Act Daily News
—
The Louisiana division of corrections is conserving greater than 1 / 4 of inmates behind bars previous their scheduled launch date, the US Justice Department stated in a report Wednesday.
According to the Justice Department, between January and April 2022 alone, almost 27% of these launched from LDOC custody – almost 4,100 folks – had been held previous their launch dates.
Of these held past their launch dates, 24% had been held for at the least 90 further days.
“Our investigation uncovered evidence of systemic violations by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections that have resulted in the routine confinement of people far beyond the dates when they are legally entitled to be released,” stated Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who heads DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.
The DOJ started the investigation in 2020, saying the state’s overdetention points had stretched on for years with no motion taken. The report cited a decade of “systemic deficiencies” within the state.
“These violations are in large part caused and exacerbated by systemic deficiencies in LDOC’s policies and procedures related to the receipt of sentencing documents, computation of an incarcerated individuals’ release dates, and employee training,” the division stated in a letter that accompanied the report.
The Justice Department stated it may sue the state if it doesn’t appropriate these points in a matter of weeks, the letter continued, however prefers to “resolve this matter through a more cooperative approach.”
“The Constitution guarantees that people incarcerated in jails and prisons may not be detained beyond their release dates, and it is the fundamental duty of the State to ensure that all people in its custody are released on time,” Clarke stated.
Ken Pastorick, an LDOC spokesperson, stated in an announcement to Act Daily News that the division is reviewing the report and that it “will continue to work with DOJ throughout this process.”
Mercedes Montagnes, the chief director of Promise of Justice Initiative, a nonprofit in New Orleans that helps and advocates for the rights of individuals within the justice system, informed Act Daily News that the report’s findings are “egregious” and “frankly worse than we imagined.”
“This is what the Justice Department is here for,” Montagnes stated. “We’ve been shouting, we’ve been screaming, we’ve been crying from every rooftop … for advocates like us this is validating. It’s energizing to know that the full power of the federal government is going to come down here and hold people responsible.”
This story has been up to date with extra particulars.