Some feel good news going into the weekend: In late March, our friend and collaborator Terrance Winn was quoted in Senator Cory Booker's press release regarding his bill to provide labor protections and a minimum wage to incarcerated workers.⁠

Our Executive Director, Samantha Kennedy and Development Associate Dwan Jacque-Boucree had a great time at Foundation For Louisiana's (FFL) 20th celebration this past weekend. Thank you to FFL for 20 years of serving the Greater New Orleans community!

#CurrentlyReading➡️: "Every day at Angola, our clients are exposed to extreme and preventable health consequences due to the state's persistent neglect and indifference..." (✍️🏻: Quinn Coffman) www.nola.com/news/courts/...

🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨 SB 215, an LDAA written bill on non-unanimous juries will be heard during tomorrow's Judiciary B committee hearing. SB 215 provides very limited – if any – benefit to an incarcerated person. In short, this bill is a fake solution to a very real problem.

#CurrentlyReading ➡️: "An effort in federal court in Louisiana has been focused on [incarcerated men] who work in prison farming operations." www.nytimes.com/2026/03/30/u...

Next Thursday, April 9, after two years in the making, "Over Punitive" premieres at The Broadside in New Orleans! "Over Punitive" is a short film by Represent Justice made in partnership with PJI and other local criminal justice organizations.⁠

PJI Sr. Staff Attorney, Samantha Pourciau recently discussed VOTE v. LeBlanc, our class action lawsuit to end Angola Prison's dangerous and degrading practice of the Farm Line, with Mansa Musa of @rattlingthebars.bsky.social (@therealnews.com).⁠

🧵: On Tuesday, PJI friend and client James “Mike” Dupre (72 yrs old) passed away. He grew up in Uptown New Orleans with his mom and his younger sister, Marie.⁠

#CurrentlyReading ➡️: "For decades, the visiting room had been the site of agonizing goodbyes between the condemned and their loved ones in the hours before an execution. Now it was home to warm hugs and tranquil smiles, no one’s bigger than Burton’s."

🧵: "Attorney General Liz Murrill has moved to force the recusal of three Black judges in East Baton Rouge Parish — Chief Judge Don Johnson, Judge Ronald Johnson and Judge Gail Horne Ray — from any case that involves her office...

"Now, we’re preparing to share the second project born out of our Community Storytelling initiative: Over Punitive, a Louisiana Community Storytelling film created alongside Vera Louisiana, The Promise of Justice Initiative, Louisiana Parole Project..." www.representjustice.org/blog/from-lo...

Today is the 1 year anniversary of Jessie Hoffman's execution. In the past yr, Louisiana has kept trying to kill its death row prisoners (thus far failing), restricted post conviction relief to expedite killings–& Chris Duncan's conviction was vacated, yet more proof of a fundamentally flawed system

"The death penalty has never been about healing, justice, or repair. It has always been a tool for vengeance and is inherently political" writes PJI's Executive Director Samantha Kennedy in an op-ed for @thelensnola.bsky.social...

#CurrentlyReading ➡️: "The death penalty has never been about healing, justice, or repair. It has always been a tool for vengeance and is inherently political." (via @thelensnola.bsky.social) thelensnola.org/2026/03/19/j...

One year ago, Jessie Hoffman was the first person in 15 years to be executed by the State of Louisiana. He died at the age of 46 and is remembered as a protector, a quiet confidante, and a talented athlete with a strong work ethic and unmistakable kindness.⁠

🧵: On Friday, the New York Times' editorial board took a stand against the death penalty in the United States. Quite timely, as this week marks the 1-year anniversary of Louisiana’s execution of Jessie Hoffman after PJI litigation successfully blocked executions for over a decade.

"In 2015, lawyers for the Promise of Justice Initiative filed a federal class action lawsuit... [which] alleged that the prison failed to provide timely and adequate medical treatment, putting incarcerated people at risk of serious harm and death, in violation of the Eighth Amendment’s ban..."

🧵: #DidYouKnow: that nearly 1,000 men and women across #Louisiana are still incarcerated today because of the unconstitutional and racist practice of Jim Crow Juries – a law that put people in prison without unanimous convictions?

As #BlackHistoryMonth comes to an end, we reflect on how deeply racism is entrenched within the criminal legal system here in Louisiana, specifically the state's death penalty system.

Attending this weekend's Rebellious Lawyering Conference at @yalelawschool-yls.bsky.social? Our Associate Director of Storytelling, Sara Gozalo will be featured during tomorrow's "Storytelling in Legal and Political Advocacy" workshop (4:15PM - 5:30PM).

Interested in joining a team that pushes for a legal system that recognizes freedom and dignity as universal rights? If so, please apply for the Admin. Coordinator here: promiseofjustice.org/jobs PLZ NOTE: This IS NOT a remote position and will require applicants to work from our New Orleans office

"...Louisiana had a long-standing over-detention problem that remains enmeshed in potentially costly court fights. With this in mind, it behooves the corrections department to err on the side of caution, and thus to comply with the auditor’s suggestions." www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/...

"...Louisiana’s prison system has been under scrutiny for regularly holding inmates past their release dates, an issue often referred to as overdetention. The practice has drawn criticism from federal judges and investigators, and spurred multiple lawsuits." www.nola.com/audit-dings-...

#CurrentlyReading ➡️: "The Farm Line is merely a continuation of a long and ugly history of perpetual chattel slavery in the state of Louisiana, and its existence remains an archaic stain on our justice system." lsureveille.com/276099/opini...

Grateful to PJI for work to end cruel, inhumane forced prison labor. Just read a report of testimony from defense "expert" that he knows farm labor in 100+ degree temps doesn't cause heat exhaustion because he does hot Pilates! So do I. It's an hour, I have cold water, and I can leave if I need to.

VOTE v. LeBlanc, the class action lawsuit to end Angola Prison's dangerous and degrading practice of the Farm Line, comes to a close today in a Baton Rouge federal courtroom. As the trial wraps, there is no doubt that, as a trial observer was overhead saying, “this is American history, right here.”⁠

"None of this is acceptable. Not in the time of slavery and not in 2026. Every person has inherent dignity both morally as a member of our human community and legally under our Constitution. That dignity does not disappear at the prison gate." - Samantha Pourciau, PJI Sr. Staff Attorney⁠

"We are an anomaly! This is the only prison in the state that has a farm line. One of the only prisons in the country that continues to have a farm line." www.louisianafirstnews.com/news/local-n...

PJI Sr. Staff Attorney, Samantha Pourciau, returned to @rattlingthebars.bsky.social ahead of this week's federal court trial to end the "Farm Line" at Angola Prison. WATCH the interview here: therealnews.com/class-action...

Thanks to Hunter of the Public Defenseless Podcast for featuring PJI's Sr. Staff Attorney, Samantha Pourciau on his latest episode about our class action lawsuit against Angola Prison for the forced agricultural labor of the "Farm Line." Listen here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/4...

Our litigation against Angola Prison for the "Farm Line", goes to trial in one week for 8:30AM in federal court. The "Farm Line" is the dangerous and degrading practice of forcing incarcerated men, mostly Black men, into the plantation fields to work under conditions that are intended to simulate...

“Your mind is one thing that can’t be put in shackles and handcuffs... If I didn’t have the opportunity to harness my mind and my imagination, to think that something good would come out of this, I would be one of the many people who lost their minds in there.” thelensnola.org/2026/01/20/f...

We're looking forward to tomorrow's Chewbacchus Cantina and hope you are too! You've been hearing about the work of the Client and Family Assistance Program (CAFA) for the last couple of weeks and here are our CAFA Coordinators with a special message. Join us on the parade route from 6:30 - 9:30PM!

In New Orleans? Tonight at 6PM, learn more about our upcoming "Farm Line" trial from us and our partners at VOTE and the Greater New Orleans Growers Alliance. The teach-in connects incarceration, farming, and food justice to show how forced prison labor fails people, land, and communities alike.

In honor of Dr. MLK Jr.'s legacy, today at 2PM CST, join our partners at the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison Reform Coalition and other court watchers from across the US to learn about the national movement. Register to watch here: bit.ly/mlkdaycw cc: @abolitionistlawcenter.org

Thanks to @kstromquist.bsky.social of the @gulfstatesnewsroom.bsky.social for her continued coverage of the "Farm Line" litigation, VOTE v. LeBlanc! The "Farm Line" is a forced-labor assignment in which incarcerated men are sent to the fields of Angola Prison to perform manual agricultural labor...

“There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside you.” - Dust Tracks On a Road (1942)⁠ ⁠ #OnThisDay: In 1891, author, anthropologist, filmmaker, and folklorist, Zora Neale Hurston was born in Notasulga, AL. This "Genius of the South" was an integral voice during the Harlem Renaissance and...

The following accounts are just a small window into the deeply harmful and trauma-inducing conditions found on the grounds of the "Farm Line" at Angola that incarcerated men are forced to labor on.

Join us and our partner orgs tonight in #NOLA for the 2nd training of the LA Know Your Rights Series taking place across Louisiana, which look to protect, support, and empower our communities. Learn your rights and be a part of a statewide-efforts committed to healing and hope.

#CurrentlyReading ➡️: "There's no reason why you can't recognize and treat sepsis in the prisons just like you would in the community. There's nothing magical about being in the community that they can't do (in prison)." www.usatoday.com/story/news/i...

At PJI, we recognize the power of bearing witness, creating collective memory around the roots of racial harm, and uniting our voices to build toward a future of freedom. We also offer a space for current and former clients, their families, survivors of violence, victims’ family members & anyone...

We've raised $4,000 so far this #GivingTuesday! With less than 10 hours to go, have your donation doubled thanks to our Board of Directors, who are matching gift amounts dollar for dollar up to $16,000 here: promiseofjustice.org/donate

As we enter this season of thankfulness and gratitude, we thank you for being a part of our community. As a team, we fight for the dignity, freedom, and autonomy of those targeted and touched by the criminal legal system and for an end to mass incarceration.

This wknd, join our partners St. Charles Center for Faith & Action for a holiday art market, feat. an art exhibit from friend and former PJI client, Keith Brazley! Keith’s art was previously featured in "About Time", an exhibit we co-curated w/@ccrjustice.org, which opened in Feb. at Antenna Gallery

Happy Freedomversary to PJI's Paralegal Deidre! Deidre just celebrated her second year of freedom and brings a wonderful blend of joy, humor, vital lived experience, and poignant legal acumen to our office on the daily. We're thankful to have her as a colleague and friend.

"Executions...aren't designed with scientific rigor because modern medicine focuses on preserving life, not ending it, and because ethical rules preclude the kind of testing that would normally precede the use of techniques that affect a human body so drastically." www.law360.com/access-to-ju...

#CurrentlyReading ➡️: "While veterans represent an estimated 12 percent of Florida’s 256 death row inmates, they account for nearly 40 percent of the 18 death warrants that the governor has signed this year." www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

#OnThisDay in 1960, Ruby Bridges, only 6 years old at the time, took groundbreaking steps into William Frantz School, an all-white elementary school in New Orleans. Her bravery – in addition to the heroism of Leona Tate, Gail Etienne, and Tessie Prevost – helped pushed the nation forward in...

Last week was the 2nd anniversary of a massive win in the Lewis v. Cain class action suit, with a U.S. Middle District of Louisiana judge ordering the LA. Dept. of Corrections and Public Safety to remedy the unconstitutional conditions and "abhorrent medical care" at Angola.⁠

Last week marked the 56th anniversary of the Supreme Court ordering public schools across the South to be desegregated immediately. This action would come 15 years after Brown v. Board of Education ruled that segregated schools were unconstitutional... ⁠