A sheriff in Louisiana has been railing against the state’s new prisoner release

A sheriff in Louisiana has been railing against the state’s new prisoner release program, saying many of those “good” inmates need to stay behind bars for the free labor they provide. Last week, Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator blasted the state’s Justice Reinvestment Package, a series of bills passed in June that could reduce Louisiana’s prison population by 10 percent and save more than $260 million over the next decade by slowly releasing nonviolent offenders. The legislation is set to go into effect on Nov. 1 and would authorize the early release of 1,400 prisoners across 21 parishes in the state. Just 35 prisoners would be immediately released in Caddo Parish, but that seems to be too many for Prator, who said the state needs them to “wash cars.” 

Louisiana Sheriff  Wants 'Good Prisoners to stay jailed for their free labor. He’s wishing for what is “essentially slavery,” the ACLU said.

By Sebastian Murdock  and  Hyley Miller.