This 1974 photo shows prisoners at the Arkansas Department of Corrections Cummins Unit taking a water break while on work detail in the fields in Grady, Ark. As daily temperatures hit record highs across much of the South, a federal judge has taken an unusual step, challenging the treatment of mostly Black incarcerated workers in the fields. (Bruce Jackson via AP)
FILE - This 1980 photo shows prison laborers working in a field at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, La. In September, several incarcerated workers along with the New Orleans-based advocacy group Voice of the Experienced filed a class-action lawsuit calling for an end to the farm line, and accusing the state of cruel and unusual punishment. But as temperatures soared in May, the men asked the court in an emergency filing to stop work during extreme heat. (Keith Calhoun via AP, File)
This 1975 photo shows prisoners at the Arkansas Department of Corrections Cummins Unit taking a water break while on work detail picking cotton in Grady, Ark. As daily temperatures hit record highs across much of the South, a federal judge has taken an unusual step, challenging the treatment of mostly Black incarcerated workers in the fields. (Bruce Jackson via AP)
This 1972 photo shows prisoners at the Arkansas Department of Corrections Cummins Unit on work detail in the fields in Grady, Ark. As daily temperatures hit record highs across much of the South, a federal judge has taken an unusual step, challenging the treatment of mostly Black incarcerated workers in the fields. (Bruce Jackson via AP)
In this aerial photo, a cell block and agricultural fields on the grounds of the Louisiana State Penitentiary sit surrounded by agricultural land in Angola, La., Friday, July 21, 2023. America's largest maximum-security prison, known as Angola, sits on 18,000 acres where prisoners have toiled on the same farm lines as enslaved men and women since after emancipation often without shade, adequate work breaks or even sunscreen. In September, several incarcerated workers along with the New Orleans-based advocacy group Voice of the Experienced filed a class-action lawsuit calling for an end to the farm line, and accusing the state of cruel and unusual punishment. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
In this Aug. 18, 2011 photo, prison guards ride horses that were broken by inmates as they return from farm work detail at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, La. In September, several incarcerated workers along with the New Orleans-based advocacy group Voice of the Experienced filed a class-action lawsuit calling for an end to the farm line, and accusing the state of cruel and unusual punishment. But as temperatures soared in May, the men asked the court in an emergency filing to stop work during extreme heat. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)