Louisiana often holds inmates past their release date, DOJ lawsuit claims

Louisiana’s prison system routinely holds people weeks and months after they have completed their sentences, the U.S. Department of Justice alleged in a lawsuit filed Friday. The suit against the state of Louisiana follows a multiyear investigation into what federal officials say is a pattern of “systemic overdetention” that violates inmates’ rights and costs taxpayers millions of dollars a year.

DOJ alleges that since at least 2012, more than a quarter of the people due to be released...