Soros Justice Fellowships

Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism

While more than two million citizens are locked away in American prisons, prisoner-produced publications have largely been shut down across the country, leaving inmates little opportunity to communicate meaningfully beyond bars. Linda LaBranche will study a quarter-century in the life of inmate-run The Angolite, winner of journalism’s most prestigious awards and honoree of the American Bar Association. She will document The Angolite’s operation and content, as well as its impact upon prisoners inside and outside of the Louisiana State Penitentiary.

LaBranche recently finished her 19-year advocacy effort on behalf of Angolite editor Wilbert Rideau. Co-founder of Loyola University’s grassroots “Rideau Project,” which garnered broad community support for Rideau’s release, she also authored The Rideau Report, an exhaustive comparative research study of murder convictions and clemencies to convicted murderers in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. Released by Loyola in 1990, the study revealed a 100 percent death-sentencing rate for black men convicted of murdering whites, the highest rate ever documented in America. In the early 1990s, she worked with the Public Service Commission on behalf of Louisiana State Penitentiary inmates who were boycotting price gouging and abusive practices by the prison telephone provider. In 1987 she co-founded the Special Civics Project, a joint endeavor between Loyola University and Louisiana State Penitentiary inmates to encourage voter registration among friends and families of inmates throughout the state. Prior to her involvement in justice advocacy, LaBranche was a writer for the Louisiana Board of Regents, the state’s governing board for higher education, and was an investigator for the state’s Ethics Commission. She received her PhD in English from Northwestern University.

Baton Rouge, LA |  One Year |