NEW ORLEANS — It appears there has been a delay in transferring violent juvenile offenders from the Bridge City Center for Youth to the new temporary juvenile facility at Angola.
Speaking in Avondale on Friday, Gov. John Bel Edwards said, “There’s certain things at the facility itself that remain in the works and then we also have to make sure we have housing for a certain number of the staff.”
Edwards previously announced a plan to move about two dozen young inmates, about half the prison population, to a building on the grounds of the Louisiana State Penitentiary. That announcement came after a recent spate of violence at the facility on the west bank of Jefferson Parish.
It has seen more than two dozen detainees escape since April 2021. In July, an escapee was accused of carjacking and shooting a man in Uptown New Orleans. He was eventually chased down and caught after crashing a stolen vehicle.
Sen. Pat Connick, R-Marrero, whose district includes the Bridge City Facility said he’s okay with the delay.
“Moving these juveniles to Angola is an important step in taking back control of our juvenile justice system and I think everyone knows the urgency of the situation. With that said, I have no problem giving the Office of Juvenile Justice the additional time they need to ensure the facility is ready and properly staffed prior to any transfer taking place.”
Activists, families of the incarcerated teenagers, and attorneys sued the state claiming the trauma of being housed at one of the nation's toughest prisons would be irreversible.
In her 64-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Shelly Dick in Baton Rouge said that "while locking children in cells at night at Angola is untenable, the threat of harm the youngsters present to themselves, and others, is intolerable. The untenable must yield to the intolerable."
Gov. Edwards admits the timetable for the inmate transfer is now to be determined.
“I don’t have a date certain, but it is obviously, given the passage of time since we made the announcement, we’re much, much closer and I expect it’s going to be done sometime between now and the end of the year, for sure.”
This week OJJ spokeswoman Nicolette Gordon told WWL-TV the office is working to make certain that if and when any transfers take place, they are done so in a way that ensures the safety of the juveniles and staff.
“For security reasons, no specific information about the timeframe of the transfers will be released at this time,” Gordon said. “However, OJJ will advise the media when the first group of youth is safely at the West Feliciana temporary facility.”
In the meantime, the state has increased security and manpower at the Bridge City facility. OJJ has also installed a new camera system and cut down trees to give guards better sight lines across the prison grounds and along the perimeter fence.
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