Louisiana prison’s lockdown conditions violate inmates’ rights, are ‘mental torture,’ judge says – By Jacqueline DeRoberts (The Advocate) / Nov 3, 2022
A federal judge has ruled that a Louisiana prison violated the constitutional rights of inmates held in extended lockdown by “exposing them to mental torture” and depriving them of adequate mental health care.
Western District of Louisiana Judge Elizabeth Foote wrote in a 165-page opinion that the conditions and practices in one wing of the David Wade Correctional Center in north Louisiana “constitute cruel and unusual punishment,” and that the prison system was “deliberately indifferent” to the inmates’ plight.
“The evidence shows that inmates are deprived of basic psychological needs through policies and practices related to social isolation, enforced idleness, severe mental deprivation, and indefinite exposure to such conditions,” she wrote.
That environment often caused “inmates even more pain and suffering, including the worsening of their mental illness,” Foote said.
