Plaintiffs Cite Ongoing Unconstitutional Conditions, Harm to Prisoners and Staff

Lawyers representing prisoners in Orleans Parish Prison (OPP) today filed briefing opposing Sheriff Marlin Gusman’s movement of an additional 140 Orleans Parish prisoners to East Carroll Parish jail in Northern Louisiana on Friday. Gusman also announced that there are plans to move 50-60 additional prisoners. The latest group of relocated prisoners adds to the 150 prisoners that the Sheriff has already sent to that region of the state.

OPP remains under federal court oversight in Jones v. Gusman, the 2013 consent judgment that governs many areas of jail operations, including security, medical and mental health care, sanitation and classification. The Sheriff’s office remains non-compliant with most of the provisions of the Consent Judgment.

The City of New Orleans has filed a motion seeking the return of Orleans prisoners. The plaintiffs today joined the City in its request that the Department of Corrections prisoners be removed from the local Orleans jail. The plaintiffs specifically request the shutdown of the state Department of Corrections re-entry program being run out of OPP.

The MacArthur Justice Center is counsel for the plaintiff class in Jones v. Gusman. It represents the men, women and kids who filed the litigation and who are in the jail today. The following is a statement from Katie Schwartzmann, Co-Director of the MacArthur Justice Center and counsel for the plaintiffs in that litigation:

“The Sheriff’s decision to move even more Orleans pretrial detainees hours away from courts, their lawyers and families is absolutely outrageous. It is inexcusable that three years into this consent decree the jail remains so dangerous and understaffed that we now have to send unconvicted pretrial detainees to be held in other jurisdictions. Sheriff Gusman has had over two years to prepare for the day when the new jail would be ready to open. In those two years, the Sheriff has failed to hire and train adequate staff for the new facility.

“At the same time that he is shipping Orleans pretrial prisoners more than four hours away citing a lack of staffing, the Sheriff is keeping hundreds of sentenced DOC prisoners who could be serving time in state prisons. The Sheriff receives payment from the state of Louisiana for Department of Corrections prisoners, while the New Orleans taxpayers bear the cost of sending out local prisoners to other jurisdictions. In fact, Orleans taxpayers pay twice: once to out-of-parish jails, and again in increased costs of the public defenders who represent defendants now a half-day drive from the courthouse. There is no excuse for continuing to house convicted state prisoners while sending out local defendants who have not yet had their day in court.

“The Sheriff’s relocation of Orleans pretrial detainees could have significant serious impacts for all of the Orleans criminal justice system. If people charged with crimes cannot access their lawyers they cannot go to court. Criminal cases at the Tulane and Broad courthouse will be unable to move forward to trial. In addition to the significant human cost of people sitting in jail unnecessarily, the taxpayers will be responsible for paying to house hundreds of additional unnecessary prisoners as cases languish. This decision is incredibly irresponsible of the Sheriff, from a fiscal and a criminal justice perspective.”