Great documentary. Terrible advert for Lousiana.

Just watched this for the first time and...well, I suppose I shouldn't be that shocked since the Katrina affair has happened subsequently, but what a disappointment to discover that, based on this documentary, Louisiana seems to be a pretty backward place by 20th/21st century Western standards. I can imagine H.L. Mencken (The Sahara of the Bozart, etc.) saying, "I see nothing's changed since my day, then."

None of the prison officials seemed to be particularly enlightened or erudite individuals, including the warden, Burl Cain. According to Wikipedia, he holds a Masters degree in criminal justice, but he didn't seem to be able to talk very intelligently in the documentary. Most notably absent was any kind of progressive thinking about the role of prison in reforming inmates; other than spouting religious cliches on the issue, Cain (how ironic) seemed more interested in touting his credentials as a business leader, boasting at one point that he knew off the top of his head the exact dollar amount of his facility's annual spend on toilet rolls, and proudly surmising that no other prison warden in America could do the same. (Note: perhaps Mr. Cain's fellow wardens in other facilities might deem such information inane trivia and consider themselves better occupied dealing with more serious matters.)

The most depressing aspect, though, was that Angola - and perhaps the entire criminal justice system in Louisiana - is apparently mired in institutional racism. The two good 'ol boys, sorry, white members, of the parole board looked like they'd just emerged from an episode of The Dukes of Hazard. It was obvious that something was not right with the case against Vincent Simmons given the victim's grotesque racism ("all black people look alike to me"), but the possibility that there might have been a major miscarriage of justice seemed to either go completely over the heads of Boss Hogg and Sheriff Coltrane, or perhaps it just didn't tally with their narrow-minded worldview. It would be comical - if it wasn't so desperately tragic that it is the lives of real people hanging on their judgements.

I'm always argued against the typical America-bashing that's become fashionable, particularly here in England, but it's hard to maintain that stance in light of documentaries like this. I can only hope that the backwards thinking on display in this documentary is indicative only of Louisiana, not the country as a whole.