ALEX A. v. EDWARDS
In July 2022, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards announced a plan to transfer dozens of incarcerated youths to the Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola. The facility is the nation鈥檚 largest and has a longstanding record of human rights violations. It housed some 5,000 adult men, the vast majority of them convicted of violent crimes.
A former official with the state Official of Juvenile Justice, called the move 鈥渁bhorrent鈥� and the 鈥渨orst juvenile justice policy decision probably ever made in modern times.鈥� The prison was not equipped to safely and humanely house youth and provide them with the educational and rehabilitative services required under federal law.
A coalition of civil rights groups and attorneys filed a class action federal lawsuit on behalf of children moved to Angola, and a federal judge in August 2023 ordered the state to remove them, citing unconstitutional conditions that amounted to 鈥渃ruel and unusual punishment.鈥� Children had been subjected to solitary confinement for days and weeks at a time; excessive force; denial of education; and the routine use of shackles, handcuffs and chemical agents. The state appealed the decision and lost, but the order was time-limited and no longer in force, returning the case to the district court, where the plaintiffs are seeking a permanent injunction to end the confinement at Angola or any other adult facility.
The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana.
