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Article: The death of Tallulah prison: taking on racism, corruption and cronyism, a small coalition in Louisiana pushed through statewide juvenile justice reform.(Action)
- Article from:
- Colorlines Magazine
- Article date:
- June 22, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Color Lines Magazine. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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For nearly 10 years, the Tallulah youth prison has sat on the edge of northeastern Louisiana--imposing, barb-wired, a warehouse for hundreds of young men locked on the inside. Built on the momentum of the national "tough on juvenile crime" wave of the early '90s, the Swanson Correctional Center for Youth (referred to as simply "Tallulah," after the small delta town where it is located) has symbolized for many the intractability of the impoverished, lockdown culture of Louisiana, the state with the highest incarceration rate in the world.
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The Tallulah youth prison, considered by some to be the worst juvenile facility in the ...