Overdetention
The Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections (DOC) illegally imprisons thousands of people annually by holding them—sometimes for years—even after their legal release dates.
Here’s how the New York Times recently described the problem:
Roughly 200 inmates are held beyond their legal release dates on any given month in Louisiana, amounting to 2,000 to 2,500 of the 12,000 to 16,000 prisoners freed each year. The average length of additional time was around 44 days in 2019, according to internal state corrections data obtained by lawyers for inmates — and until recently, the department’s public hotline warned families that the wait could be as long as 90 days.
In most other states and cities, prisoners and parolees marked for immediate release are typically processed within hours — not days —although those times can vary, particularly if officials must make arrangements required to release registered sex offenders. But in Louisiana, the problem known as “overdetention” is endemic, often occurring without explanation, apology or compensation — an overlooked crisis in a state that imprisons a higher percentage of its residents than any other in most years.
The practice is also wasteful. It costs Louisiana taxpayers about $2.8 million a year in housing costs alone, according to department estimates.
PJI, along with Most & Associates and Loevy & Loevy, filed two class action lawsuits against the State of Louisiana to stop its illegal practice of overdetention. The cases were consolidated for discovery purposes and are currently pending in the Middle District of Louisiana.
Humphrey v. LeBlanc, 3:20-cv-233 (M.D. La.)
On April 16, 2019, Brian Humphrey was sentenced by a judge in Bossier Parish to time served. Mr. Humphrey should have been released that day. Instead, he spent the next three weeks in prison. When the State finally got around to processing his paperwork, Mr. Humphrey had been falsely imprisoned for 27 days.
PJI and co-counsel filed suit against DOC Secretary James LeBlanc for violating, among other things, Mr. Humphrey’s constitutional right to due process. On behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, he seeks damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Read the second amended complaint here and the motion for class certification, filed on July 21, 2022, here.
Giroir v. LeBlanc, 3:21-cv-108 (M.D. La.)
On January 26, 2021, Joel Giroir was sentenced to one year in DOC custody. Under Louisiana’s “good time” law, he was only required to serve 35% of his sentence, or 128 days. Mr. Giroir had already served 192 days, so he was eligible for immediate release. Nevertheless, DOC waited until February 22, 2021—three days after PJI filed suit—to release him.
On behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, Mr. Giroir asserts that DOC’s policy and practice of overdetention violates the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution. He also brings claims for false imprisonment and negligence. Mr. Giroir seeks declaratory and injunctive relief. Read the amended complaint here.
On March 30, 2022, the district court denied in part Defendants’ motion to dismiss. The court held, among other things, that “[Giroir] has alleged enough facts to demonstrate a substantial likelihood of on the merits as to his Section 1983 claim that Defendants violated the Fourteenth Amendment by keeping [Giroir] and the proposed class members in DOC custody beyond their legal release dates without justification for doing so.” See Giroir v. LeBlanc, No. 21-cv-108, 2022 LEXIS 58563, at *19-20 (M.D. La. Mar. 30, 2022).
RELEASE: PJI’s Efforts on Overdetention Lead to Major DOJ Finding