This is one of a collection of § 1983 inmate cases filed in Louisiana federal courts to challenge the operation and conditions of confinement in the Louisiana prison system and in parish and city jails through Louisiana. These cases worked their way through the federal courts for the three decades.

In an effort to avoid inconsistent decrees, in Hamilton v. Morial, 644 F.2d 351 (5th Cir. 1981) [See JC-LA-3 of this collection] the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered that all federal litigation then against state, parish or local prison facilities, relating to inmate population issues, be consolidated in the District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana. Thereafter, many Louisiana state, parish, and city facilities entered into consent decrees which specified inmate population limits and officer-to-inmate ratios. Since 1981, those facilities were under the judicial oversight of District Judge Frank J. Polozola of the Middle District of Louisiana. Over the years Judge Polozola revised the decrees to adjust population caps and officer-to-prisoner ratios as necessary.

In this case, the original Consent Decree was entered on September 10, 1982 and the case was closed.

On August 4, 1994, District Court Judge Polozola ordered that all cases involving population caps for parish prisons must be reopened and reconsidered.

A modified Stipulation And Consent Decree was approved by Judge Frank J. Polozola on June 18, 1996. The Decree was again modified on February 21, 1997.

The PACER docket reflects that the case was closed on December 23, 1997.

Dan Dalton - 02/09/2007


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