BRIDGE CITY, La. — Two dozen juvenile inmates are expected to be transferred out of the Bridge City Center for Youth as early as this week.
Friday, a federal judge in Baton Rouge cleared the way for the most violent offenders to be sent to a new temporary juvenile facility at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.
In her 64-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Shelly Dick 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."
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 will be irreversible.
Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the state Office of Juvenile Justice declined to give many details about the transfer.
“The Office of Juvenile Justice 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, OJJ Public Information Officer Nicolette Gordon said. “For security reasons, no specific information about the timeframe of the transfers will be released at this time.”
Sen. Pat Connick, R-Marrero, whose district includes the Bridge City Facility released a similar statement saying “OJJ has identified the juveniles to be transferred to the Angola facility and are finalizing the details of the move. I am told for security reasons the time and date of the transfers will not be made public”
Connick is one of the local leaders pushing the state to send the most violent inmates away from the residential neighborhood on the Westbank of Jefferson Parish to a more secure facility.
“This is going to separate the good from the bad, so to speak, and send a message to those who just have no regard for the health and safety of anybody else saying 'if you have if you do hurt someone, if you do destroy, you're going to go to Angola,” Connick said.
The Bridge City Youth Center 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.
According to the OJJ spokeswoman, the office “will advise the media when the first group of youth is safely at the West Feliciana temporary facility.”
