Louisiana often holds inmates past their release date, DOJ lawsuit claims

Associated Press/Report for America

Louisiana’s prison system routinely holds people weeks and months after they have completed their sentences. That is according to a lawsuit filed Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice. The suit against the state of Louisiana follows a multiyear investigation into what federal officials say is a pattern of “systemic overdetention” that violates inmates’ rights and costs taxpayers millions of dollars a year. In a joint statement provided to The Associated Press, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and state Attorney General Liz Murrill blamed the problem on the “failed” criminal justice reforms advanced by “the past administration.”