Lewis v. Cain trial remedy phase begins June 6
Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as “Angola.” Photo courtesy of Mark Saltz/The Advocate.
Lewis v. Cain is a class action medical lawsuit brought by the Promise of Justice Initiative in 2015 that aims to improve medical care for the approximately 5,000 people imprisoned at Angola.
New Orleans, LA – Today a federal district court began hearing testimony regarding the appropriate steps needed to correct the constitutionally deficient medical care and other defects at Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola. People incarcerated in Angola brought the class action lawsuit in 2015, and therewith exposed the inhumane medical care at Angola.
After a 2018 trial, a federal judge issued a 2021 ruling that the medical care at Angola is constitutionally inadequate and violates the 8th Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The remedy phase will determine what remedy the plaintiffs will receive as a part of the ruling.
The class is represented by the Promise of Justice Initiative (PJI), along with Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, Disability Rights LA, the ACLU of Louisiana, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and attorney Jeffrey Dubner of Democracy Forward.
From “Angola is not only a prison, but a very expensive nursing home” by The Advocate. Photo courtesy of Ted Jackson/The Advocate.
The ruling made by the Federal Judge Shelly K. Dick in 2021 affirmed that the Angola’s standard of medical care is constitutionally inadequate, with an emphasis on the deficiencies in clinical care, specialty care, infirmary care, and emergency care. The conditions also violated the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act. She also noted in her ruling that “overwhelming deficiencies in the medical leadership and administration of health care at LSP contributes to these constitutional violations,” and that “defendants have been aware of these deficiencies in the delivery of medical care at LSP for decades.”
Some examples of the deficient medical care include, “A man denied medical attention four times during a stroke, leaving him blind and paralyzed; a man denied access to a specialist for four years while his throat cancer advanced; a blind man denied even a cane for 16 years." The suit included countless horror stories of incarcerated people who “have suffered unnecessary pain and suffering, exacerbation of existing conditions, permanent disability, disfigurement and even death as a result of ‘grossly deficient’ medical care.” according to PJI’s suit, as reported by The Advocate.
The remedy phase of the Lewis v. Cain trial will determine what changes must be made by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections (DOC) to ensure that the medical care at Angola is constitutionally adequate. PJI along with their co-counsel will make arguments as to which changes must be made to best serve the nearly 5,000 people incarcerated people at Angola prison, and bring the medical services into compliance with federal law. “Providing people who are incarcerated with adequate health care not only affirms our basic dignity as human beings, but it reduces future costs to taxpayers and facilitates successful reentry into society,” said co-lead counsel Jeffrey Dubner of Democracy Forward after the ruling was made by Judge Dick in 2021.
Dormitory at Angola. Photo courtesy of Jarvis DeBerry/Louisiana Illuminator.
This case’s significance rests in Louisiana’s history of over-incarceration and the infamously poor conditions at Angola prison. Lewis v. Cain has an opportunity to provide better medical care for one of our country’s largest prison populations, and give hope to every family and community member currently impacted by Angola’s inability to care for their sick and ill incarcerated loved ones.
“Everything we found when we began investigating this case more than seven years ago was occurring against the backdrop of Angola’s brutal history of slavery and convict leasing,” said Mercedes Montagnes, PJI Executive Director, after the 2021 ruling. “People were being forced out into the fields and into factories to work and were not being treated for their injuries and heat stroke. Men risk their lives at the prison rodeo every year, which generates millions of dollars in profits for the prison, and were not being treated for their broken bones. People were dying prematurely from treatable cancers. Delays in stroke care. Providers ignoring mounting symptoms before it’s too late. Now, we can tell our clients who have bravely been with us on this case since the beginning that things are finally going to change.”
Press Contact:
Jacob Weinberg, jweinberg@democracyforward.org
News Coverage on the Lewis v. Cain Remedy Trial:
Second phase of civil rights trial over Angola healthcare begins - The Lens
Louisiana Federal Court Schedules Remedy Hearing in Angola Prison Abuse Case - Legal Reader