Louisiana’s prison system routinely holds people weeks and months after they have completed their sentences, the U.S. Department of Justice alleged in a lawsuit filed Friday. The suit against the state of Louisiana follows a multiyear investigation into what federal officials say is a pattern of “systemic overdetention” that violates inmates’ rights and costs taxpayers millions of dollars a year.

Tens of thousands of prisoners deemed to be at low risk of committing crimes again have languished in lockup for as long as a year after they reached their release date under the First Step Act.

Louisiana's prisons often hold inmates long after they were supposed to be released following the completion of their sentences, the DOJ says.

Louisiana’s prison system routinely holds people weeks and months after they have completed their sentences. That is according to a lawsuit filed Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill issued a joint statement Saturday after the Justice Department filed a federal lawsuit against the State of Louisiana and the state’s Department of Public Safety and Corrections.

Governor Landry and Attorney General Murril released a joint statement in response to the U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit against the state of Louisiana, calling it frivolous.