The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Louisiana and its Department of Public Safety and Corrections, accusing the state of illegally detaining thousands of prisoners for weeks or even months after they were legally entitled to release. This alarming practice, which has persisted since at least 2012, violates the due process rights guaranteed under the 14th Amendment, according to federal prosecutors.
“Indefinitely incarcerating individuals not only infringes on their liberty but also erodes public trust in the fairness of our legal system,” said Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. She emphasized that the Justice Department is prepared to prove its case in court.
The lawsuit highlights systemic issues within Louisiana’s corrections system, including “deliberate indifference” and outdated administrative practices that have contributed to widespread unlawful detentions. The Justice Department estimates these violations cost the state over $2.5 million annually.
The federal complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, stems from a multi-year investigation by the DOJ, which uncovered a pervasive pattern of detaining individuals long after their sentences ended. In May alone, 141 individuals were unlawfully held, with 120 of them detained for over a month. Shockingly, nearly 80% of these cases involved people eligible for immediate release at their sentencing hearings.
Prosecutors argue that the state’s overdetention problem is rooted in “outdated, unreliable, and inefficient systems” that fail at every step of the release process. Louisiana has been using the same system for tracking inmate custody and calculating release dates since 1991. Although efforts to modernize the system began in 2018, the state still relies on the antiquated infrastructure, exacerbating delays.
Additionally, the lawsuit cites insufficient staff training and inconsistent procedures for obtaining sentencing paperwork from courts and sheriff’s departments as key contributors to the problem. Despite being aware of these issues for years, the state has allegedly made only minimal efforts to address them, leaving systemic deficiencies largely unresolved.
“While some marginal improvements have been made, they fall far short of what’s necessary to resolve the longstanding and well-documented failures,” the DOJ stated.
The Justice Department is seeking injunctive relief to ensure Louisiana ends its practice of unlawfully detaining prisoners and implements measures to prevent such violations in the future. This case underscores the urgent need for reform in a system that has unjustly stripped thousands of individuals of their liberty.