside, see the sky and dream their dreams.
But every day, almost every hour, they're reminded of the fact that society considers them dangerous and wants them put away, maybe for good. More than 80 percent of the inmates who enter here die here.
Brian Cabell, CNN, Angola, Louisiana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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