U.S. Department of Justice sues Louisiana over prisoners being held past release dates

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Friday alleging that Louisiana and its correctional department continue to keep prisoners detained far past their sentences.

The lawsuit is aimed at both the state and the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections for confining incarcerated people for “weeks and months” after their legitimate release dates.

“Every person in the United States, whether incarcerated or otherwise, enjoys certain fundamental rights,” said Kristen Clark, assistant attorney general of the DOJ’s Civil Right’s Division. “Foremost among them is the right to individual liberty. The Founders were keenly aware of the potential abuse of power when government can arbitrarily take away a person’s freedom without a lawful court order specifying the period of their confinement.”

State department of corrections officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Ongoing problem alleged

In a release, the Department of Justice said its lawsuit comes after a multiyear investigation into allegations of “systemic overdetention” in LDOC’s system.

In a report from January 2023, DOJ made Louisiana aware of the alleged conditions, providing written notice of the supporting facts and what the minimum necessary measures would be to remediate them.

The report was required under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, which also authorizes the DOJ to act when it believes an institution is depriving detainees of their constitutional rights.

“In this context, the right to individual liberty includes the right to be released from incarceration on time after the term set by the court has ended,” Clark said in the DOJ statement.

The lawsuit reportedly does not seek monetary damages, but instead “injunctive relief” to the ongoing conditions in LDOC’s institutions, outlined in the DOJ’s investigation.

The release says Louisiana has made “marginal” efforts to address the problem of overdetention, but the DOJ does not find them adequate, since the problem has allegedly been well-known to Louisiana for a long time.

“To incarcerate people indefinitely, as LDOC does here, not only intrudes on individual liberty, but also erodes public confidence in the fair and just application of our laws. The Justice Department looks forward to proving its case in court,” Clark said in the statement.

A report from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor earlier this year found that the Department of Public Safety and Corrections did not have an adequate review process to ensure changes to release dates are accurately calculated. An agency official said it was the fourth time the auditor’s office had made such a finding.

The corrections department disputed the findings at that time, asserting in a response that its review process was adequate and noting the auditor did not find any errors in the release date calculations it reviewed.