NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana prison’s treatment of its mentally ill prisoners — including inadequate care, incomplete medical records and prolonged stints in solitary confinement — violates federal law and the Constitution, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Foote’s 165page ruling states that officials at the David Wade Correctional Center have used solitary confinement, also referred to as “extended lockdown,” as “a depository” for mentally ill prisoners that only worsens their mental illnesses. The Shreveportbased judge’s ruling, dated Tuesday, is the latest development in a 2018 lawsuit filed by criminal justice advocates on behalf of inmates at the prison in north Louisiana’s Claiborne Parish. Her findings were based on evidence of prisoner treatment prior to March 2020. Next in the case comes a January “remedy phase” in which the state will have to show what it has done to correct the problems. After that, the court will step in to force changes if needed, Foote wrote.
