New Orleans Prison Described as a Gulag

By SABRINA CANFIELD

NEW ORLEANS (CN) - Ten people say in a federal class action that conditions inside Orleans Parish Prison are so vile they create a "public safety crisis that affects the entire City of New Orleans" - so dangerous that the federal government will no longer house its prisoners there.

The federal government last week withdrew its per diem funding for the prison, according to the complaint. The defendants "previously received a per diem from the federal government, but last week the U.S. Marshals announced that they have pulled all of their prisoners from OPP [Orleans Parish Prison] due to concerns about conditions and safety," the complaint states.

The class, of inmates and people who will be inmates, says most people incarcerated in Orleans Parish Prison are pre-trial detainees.

"Individuals housed at the jail are at imminent risk of serious harm. Rapes, sexual assaults, and beatings are commonplace throughout the facility. Violence regularly occurs at the hands of sheriffs' deputies, as well as other prisoners. The facility is full of homemade knives, or 'shanks.' People living with serious mental illnesses languish without treatment, left vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse. These conditions have created a public safety crisis that affects the entire City of New Orleans."

Conditions are so bad that "a 2009 findings letter by the United States Department of Justice concluded that conditions in Orleans Parish Prison are unconstitutional. Violations found included inadequate protection from harm, including specifically inadequate classification and staffing. The DOJ also found inadequate mental health and medical care, including staffing and an express finding of a failure to follow-up on mental health issues at intake screening," the complaint states.

It adds: "Recent Department of Health and Hospital (DHH) budget cuts have made OPP the largest psychiatric unit in the City of New Orleans. National statistics indicate that 64 percent of incarcerated people suffer from mental illness, and Orleans Parish's numbers are higher."

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Posted: Apr 08 2012, 5:53 AM

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Modern technological dungeons of the 21st century.

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