Promise of Justice Initiative

Promise of Justice Initiative PJI fights for the dignity, freedom, and autonomy of those targeted and touched by the criminal legal system and for an end to mass incarceration.

The Promise of Justice Initiative fights for the dignity, freedom, and autonomy of those targeted and touched by the criminal legal system and for an end to mass incarceration. A New Orleans-based decarceration organization, we at the forefront of the fight for the dignity, freedom, and autonomy of those targeted and touched by the criminal legal system and mass incarceration.

Come work with us at the Promise of Justice Initiative (PJI)!🟢: PJI is a fearless and creative New Orleans based legal a...
06/16/2026

Come work with us at the Promise of Justice Initiative (PJI)!

🟢: PJI is a fearless and creative New Orleans based legal and racial justice org. We stand at the forefront of the fight for the liberation, freedom, and autonomy of those targeted and touched by the criminal legal system and mass incarceration.

⚫️: Organizer: This position is housed in the Community Impact department. PJI organizers collaborate with the organization's legal teams and community stakeholders to co-develop and implement strategies to build collective power and pathways for freedom across Louisiana. Our organizers co-develop and implement campaign strategy, identify leaders in directly affected communities, and develop & support those leaders in base building.

Click the following 🔗 to apply: https://promiseofjustice.org/jobs/organizer

Read more about VOTE v. LeBlanc, our class action lawsuit against Angola Prison for the practice of forced agricultural ...
06/12/2026

Read more about VOTE v. LeBlanc, our class action lawsuit against Angola Prison for the practice of forced agricultural labor known as the "Farm Line," where incarcerated men – mostly Black men – are forced to labor under degrading, dangerous, dehumanizing labor conditions that resemble slavery from The Appeal.
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A federal judge recognized significant rights violations were occurring on the "Farm Line," yet declined to meaningfully stop them. While acknowledging the unconstitutional conditions, the ruling sidestepped the core issue: Angola’s forced agricultural labor system is inseparable from Louisiana’s history of slavery, convict leasing and racial oppression, taking place on the very same plantation grounds.

Learn more by clicking here: https://theappeal.org/angola-farm-line-fifth-circuit-eight-amendment/

06/10/2026

"As a survivor of violence turned PhD student, I was surprised to find very little existing research on the experiences of individuals after violence, so I wanted to conduct this study to better understand system gaps, barriers, and thoughts about safety and justice, across a diverse group of New Orleans area survivors." – Dr. Julie Ford⁠
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The Survivor Narrative Project collects the experiences and needs of survivors of violence in the Greater New Orleans area. It was conducted in collaboration with PJI and LSR (currently known as Not In My Name). The study included group discussion sessions and interviews with adults (18+) who experienced violence in the greater New Orleans area, and interviews with individuals who provided services and/or advocacy for survivors after violence.⁠
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Results of the survivors’ portion of the study, including quotes from group discussions, interview summaries, and a PDF report, can be found here: https://survivornarrativeproject.org.

“People would rather lose their minds than endure the Farm Line,” Winn said. “To the men still being punished inside Ang...
06/08/2026

“People would rather lose their minds than endure the Farm Line,” Winn said. “To the men still being punished inside Angola: We can’t give up. Our voice is our hope. We have to continue to believe and push. We can end this form of slavery.”⁠
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Incarcerated men would rather face solitary confinement and other disciplinary actions than be forced to work on Angola Prison's farm line.

Learn more about our years-long litigation which was able to bring about changes to the conditions these men have to endure in 's extreme heat and the recent ruling from a federal judge which found those conditions unconstitutional, yet failed to make them permanent from Prism Reports' reporting here: https://prismreports.org/2026/06/04/court-missed-chance-to-end-forced-labor-at-angola-prison-in-louisiana-advocates-say/

06/04/2026

"Black people, our experiences, our history, and our ability to seek self-determination are under attack in the state of Louisiana. We very much see our fight for the right to not be forced to reenact slavery just because we are in prison as a critical frontier in the rights of people, Black people in particular."⁠ – Samantha Kennedy⁠
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Last week, a federal judge made clear that conditions on Angola’s Farm Line are unconstitutional (incl. forcing people incarcerated to labor in extreme heat) but refused to order permanent protections. While acknowledging the unconstitutional conditions, the courts sidestepped the core issue of our litigation: no one should be forced to endure degrading, dangerous, dehumanizing labor conditions that resemble slavery.⁠
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We at PJI will continue to fight on behalf of those forced to labor inside of plantation prisons and experiencing injustices at the hands of state officials. Learn more about our End Plantation Prisons campaign here: promiseofjustice.org/epp

“'They don’t teach these guys to do farm work, they just say go pick vegetables,'” said Cecelia Trenticosta Kappel, an a...
06/02/2026

“'They don’t teach these guys to do farm work, they just say go pick vegetables,'” said Cecelia Trenticosta Kappel, an attorney at the Promise of Justice Initiative... It’s a means of punishment by racial terror.”⁠
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PJI Deputy Director of Litigation, Cecelia Kappel and advocate for directly impacted people, Terrance Winn spoke with 's Mike Ludwig about last Tuesday's ruling on our class action lawsuit against Angola Prison for the dehumanizing and dangerous practice of forced agricultural labor known as the "Farm Line."

Read more here: https://truthout.org/articles/federal-judge-upholds-infamously-brutal-farm-labor-at-angola-prison/

With the Dept. of Justice's latest report calling for states to use firing squads as an alternative ex*****on method whe...
06/01/2026

With the Dept. of Justice's latest report calling for states to use firing squads as an alternative ex*****on method where lethal injection drugs are unavailable, the Marshall Project's Maurice Chammah follows the historic ebb and flow of this ex*****on method as public support for the death penalty has significantly decreased over the last several decades while states attempt to "improve ex*****ons" that are less brutal than firing squads yet less effective. Read more here: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2026/05/18/ex*****ons-firing-squads-federal-death-penalty

This week, a federal court said that forcing people to work in dangerous heat at Angola is unconstitutional. But then re...
05/28/2026

This week, a federal court said that forcing people to work in dangerous heat at Angola is unconstitutional. But then refused to reform the Farm Line or confront the legacy of slavery behind it.

The fight against forced labor at Angola continues. We must End Plantation Prisons.

05/27/2026

After years of investigation and litigation, PJI went to trial in our class action lawsuit, VOTE v. LeBlanc, against Angola prison. This lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of the “Farm Line” – a forced labor system at Angola, a former plantation, that reinforces slavery as a way of life and modality for control and humiliation. We challenged it as dangerous to people’s health as well as a deliberately humiliating and degrading system of punishment.

This week, a federal court recognized what incarcerated workers at Angola have said for years: forcing people to complete agricultural labor in dangerous heat is unconstitutional. But the ruling failed to implement any permanent changes or name the broader violence of the Farm Line system rooted in slavery and dehumanization.

In response, formerly incarcerated advocates, community members, and PJI attorneys held a press conference condemning the decision and calling attention to the ongoing harms faced by people incarcerated at Angola.

Watch to hear from Samantha Kennedy (Executive Director of PJI), Samantha Bosalavage Pourciau (Senior Attorney at PJI), Donald Arbuthnot, (Organizer at VOTE), & Cecelia Trenticosta Kappel (Deputy Director of Litigation and Special Projects at PJI):

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New Orleans, LA

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(504) 529-5955

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