On January 3, 1979, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit under 28 U.S.C. § 1345 against the Jackson Parish Jail in Louisiana in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Previously, in 1978, the Justice Department had approved of suit being filed to ...
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On January 3, 1979, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit under 28 U.S.C. § 1345 against the Jackson Parish Jail in Louisiana in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Previously, in 1978, the Justice Department had approved of suit being filed to desegregate the Natchitoches Parish Jail in Louisiana. An internal Justice Department memo (written by then Assistant Attorney General Drew Days) in 1978 indicated that four other desegretation claims, including those to desegregate the jails in Jackson, Union, Webster and Bienvielle County Parishes, were substantially similar in nature. The memo noted that in all of these cases, the racial segregation was clear, and in most cases, admitted by jail officials.
On January 8, 1979, the district court approved a consent decree. We do not have a copy of the decree. The docket further references a motion and response concerning a plan for prisoner classification in April and May of 1979. We have no further information on the proceedings in this case.
Kristen Sagar - 09/09/2006
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