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Working with Lawrence as the prison rehabilitation director was [[James Monroe Smith]], the former president of [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]] who had pleaded guilty in 1939 to three charges of [[forgery]] and one of [[embezzlement]]; he was sentenced to eight-to-twenty-four years at Louisiana State Penitentiary. He was sentenced to thirty months in the federal prison at the United States Penitentiary in [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia]] on charges of [[mail fraud]] and [[income tax]] evasion. In 1945, Governor Davis commuted Smith's sentence; both he and Smith were natives of Jackson Parish in North Louisiana. Had Davis not authorized the commutation, Smith would have been an inmate at Angola at the time Lawrence was the superintendent.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lahistory.org/resources/dictionary-louisiana-biography/dictionary-louisiana-biography-s/

Working with Lawrence as the prison rehabilitation director was [[James Monroe Smith]], the former president of [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]] who had pleaded guilty in 1939 to three charges of [[forgery]] and one of [[embezzlement]]; he was sentenced to eight-to-twenty-four years at Louisiana State Penitentiary. He was sentenced to thirty months in the federal prison at the United States Penitentiary in [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia]] on charges of [[mail fraud]] and [[income tax]] evasion. In 1945, Governor Davis commuted Smith's sentence; both he and Smith were natives of Jackson Parish in North Louisiana. Had Davis not authorized the commutation, Smith would have been an inmate at Angola at the time Lawrence was the superintendent.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lahistory.org/resources/dictionary-louisiana-biography/dictionary-louisiana-biography-s/

|title=Smith, James Monroe|publisher=Louisiana Historical Association (''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography'')|accessdate=September 25, 2020}}</ref>Lawrence believed that the state should make an "honest effort" to steer inmates, particularly first offenders, into occupational skills which they could use upon release from incarceration. The two questioned the penal farms in which prisoners were used commercially for often back-breaking labor but not given usable occupational skills to help them find gainful employment once released.<ref name=book>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FJp7dKVIl2UC&pg=PA148&lpg=PA148&dq=Rollo+C.+Lawrence&source=bl&ots=hQAvyuLGI-&sig=JnN17KqcyZ4zPse8mQnvzEr6WuE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CFQQ6AEwDmoVChMI0qvV4pLvxgIVA_eACh0QHgDr#v=onepage&q=Rollo%20C.%20Lawrence&f=false|pages=148–152|title=Politics and Punishment: The History of the Louisiana State Penal System|author=[[Mark T. Carleton]]|publisher=[[Louisiana State University]] Press|date=1971|isbn=0-8071-0940-1|accessdate=July 22, 2015}}</ref>

|title=Smith, James Monroe|publisher=Louisiana Historical Association (''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography'')|accessdate=September 25, 2020}}</ref>Lawrence believed that the state should make an "honest effort" to steer inmates, particularly first offenders, into occupational skills which they could use upon release from incarceration. The two questioned the penal farms in which prisoners were used commercially for often back-breaking labor but not given usable occupational skills to help them find gainful employment once released.<ref name=book>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FJp7dKVIl2UC&pg=PA148&lpg=PA148&dq=Rollo+C.+Lawrence&source=bl&ots=hQAvyuLGI-&sig=JnN17KqcyZ4zPse8mQnvzEr6WuE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CFQQ6AEwDmoVChMI0qvV4pLvxgIVA_eACh0QHgDr#v=onepage&q=Rollo%20C.%20Lawrence&f=false|pages=148–152|title=Politics and Punishment: The History of the Louisiana State Penal System|author=[[Mark T. Carleton]]|publisher=[[Louisiana State University]] Press|date=1971|isbn=0-8071-0940-1|accessdate=September 25, 2020}}</ref>

Joining in the call for prisoner rehabilitation was [[Margaret Dixon]], the influential managing editor of ''|The Baton Rouge Morning Advocate'' until her death in 1970 and a Long-appointee to the LSU Board of Supervisors. Nearly forty Angola prisoners engaged in self-mutilation to call attention to what they saw as inhumane prison practices. An investigation conducted by Lawrence revealed only two cases where prisoners had been beaten and in both the guards had acted in self-defense when attacked.<ref name=book/> Lawrence resigned as prison superintendent in May 1951.<ref>"Lawrence Resigns Prison Post," ''The Ruston Daily Leader,'' May 18, 1951, p. 1.</ref>

Joining in the call for prisoner rehabilitation was [[Margaret Dixon]], the influential managing editor of ''|The Baton Rouge Morning Advocate'' until her death in 1970 and a Long-appointee to the LSU Board of Supervisors. Nearly forty Angola prisoners engaged in self-mutilation to call attention to what they saw as inhumane prison practices. An investigation conducted by Lawrence revealed only two cases where prisoners had been beaten and in both the guards had acted in self-defense when attacked.<ref name=book/> Lawrence resigned as prison superintendent in May 1951.<ref>"Lawrence Resigns Prison Post," ''The Ruston Daily Leader,'' May 18, 1951, p. 1.</ref>