GLS15 Grander Vision | Burl Cain: Angola Prison, A Place of Encouragement

Twenty years ago, Warden Burl Cain had a Grander Vision to make Angola Prison a place for moral rehabilitation. Through a local seminary, inmates receive training in ministry to become pastors within the prison. The changed lives of these prisoners stand as a testimony to what God can do through one person’s vision. Several years ago, The Acton Institute did an in-depth interview with Burl Cain. Here is a link to the full article.

 Burl Cain is the longest serving warden of Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola), a position he has held since 1995. He formerly worked as a warden at the Dixon Correctional Institute in Jackson, Louisiana. He is well known for his work at transforming prison culture and promoting moral rehabilitation. Warden Cain serves on the board of Prison Fellowship. He recently spoke with managing editor Ray Nothstine.

R&L: What do people outside of Angola need to know about the prison?

Warden Burl Cain: I think Angola proved a lot of things that even Scripture says that does not need proving, like II Chronicles 7:14, “If my people who are called by my name would turn their face to Me, I will heal their land.” And that’s what happened here, because this prison’s culture has changed, not because I’m a smart warden or because of the authority here. It changed solely because these inmates were praying to God to heal their land, and He did.

If you turn to a moral worldview, you’ll be okay. But if we turn away from our religious heritage and we keep separation of church and state to the point that is a wider gap than our forefathers intended, you’re going to keep having immoral acts and immoral things happen. The seminary program implemented by New Orleans Baptist Seminary has changed the prison culture.

There are 6,100 inmates here and more coming. This is a gigantic prison. Right now it’s only murder, rape, armed robbery and habitual felons. If your sentence is less than 50 years, we don’t keep you here. We’re going to change that in the future because these people have so changed, these lifers, who know they’re going to become teachers for the short termers, so that they can make it on the street and save tax dollars by not having to hire so many teachers in literacy and vocational skills and so forth. This place has become a place of encouragement.

You are a warden of a prison that has historically been known as one of the more violent prisons and you’ve seen that change under your watch. But how do you change the perception? And I imagine some of it has to do with talking to the media and getting your story with the Rodeo out, but how do you change that perception in terms of Angola’s reputation?

It’s amazing because I’ve been here almost 18 years, and we were all talking about it just yesterday. I’ve just about given up. I cannot change our reputation because it still makes people shudder, “Angola.” Life magazine called it the bloodiest prison in America. And we can’t shirk the reputation because the people who come here are so violent. People don’t realize how much they can change.

And that’s why we really built the Rodeo up and have so many tours in this riverboat tour. When they stop here in Baton Rouge or St. Francisville, they get in a bus and they come here, because I’m trying to get people to see that this place is not like they thought, and that people can truly change.

Learn how Warden Cain believes moral rehabilitation can change the prison system by reading the rest of this excellent interview. Click here.