The problem arose sporadically in other states, including neighboring Mississippi, and in Federal Bureau of Prisons. New York City recently agreed to pay up to 300 million dollars for thousands of current and former prisoners in local prisons who were held for hours or days after they were supposed to be released. But that waiting time is relatively short compared to what prisoners in Louisiana have to endure.
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The state generally sends prisoners with sentences of less than 20 years (and those with serious physical or mental conditions) to government-run prisons or detention centers in the local parishes, equivalent to county governments elsewhere. That means parish prisons not only serve as traditional prisons but are also officially designated extensions of the state prison system.
It was a cluttered and slow system with tangled lines of communication and jurisdiction — and many prisoners held after their release fell into the chasm between the state administration and the government. dysfunctional parish.
A judge released Brian Humphrey from prison in Bossier Parish in northwest Louisiana on April 16, 2019, after he served a three-year sentence for assault-related charges. He was about to leave that very night. Instead, he languished.
The corrections department, for reasons still unclear, even waited 10 days to begin processing his paperwork, according to records obtained in a 2021 class-action lawsuit filed by attorneys general. his filed against the state. Instead of releasing Mr. Humphrey, as he was legally bound, the parish sheriff transferred him to a state-run labor camp outside Shreveport, where he remained until he was released. free on May 13, 2019.
It was 27 days after his release date.
Louisiana has one of the busiest prison systems in the country, but parish sheriffs are often reluctant to release people they believe are at high risk of committing new crimes. Some even consider prisoners held in local facilities to be worth keeping as freelancers.
In October 2017, Sheriff Steve Prator of Caddo Parishes, which includes Shreveport, told reporters he was concerned that the recent criminal justice effort in the state was harmful to parish authorities. Not only does it lead to higher crime rates among “bad” ex-prisoners, but it also deprives employees of the free labor rights offered by the “good guys.”
