A two-year U.S. Justice Department investigation finds that Louisiana, on average, holds inmates an additional 29 days beyond their release dates.
The investigation called it a violation of 14th Amendment rights and said the Louisiana Department of Corrections has known about this problem for a decade, but has done little to correct it.
More than 25 percent of inmates were held in custody past release dates from January to April of 2022. And nearly a quarter of them were held for three months or more after they should have been freed.
The investigation found that not only is it depriving people of their freedom, it is depriving taxpayers a lot of money. The state had to pay local jails about $850,000 for the days that people were overdetained.
"At that rate, this unconstitutional practice costs Louisiana over $2.5 million a year," the report said.
