BOOK II.

OF THE TREATMENT OF THE PRISONERS IN THE SEVERAL PLACES OF CONFINEMENT.

TITLE I.

OF THE PRISONERS CONFINED IN THE HOUSE OF DETENTION.

Art. 125. The prisoners of the first class, that is to say, those confined in order to secure their attendance as witnesses, shall be under no other restriction than that which is absolutely necessary to prevent their escape from the prison. Good and wholesome food, comfortable bedding, and other necessaries, shall be provided for them at the public expense; or they may be allowed to provide it for themselves; and every such prisoner shall be immediately liberated on his giving the security for his appearance to testify, that is required by law.

Art. 126. Those who are committed for want of bail, in the first district, on an accusation of misdemeanor:

Those who are condemned to simple imprisonment (not in close custody), in the first district, or who are removed on a like sentence from any other district :

Those who may be committed for the non-payment of a fine, or for the breach of a recognizance, or other engagement, entered into in the course of a prosecution for an offence:

Form a second class of prisoners. They need not be separated from each other during the day, but each shall be lodged at night in separate dormitories, unless the numbers in the prison shall render it impossible.

Art. 127. Those who are committed for want of bail on accusations of crime, form a third class. These shall be kept in separate cells or apartments both night and day, and shall have no communication whatever with each other.

Art. 128. All the above classes of prisoners shall be entitled to good wholesome food and drink, according to the prison regulations hereinafter provided for, and to beds and bedding, at the public expense; or they shall be permitted to purchase or receive such food and beds, of a better quality, at their own expense, also under the restrictions contained under the prison regulations.

They may receive the visits of their families and friends, and their counsel, at all reasonable hours.

They shall be allowed the free use of books, of pen, ink, and paper, at their own expense.

Art. 129. The prisoners sentenced to close confinement, shall each

be confined in a separate apartment or cell, furnished with the prison allowance of bedding, and a chair, and a table; but may provide their own bedding if they think fit. They shall be restricted to the prison allowance of drink and food, unless the court shall order differently in the sentence, or the physician shall officially certify that their health will be impaired by confining them to it.

They shall not be permitted to receive any society in their places of confinement, without permission of two of the inspectors in writing, and the time of such visit shall be prescribed and limited in the permission, and shall in no case exceed one hour at a time.

They shall not be debarred the privilege of consulting with their counsel, or receiving the visits of their physician and chaplains, at all reasonable times.

Art. 130. No prisoner in this house shall be forced to perform any labour. No prisoner shall be confined in irons; but if he shall have made an attempt to break the prison, or have assaulted the keeper or other person employed in the house, he may be confined in a straightjacket or arm straps.

Art. 131. All the prisoners in this house may be permitted to work at such trades and manufactures as they may desire and may be deemed by the inspectors proper to be carried on in the house, without infringing the rules hereinbefore laid down; and the inspectors shall provide the tools and implements, and the materials for carrying on such manufactory as they may deem expedient, and shall allow to such of the prisoners as may choose to work thereat three-fourths of the net proceeds of their labour, and shall pay the same as it is earned to the prisoner; the other fourth shall be deposited in bank in the manner hereinafter directed.

Art. 132. The daily allowance of food to a prisoner in the house of detention shall be the same as is allowed to a soldier in the army of the United States. The bedding shall be the same as is directed for the prisoners in the Penitentiary.

Art. 133. The inspectors shall make prison regulations for the preservation of order in the House of Detention, not inconsistent with this Code, and for the supply of food and other accommodations to such of the persons detained as are allowed to procure the same at their own expense; but no wine or spirituous liquors shall be introduced but by order of the physician, stating that the health of the party, in whose favour it is given, requires it.

TITLE II.

OF THE TREATMENT OF THE PRISONERS IN THE PENITENTIARY.

CHAPTER I.

Of the reception of the convicts.

Art. 134. Every convict sentenced to imprisonment in the Penitentiary shall, immediately after the sentence shall have been finally

pronounced, be conveyed, by the sheriff of the parish in which he was condemned, to the Penitentiary, under secure guard; and when it shall be deemed necessary, the officer commanding the regiment of the place where the court sits, shall furnish a guard for that purpose, on the order of the court entered on its minutes.

Art. 135. On the arrival of a convict, immediate notice shall be given to the physician, who shall examine the state of his health; he shall then be stripped of his clothes and clothed in the uniform of the prison, that is suited to his offence, in the manner hereinafter provided, being first, if necessary, bathed and cleaned.

Art. 136. The convict shall then be examined by the clerk and the warden, in the presence of as many of the under-keepers as can conveniently attend; and his height, apparent and alleged age, complexion, colour of hair and eyes, and length of his feet to be accurately measured, shall be entered in a book provided for that purpose, together with such other natural or accidental marks, or peculiarity of feature or appearance, as may serve to identify him; an instrument shall also be provided by vich the profile of his face shall be delineated, and it shall be marked with his name and pasted in the said book, under the description of his person; and if the convict can write, his signature shall be placed under the said description of his

person.

Art. 137. All the effects on the person of the convict, as well as his clothes, shall be taken from him and specially mentioned, and preserved to be restored to him on his discharge, or delivered to his curator, where one shall be appointed, pursuant to the provisions hereinafter contained.

Art. 138. If the convict is not in such ill health as to require being sent to the infirmary, he shall then be conducted to the cell assigned to him, where he shall be kept in solitude for forty-eight hours, interrupted only by the necessary attendance of the keeper; during this period, designed for reflection, neither books nor employment of any kind shall be allowed him.

Art. 139. On the third day the chaplain shall visit him in his cell, and shall endeavour to impress on his mind as well the wickedness as the danger of vicious and unlawful pursuits, and he shall exhort him to obedience and industry during the term of his service, and urge the utility of acquiring the means of an honest support by labour on his discharge. The warden shall then examine him, and put him to such labour as he shall seem fittest for, consulting his inclinations as well as his physical powers.

CHAPTER II.

Of the labour of the male convicts committed for a term of years.

Art. 140. Although labour forms a part of the sentence, it is annexed as an alleviation, not an aggravation of punishment. The punishment is imprisonment in solitude. All that the law entitles the patient to under this confinement, is food, clothing, and lodging, sufficient for the preservation of health, but all of the coarsest kind; his health and life are the objects of attention, not his appetite or com

fort. Other indulgences are the reward of industry, obedience, repentance, and reformation; these are the effects of labour; and labour, therefore, is permitted as the means of attaining them.

Art. 141. The advantages that are to be gained by perseverance in labour, obedience, moral conduct, and a desire of reform, are:

1. A better diet.

2. A partial relief from solitude, and the means of education by the visits and lessons of the teacher.

3. Permission to read books of general instruction.

4. The privilege of receiving the visits of friends or relations at proper periods.

5. Admission into a class for instruction, after a period of good conduct that shall evince a sincere desire to reform.

6. The privilege, after a long probation, of labouring in society. 7. A proportion of the proceeds of his labour on his discharge. 8. A certificate of good conduct, industry, and skill in the trade he has learned, which may enable him to regain the confidence of society. Art. 142. As these advantages are to be gained only by industry and good conduct, they are suspended and may be forfeited by idleness or irregularity; and at the expiration of the two days given for reflection, after the admission of the convict, the articles of this section are to be read to him, and he shall make his election whether he will avail himself of the indulgence they offer; should he consent, he shall be immediately set to labour; if he refuse, the offer shall not be repeated in less than six days; after the second refusal, it can only be repeated in fifteen days; and after a third, he cannot be permitted to accept it until a month's time shall have elapsed; after which, he shall be considered as having made his final election.

Art. 143. From among the convicts who have not, before commitment, worked at any trade, the warden shall select a sufficient number to perform the offices of cooking and other necessary attendance in the prison. He shall prefer for this purpose those who have the shortest term to serve; but all these shall be locked up in separate cells at night.

Art. 144. If the convict has been used to any employment or trade that can be advantageously pursued consistent with the system established by this Code, he shall be furnished with the implements of such trade, and be allowed to employ himself at it. If his trade is one that cannot, in the opinion of the inspectors, be conveniently carried on, or is inconsistent with the system, he shall be taught an employment the most analogous to the one to which he has been bred.

Art. 145. If the convict has not been bred to any trade, the warden shall employ him at such business as is best adapted to his habits of life and his strength, consulting as much as may be possible the inclination of the convict; and in the selection of employment, regard is to be had more to giving him an honest mode of subsistence after his discharge, than to the profit of the prison.

Art. 146. The regular occupation of each convict shall, for the first six months of his confinement, be carried on in the outer enclosure of his cell, in solitude, interrupted only by the visits of the inspectors, the warden, the chaplain, the teacher, the physician, the person (if any) employed to instruct him in his trade, and the attendants with the regular meals, and by the exercise mentioned in the next article.

Art. 147. For the preservation of the health of the prisoners, each of them shall be made to labour one hour in every day at a handcrank

hydraulic machine, or some other, calculated to exert the muscular powers in a manner beneficial to health. This crank, or other parts of the machine to which bodily power is to be applied, shall be so placed and divided, that each prisoner may labour without having it in his power to have any communication with the others employed in the same labour, and they shall be conducted separately to and from the place, under the care of an under-keeper, who shall prevent any person from having any communication with them by word or otherwise.

Art. 148. During the first six months of confinement the teacher shall give to the convicts who cannot read or write, a lesson to each, in regular rotation, employing himself at least seven hours in each day, until a class shall be formed, when he shall divide his time equally between the individual prisoners entitled to instruction and the classes. Art. 149. At the expiration of six months each convict who has received the lessons of the teacher during that time, and such other convicts as are desirous of receiving further instruction, shall, provided they obtain a certificate of good conduct and industry in labour from the warden, the chaplain, and teacher, have the privilege of being admitted into a class, which shall receive instruction together in the school-room; but no class shall contain more than eight; no more than one class shall be assembled at a time, and the individuals composing it shall be conducted separately to and from the place of instruction.

Art. 150. The warden may, when necessary for the instruction of a prisoner in any business or trade, with the permission of the inspectors, employ a person of good character for that purpose, who shall, at proper hours, have access to such prisoner.

Art. 151. The warden may, with the consent of the inspectors, make contracts for the labour of the convicts, or any of them, with mechanics or manufacturers; but a condition of the contract shall be, that the convicts shall be taught, and employed in, some useful trade; and for that purpose a foreman or instructor, to be employed by the contractor, but approved by the warden and inspectors, shall be admitted to the enclosures adjoining the cells of the convicts, at convenient times during the hours of labour.

Art. 152. The first contract shall not be for a longer period than eighteen months; and all subsequent contracts shall be made by auction and for one year; and the applicants for the contract shall be permitted, in the presence of the warden, to examine the convicts as to their skill and ability.

Art. 153. If any contractor or his agent shall give or promise to any of the convicts any article of food, drink, or other article, not permitted by this Code or by the prison regulation, the contract shall be forfeited, and each offender shall pay a fine of five hundred dollars, and be imprisoned not more than thirty nor less than ten days in close custody.

Art. 154. After being employed for eighteen months in solitary labour, the convict, if he can procure from the warden, the inspectors, the chaplain, and the teacher (if he have been under his instruction), a certificate of industry, good conduct, and a disposition to reform, may be admitted to a working class, not exceeding ten, to work at some useful trade; but no one shall enjoy this privilege the value of whose labour during the eighteen months shall not have exceeded the expense of his clothing and food, unless he shall have lost by sickness a number of days' labour, of which the value shall be equal to the deficiency in his account.