Federal appeals court dismisses state's request to move kids back to Angola

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — On Wednesday, Jan. 10, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the state's request to keep juvenile offenders in the former death row facilities at Louisiana State Prison, now called the Bridge City Center for Youth.

A federal judge ordered that the state had to move young detainees from the Bridge City Center for Youth at West Feliciana in September and banned the Office of Juvenile Justice from housing them there going forward.

The state appealed the order, and the federal appeals court heard oral arguments on the issue in December.

In a mandate filed Jan. 10, the Fifth Circuit judges noted that the preliminary injunction expired on Dec. 7, before a decision could be made on the appeal. As a result, the court dismissed the issue as moot and vacated the district court's order.

The Office of Juvenile Justice moved the youth in September to the Jackson Parish Juvenile Facility in Jonesboro, and a new high-security facility for youths is being built in Monroe.

The judges noted that the state has not expressed interest in moving the offenders back to the BCCY-WF.

"... Even if youth are again housed at BCCY-WF, there is no indication on the present record they would be subject to the same conditions found by the district court to be unconstitutional," the federal court's mandate reads.

If they are again housed in Angola, separate legal arguments would have to be presented for any new claims.

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