i had so many thoughts leading up to this assignment as to what it was gonna be like. trying to imagine going down this road, knowing it s a one-way trap. there s this moment when you get this last glimpse of the world around you, but that glimpse is through steal match. louisiana s highway 66. it s a beautiful countryside. it s undoubtedly not lost on the countless men driven to the place where they ll most likely die. but road ends here. the louisiana state penitentiary. a former plantation the size of manhattan. 28 square miles. most people call it angola, named after the african country that was home to the slaves who once worked these very fields. now, angela is the largest maximum security prison in the country, where today, i ll be housed with about 5500 men. i m heading into ground zero of mass incarceration. there s certainly a heightened awareness as i walk through here. no guards. for the next couple days, i ll be staying here, explain key issues of the pri
$6250 for each of his 28 years behind bars. from 2016 to 2020, 374 people wrongfully convicted of murder, 61% african-americans, have reunited with their families together they spent over 6000 years in prison. years. years they will never get back. that s all for this edition of dateline. i am craig melvin. thank you for watching. i am craig melvin and this is dateline. leading up to this assign what it was going to be like. i had so many thoughts leading to this assignment as to what it would be like. trying to imagine going down isoad, knowing it s a one- way trip. this moment where you get your last glimpse of the world around you, but that glimpse is through steelman mesh. louisiana highway 66. it s beautiful countryside and undoubtedly not lost on the countless men driven to the place where they will most likely die. that road ends here. the louisiana state penitentiary, a former plantation. the size of manhattan. 28 square miles. most people call it angola named
i m going to let you rest. okay? well, he s a human being. i m not here to judge him. but i don t know how you not have compassion. a few weeks later, i learned that frank died in his hospice bed alone. back in my cell, i had a lot of time to reflect about everything i ve seen. i have personally wrestled with this question of, is prison punishment? because if it is punishment, it s pretty bad. is it a place of reform? you can certainly see efforts to reform here. i can t help thinking as we re, you know,
a few weeks later, i learned that frank died in his hospice bed alone. back in my cell, i had a lot of time to reflect about everything i ve seen. i have personally wrestled with this question of is prison punishment? because if it is punishment, it s pretty bad. is it a place of reform? you can certainly see efforts to reform here. i can t help thinking as we re, you know, talking to men incarcerated when they were teenagers i think of my own self at 16, 17 years old and it is all complicated. and now the two men i met that committed murders as teenagers, henry and clifford, are about to find out if they will finally get parole and walk back out into the world.
i m going to let you rest. okay? well, he s a human being. i m not here to judge him. but i don t know how you not have compassion. a few weeks later, i learned that frank died in his hospice bed alone. back in my cell, i had a lot of time to reflect about everything i ve seen. i have personally wrestled with this question of is prison punishment? because if it is punishment, it s pretty bad. is it a place of reform? you can certainly see efforts to reform here. i can t help thinking as