Kat Stromquist

1 week ago | wwno.org | Kat Stromquist

One sunny spring morning, Ronald Olivier is chatting with a reporter on a sidewalk in downtown Baton Rouge. Construction workers freshen blue paint on a nearby curb, and clusters of business people in suits walk past, headed to their lunch breaks. Some years back, Olivier wouldn't have been part of this cityscape. He was still imprisoned at Louisiana State Penitentiary, commonly called Angola, where he became a grownup. "When I went in prison, I was 5'11", 131 pounds," he reflected, chuckling.

1 week ago | mpbonline.org | Kat Stromquist

As part of his client advocate work, Olivier helps teach clients about navigating relationships. That area can be a challenge, explains Tarika Daftary-Kapur, a professor at Montclair State University in New Jersey who has studied juvenile lifers' reentry experiences. Family reconnections in particular can be hard to get used to. People coming home have missed years of day-to-day interactions with family members, and relatives often remember them more clearly as kids.

2 weeks ago | wwno.org | Kat Stromquist

Alabama executed Gregory Hunt Tuesday evening, killing him with nitrogen gas after he spent more than three decades in lockups for a 1988 Walker County murder. The execution marks Alabama's third this year, on pace to match its six executions in 2024, which was more than any other state last year — though this year, Florida has already reached that tally. Hunt, 65, was sentenced to death for the killing of Karen Lane, whom he had been dating for about a month, according to court documents.

2 weeks ago | wbhm.org | Kat Stromquist

Gregory Hunt says he’s not “your typical death row inmate.”“I don’t have no pity party,” he said in a recent phone interview. “You know, I’m just battling until I get a break or they snuff my light out.”Barring legal intervention, Hunt, who is in his 60s, is set to die by nitrogen gas Tuesday in Alabama for the 1988 murder of Karen Lane. As the execution approaches, Hunt said he isn’t afraid to die because of his deep spirituality.

1 month ago | wwno.org | Kat Stromquist

A federal judge has again ordered prison officials to protect incarcerated men from heat on a work detail at Louisiana's largest prison, finding the men are at "substantial risk of suffering serious harm" under current practices. The decision marks the second time inside of a year that Louisiana Middle District Judge Brian A. Jackson has said corrections officials must boost heat precautions on the "farm line" at Louisiana State Penitentiary, the prison best-known as Angola.