Federal suit targets crowded, unsanitary conditions, long stays in holding cells at St. Tammany Parish jail – By Sara Pagones (NOLA) / March 24 2020
Three men who say they spent from 13 to 18 days in crowded holding cells at the St. Tammany Parish Jail are taking St. Tammany Sheriff Randy Smith to court in a lawsuit filed Monday in federal court.
The suit, which seeks to create a class action, alleges that practices at the jail violate inmates’ civil rights and state law, which requires inmates to be moved to regular housing within 48 hours.
“The plaintiffs — who were pre-trial detainees and not convicted of any crime — were held in a filthy, cramped holding cell that was 10 feet by 20 feet and filled with up to 24 people,” said a news release from the law firm Romanucci & Blandon, which filed the suit in U.S. District Court in New Orleans.
Attorney Devon Jacob of Jacob Litigation, who is also representing the men, said conditions in the holding cells are especially abhorrent considering the coronavirus outbreak and the calls for social distancing.
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