DOJ Sues Louisiana, Alleges State Holds Inmates Way Past Their Release Date

The Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections (LDOC) routinely holds inmates for weeks and months after they have completed their sentences according to a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice on Dec. 20.

The DOJ alleges that thousands of people —since at least 2012— have been unlawfully imprisoned after their sentences are completed. Concretely, more than a quarter of the people due to be released from Louisiana prisons have instead been held past their original release dates.

The suit stems from a multiyear investigation into what federal officials say was a pattern of "systemic overdetention" that clearly violates inmates' rights as well as costing taxpayers millions of dollars a year.

According to the DOJ, the federal department warned state officials last year that they could face a lawsuit if the issues did not get fixed, with lawyers saying that Louisiana made "marginal efforts" to address the issues, considering them "inadequate" as well as showing a "deliberate indifference" to inmates' rights.

"The right to individual liberty includes the right to be released from incarceration on time after the term set by the court has ended," Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement announcing the suit.

"To incarcerate people indefinitely ... not only intrudes on individual liberty, but also erodes public confidence in the fair and just application of our laws."

In response, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and state Attorney General Liz Murrill blamed the problem on what they labelled as "failed criminal justice reforms" introduced by "the past administration" led by Democrat John Bel Edwards from 2016 to 2024.

"This is Grinch Joe Biden's parting Christmas present to the State and the people of Louisiana. The Trump administration would likely have not allowed this case to be filed. As we saw this week in Concordia Parish, Joe Biden and Merrick Garland's orders seem clear – jam through as many frivolous cases as possible before the clock runs out," Gov. Landry and AG Murrill said in a joint statement.

In the statement, they added that reforms applied by the previous administration "complicated the criminal justice system, giving criminals a get out of jail free card."

DOJ warning said 24% of inmates were held over for at least 90 days

According to the warning sent out by the DOJ in January of 2023, Louisiana's prison system failed to implement adequate policies and procedures that then causes systemic overdetentions.

It added that the LDOC had been on notice of its overdetention problem and failed to address it accordingly. The statement added that between January and April 2022 alone, 26.8% of the people released from the Louisiana prison system were held past their release dates, and 24% were held over for at least 90 days past their original release date.

This has costed Louisiana taxpayers millions of dollars, as the DOJ says LDOC had to pay parish jails an estimated $850,000, at a minimum, in fees for the days individuals were incarcerated beyond their lawful sentences, costing the state of Louisiana over $2.5 million a year.