Transfer of Bridge City inmates to Angola paused pending September hearing - FOX 8 Local First

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - The governor’s plan to move violent juvenile inmates from Bridge City to Angola will be paused at least until a federal judge hears arguments in court.

The proposed move was spurred by the escape of six inmates from the facility, at least the fourth escape so far this year.

In a conference call Tuesday (Aug. 23), a judge scheduled a hearing for Sept. 6. Governor John Bel Edwards has agreed not to move to incarcerated youth until at least Sept. 15.

Civil rights attorneys who filed the lawsuit asked to stop the move because they say it violates the juveniles’ constitutional rights by transferring them to a “dangerous adult prison without plans for providing them with important services like counseling and education.”

About 25 juvenile offenders are set to be transferred after repeated breakouts and reports of violence and riots at the troubled facility.

“They are going to have to find a place that’s secure,” attorney Ron Haley said after Tuesday’s conference call. “Not only to protect the children but the community. But the answer to that question cannot be to house in the same campus as adult prisoners. You’re just going to hand select these groups and then decide to place them there without any type of due process.”

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• ‘I have no sympathy’: Wife of shot carjacking victim wants Bridge City youth inmates transferred now
• Timeline still unclear for transferring violent Bridge City juvenile inmates to Angola

The wife of a man who remains in critical condition after police say a Bridge City escapee shot and carjacked him last month says she wants the juveniles transferred sooner rather than later.

“I want justice. You do adult crimes, you serve adult time. That’s the way it should be,” she said. “I have no sympathy. I have no empathy. My family’s never going to be the same.”

The judge has ordered the state to release a detailed plan within 24 hours. The Office of Juvenile Justice says the transfer plan is temporary until a more permanent solution is implemented.

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Transfer of Bridge City inmates to Angola paused pending September hearing - FOX 8 Local First
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