A recent report by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor found that none of Louisiana’s local jails provide adequate care for incarcerated women, citing a lack of health screenings and failure to meet healthcare needs during and following pregnancy. The audit was conducted in accordance with Louisiana House CR 104 of the 2023 Regular Session, which directed the auditor to conduct performance audits of Louisiana’s state and local correctional facilities.
As of July 2024, there were 3,519 women incarcerated in Louisiana. Of those, 1,582 state offenders are under the supervision of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections (DPS&C), Division of Correction Services. However, the state’s only correctional facility for women — the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women (LCIW) — only has capacity for 450 women. The remaining 1,132 state offenders and the 1,937 local offenders are housed in local jails across Louisiana.
“Overall, we found that local jails lack sufficient procedures to comply with state laws related to the treatment of incarcerated women in Louisiana,” said Legislative Auditor Michael Waguespack in a statement accompanying the report. “Specifically, we found that none of Louisiana’s local jails, which house 87.2% of incarcerated women in Louisiana have sufficient, written procedures encompassing all requirements in state law regarding female incarceration.”
Use of Restraints
Although 40 of the 47 local jails housing women in Louisiana have policies and procedures relating specifically to incarceration, none of them fully addressed state laws, and more than half (57.5%) did not have procedures sufficiently limiting the use of restraints during pregnancy and postpartum recovery. In fact, at least three jails admitted that leg irons were used on pregnant or birthing women in spite of state law prohibiting their use. Additionally, 62.5% of jails did not fully document the use of restraints on pregnant women at all, and nearly 60% said that they do not advise pregnant incarcerated women of their restraint rights in writing, in spite of state law requiring they do so. This may be, in part, due to the fact that neither the Minimum Jail Standards provided by the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement (LCLE) nor the DOC’s Basic Jail Guidelines (BJG) address all of the requirements in state law for female incarceration. The auditor found that the LCLE’s Minimum Jail Standards have not been updated since 1991.
Lack of Healthcare
Nearly 55% of women who had been pregnant while incarcerated stated that they were not offered access to regular obstetrical care. At least two jails in the state reported that pregnant women were only given access to care when issues arose. Although the BJG requires routine obstetrical care or transfer to a capable facility during and following pregnancy for state offenders, this does not apply to pre-trial or non-state incarcerated prisoners housed in local jails. The report also found that most local jails (91.9%) fail to offer basic health screenings (pap smear, mammogram, colonoscopy, annual physical) to pre-trial inmates, and many fail to offer them at all. Instead, women are referred for a medical assessment only if they report concerning symptoms.
Lack of Hygiene
Although state law requires that jails provide feminine hygiene products to women at no cost, and the Minimum Jail Standards require health care items be replenished “as needed,” at least three local jails admitted to charging women for their products. Additionally, 40.5% of women reported that they are not always given sufficient hygiene products. According to the auditor, women reported that some jail staff are less likely than others to fulfill requests for hygiene products requested “as needed,” which could result in insufficient access. Additionally, although products given to incarcerated women require adhesion to underwear, 36.8% of local jails require women to purchase underwear from the commissary.
In addition to a lack of feminine hygiene products and underwear, some women reported that they had limited access to other daily hygiene products:
- Moisturizing soap: 41.2%
- Toothbrush: 31.5%
- Toothpaste: 32.5%
- Lotion: 47.8%
- Deodorant: 42.2%
Overall, only 31.1% of incarcerated women in Louisiana reported they had no issues obtaining hygiene products.
Lack of Privacy
While neither state nor federal law requires privacy measures such as shower curtains or privacy panels, these still help to protect the dignity and safety of incarcerated inmates. Unfortunately, 18.9% of Louisiana’s jails do not have privacy measures in shower areas. Additionally, half of incarcerated women in Louisiana stated they did not feel there was adequate privacy in bathroom areas. The auditor found at least one facility had no privacy panels or curtains had shower areas that faced the entry to the jail dorms.
Unequal Access to Education, Vocation, Recreation, and Visitation
Although the USDOJ has stated that a key component to reducing recidivism and preparing inmates for reentry to society is providing education and vocational training, 57.9% of Louisiana’s jails do not offer women the same programming opportunities as men, including GED classes. Although 38 local jails stated they offer trusty positions to offenders, 50% of them only allowed those positions to be filled by men. Of the 36.8% that did allow women to serve as trusties, women were only allowed to assist with cleaning services, while men could serve in cleaning, kitchen, laundry, yard maintenance, and mechanical services.
Though state Minimum Jail Standards require facilities to provide inmates with an hour of active, outdoor recreation at least three days per week, 36.8% of jails reported they do not allow women this minimum recreational time. In most cases, facilities stated this was due to efforts to prevent male and female offenders from being able to hear or view one another.
Nearly 80% of Louisiana’s incarcerated women have children under 18. Unfortunately, most local jails do not allow in-person visitation. Additionally, while all facilities allow virtual visitation through phone or video calls, the costs of these visits may be prohibitive, with video calls costing up to $0.25 per minute, and phone calls costing up to $0.21 per minute depending on the jail’s population.
In its response, the DOC objected to the auditor’s assessment, on the grounds that the report did not differentiate among state inmates housed within DOC correctional facilities, state inmates housed at local jails, and misdemeanor and pre-trial detainees housed within local jails.
“DOC has legal authority, control, and responsibility only with regard to state correctional facilities,” the DOC’s response states. “The Basic Jail Guidelines are not applicable to local jails that do not house state inmates, nor are they applicable to misdemeanor inmates or pretrial detainees.”
