Open Post #4: Reviewing A&E's "The Farm: Life Inside Angola Prison"

       Spread across 18,000 acres of farm land, Louisiana State Penitentiary is the largest prison in America. Better known as "The Farm" or Angola Prison, it is home to some of the most dangerous criminals in America. Almost 85% of them do not get out alive. The film, produced by Liz Garbus and Jonathan Shack, went inside the prison to examine and follow six men inside. They told their stories, and opened up their everyday lives to cameras. Here they are.

George Crawford: First seen at the beginning of the film, he is the youngest of the six. He was just brought in for first degree murder, where he will serve a life sentence without parole. Dropping out of school in 8th grade, George says that he did some bad things in his life, but he never killed anybody.

Eugene "Bishop" Tannehill: One of the oldest inmates, he was imprisoned in 1959 for murder. His sentence was also life without parole. Eugene, however, found Jesus and became an ordained minister. He spoke at Sunday services for the inmates every week. In the film, he had a pardon letter sitting on the Governor's desk. He just needed his signature. The Governor at the time, Murphy J. Foster Jr., had never signed a pardon letter in his term as Governor.

Logan "Bones" Theriot: Sent to The Farm in 1960, Logan was serving life without parole for the murder of his wife. He explains to us that his wife was physically abusive to their child. And after warning her that if she did it again he'd kill her, Logan did. He was a sickly man and was in the hospital wing the entirety of the documentary.

Ashanti Witherspoon: Ashanti had the shortest sentence of the six, which was seventy five years for armed robbery. He also shot two police officers in the process, but they survived. Ashanti, like Eugene, took advantage of the programs the prison had to offer and became a prison trustee. He spoke to at risk kids and other sorts of events.

Vincent Simmons: 100 years for double rape. He maintains his innocence, and was in the appealing process during the documentary. He was however denied appeal after his new evidence was not enough to bring it to trial again.

John A Brown Jr: John was on death row since 1986 after murdering and robbing a man for drug money. He stabbed the man thirteen times off a cocaine high. His death date is close, but was appealing for a stay from the Governor.

       The film itself, while a little dated, did a wonderful job at getting what life is like inside a prison. Angola, a former plantation, was turned into a prison after the Civil War. It had a reputation for being the most dangerous prison in America for a long time. It is called the farm because the main form of labor at the prison is tending to the multi million dollar farm around the prison. The scenes from the documentary looked eerily like a pre civil war plantation. The inmates, mostly black, worked hard labor while guards, mostly white, rode around on horses watched over them. The prisoners made anywhere between four and twenty cents an hour working the land seven days a week.

Image credit: Solitary Watch

       While one may start to feel sympathetic for these men while watching the film because of the harsh conditions, we have to remember that these men were convicted "beyond reasonable doubt" for their crimes. I'm not saying they are all guilty for sure, because the justice system in America obviously isn't perfect. However for the most part they do their job and get the man that was guilty. That being said some of the conditions in the prison were quite harsh, and judging by the scenes with the parole board, it is evident that racism in America, particularly in the deep south, is still alive and well. It is frustrating to watch how carefree and casual these men decided the prisoners' fate without taking much thought. I would think when deciding whether or not a man has to stay the rest of his life in prison, these officials would take time and justly make a decision, not just off the fact that the prisoner is an uneducated black man and was probably "making it up". Day by day however, the justice system in this country gets better and better, which is all we as Americans can ask for.

       Where they are today. Ashanti was released in 2000 after twenty eight years in prison. The bishop was pardoned in 2007 and now is in New York as a preacher. These two were the only ones to get out. George Crawford and Vincent Simmons are still in prison, both maintaining innocence. Logan, a sickly man, dies in prison at the end of the documentary. His friends and family buried him at the prison cemetery. John A Brown Jr was not granted a stay and was executed on April 24th, 1997 with a lethal injection. 

      Overall I thought the documentary was great. It showed what life in a state penitentiary was like and the mindset of criminals who for the vast majority, would be leaving in a casket. There was no acting, and everyone seemed to speak like there wasn't a camera there. Overall I highly recumbent watching it.