Apr. 22, 2005
By John Gordon

ANGOLA, La. – With an average sentence of 88 years, and many life sentences without the possibility of parole, most prisoners at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola will die here.

But a hospice program, which includes volunteers from a United Methodist congregation within the prison walls, is giving new hope to dying inmates.

"The hospice program fit because we're a community and a culture," said Warden Burl Cain. "And in a community and a culture, there's dying. And when there's dying, there's a need for hospice."

Cain estimates that 90 percent of the more than 5,000 prisoners at Angola will die there.

"I think that every man, in their mind, they wonder what's after this, what's after this life," said Ron Hicks, who leads the United Methodist congregation at Angola. He also volunteers with the hospice program.

"If God chooses not to heal, and they wind up dying, then I know that God has a purpose even in eternity for them," Hicks said.

Hicks was 19 when he was sentenced to life in prison for second-degree murder. He is now 35.

He said he was "broken down" when his lawyer told him he could spend the rest of his life behind bars if convicted.

"I really began to seek God concerning my future and asking God to help me through this," he said. "God has really given me the joy and the strength to make it through the time in prison."

Now, Hicks tries to pass along that hope to fellow inmates. He said the United Methodist congregation totals more than 200 members.

Cain credits the "moral rehabilitation" of prisoners with changing Angola from one of the bloodiest prisons in the country to what he describes as one of the safest. Three chapels have been built and two more are under construction on the sprawling, 18,000-acre prison grounds, surrounded on three sides by the Mississippi River.

Cain calls the chapels "islands of freedom."

"Inmates are people, too, and many of these crimes were committed 20 and 30 years ago," he said. "And what we did is, we created an atmosphere where you could be what you could be. You had a chance to be good, and it would be OK."

Cain said as long as prisoners respect the rules, guards are not oppressive. Besides building chapels, Cain also encourages churches from outside the prison to send ministry teams to Angola.

"If you want to live and do right, then you can lead a pretty decent life here in prison. You just can't leave," he said.

Inmate Gary Norris, 36, said his life has changed since being sentenced to life at Angola for murder. Norris is also a member of the United Methodist congregation at the prison.

"I've actually been near death, so I know what it feels like," said Norris. "I think it's important to have somebody there with you, to talk to you, comfort you and tell you about God."

Robert Toney, an Angola staffer and supervisor of the prison's chaplains department, said volunteers not only minister to inmates, but help them get dressed and push their wheelchairs around the hospice ward.

Aging prisoners face problems just like those outside the walls, with cancer, heart disease and other illnesses.

"It is unbelievable the love and the care that they receive through hospice," Toney said. "This is a very innovative program,"

Family visits are also allowed to hospice patients. But some inmates still die at Angola without relatives attending their funerals.

Cain's push for dying with dignity extends to prison funerals. Wooden coffins made by inmates are carried in a horse-drawn hearse, also built by prisoners.

Inmates walk behind the hearse, singing hymns before paying their last respects at the prison cemetery.

How does Cain know if prisoners with a violent past are sincere in their religious beliefs? He doesn't. Judging someone else is not his job as a warden, he said.

"If you're lying to yourself, then when you die, that old man's going to poke you with that pitchfork if you're not careful," Cain said. "And that's between you and God because God's the judge, not me."

United Methodist News Service
John Gordon is a freelance producer and writer in Marshall, Texas.