PJI’s Efforts on Overdetention Lead to Major DOJ Findings
Investigation finds that 27% of people in DOC custody were held beyond release dates
New Orleans – The Promise of Justice Initiative applauds today’s findings by the DOJ that Louisiana’s longstanding practice of detaining more than a quarter of incarcerated people beyond their court-ordered release dates violates the Constitution.
According to the report issued today, the DOJ found that from January 2022 to April 2022, 27 percent of the people who were legally entitled to be released from state custody, some for minor crimes or first-time offenses, were held past their release dates. About 24 percent of those improperly detained had been held 90 days or longer past their release dates.
“We have known for a long time that the Louisiana DOC is deliberately indifferent to the systemic overdetention of people in its custody,” said Mercedes Montagnes, Executive Director at PJI. “We are grateful that the DOJ investigated this matter and we’re hopeful that DOC will finally take its constitutional obligations seriously.”
PJI, along with Most & Associates and Loevy & Loevy, is currently litigating two class action lawsuits against the State of Louisiana to stop its illegal practice of overdetention. The cases were consolidated for discovery and are pending in the Middle District of Louisiana.
“Timely release is an imperative legal obligation,” said William Most of Most & Associates. “Justice demands a complete and immediate overhaul of the entire system. It’s long overdue.”
The DOJ’s investigation determined that DOC incarcerates thousands of individuals each year beyond their legal release dates in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. These violations are pursuant to a pattern or practice of infringements on the constitutional rights of incarcerated persons. According to the DOJ, “[t]hese violations are severe, systemic, and are both caused and perpetuated by serious ongoing deficiencies in LDOC’s policies and practices.”
Learn more about PJI’s work to end overdetention in Louisiana at https://promiseofjustice.org/overdetention.