House Resolution 51 Task Force submits final report and recommendations to Louisiana State Legislature
The House Resolution (HR) 51 Task Force submitted their final report “A Study of Compassionate Release, Parole, and Furlough” to the Louisiana State Legislature. The task force was created in June 2021 “to study the efficacy of the current eligibility, recommendation, and approval processes for medical parole, medical treatment furlough, and compassionate release.” Task force members included representatives from the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, the Louisiana Sheriff’s Association, Louisiana Department of Health, the Governor’s office, and community members such as family members of impacted people, medical professionals, and crime survivors.
“The Task Force found that despite Louisiana’s aging and medically vulnerable prison population, the medical parole, medical treatment furlough, and compassionate release programs resulted in the release of less than 0.6% of people housed in DPS&C facilities between 2018 and 2021,” according to the report. Keeping people with serious terminal illnesses incarcerated drains resources because of the high level of care and treatment required. Additionally, their debilitating conditions and advanced age make their risk to public safety very low.
The report states that “The Task Force recommends that Louisiana lawmakers adopt a comprehensive set of reforms to improve the eligibility, recommendation, and approval processes for medical parole, medical treatment furlough, and compassionate release.”
“We are so excited to see the recommendations submitted to the Louisiana Legislature, and hope that our state representatives revise the medical parole and compassionate release processes as a result,” said Nishi Kumar, PJI’s Director of Civil Litigation.