Louisiana prison system US authorities routinely detain prisoners for weeks or months after they were supposed to be released from custody after completing their sentences, the US Justice Department said in a lawsuit filed on Friday.
The lawsuit against the state comes after a multi-year investigation into a pattern of “systematic over-detention” that violates prisoners' rights and costs taxpayers millions of dollars annually.
Since at least 2012, more than a quarter of inmates scheduled for release from Louisiana prisons have remained in custody past their release date, according to the Department of Justice.
The Justice Department says Louisiana prisons often hold prisoners long after they were supposed to be released after completing their sentences. (AP)
the Ministry of Justice Louisiana officials warned last year that it might sue the state if it failed to fix the problems. The state has made “marginal efforts” to address these issues, the department's lawyers say, noting that such attempts at reform were “inadequate” and showed “deliberate indifference” to inmates' constitutional rights.
“The right to individual liberty includes the right to be released from prison on time after the expiration of the term set by the court,” Assistant District Attorney Christine Clark said in a statement.
“Incarcerating people indefinitely…not only infringes on individual liberty, but also undermines public confidence in the fair and just application of our laws,” the statement added.
More than a quarter of inmates scheduled to be released from Louisiana prisons since at least 2012 have missed their release dates, the Justice Department said. (Kevin Deitch/Getty Images)
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and state Attorney General Liz Morrill, both Republicans, attributed the problem to “failed criminal justice reforms” pushed by “the previous administration.”
“Last year, we took important actions to keep Louisianans safe and make sure perpetrators of crime serve time, too,” Landry and Morell said in a joint statement to The Associated Press. “The State of Louisiana is committed to preserving the constitutional rights of Louisiana citizens.”
Biden Considers Commuting Sentences of Inmates on Federal Death Row: Report
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry speaks at the CPAC Texas 2022 conference at the Anatole Hilton. (Raden/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The two state officials also claimed that the lawsuit is a last-ditch effort by President Biden, who will leave office next month, arguing that President-elect Trump The next administration He would not have pursued the case.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Advocates have repeatedly challenged conditions in Louisiana's prison system, which includes Angola, the nation's largest maximum-security prison, where inmates pick vegetables by hand on an 18,000-acre plot of land. The site was formerly the Angola Plantations, a slave plantation owned by Isaac Franklin and named after Angola, the country of origin of many of the enslaved people who worked there.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
