Mortality Data and Related Policies, 2000-2020

Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections
Attn: Deputy Secretary’s Office
P.O. Box 94304
Baton Rouge, LA 70804

To LDPSC Public Records Staff:

Pursuant to the Louisiana Public Records Act, § 44:1 et seq., I hereby request the following records:

– Those which include time and date of all instances of death occurring in the offender population between January 2000 and December 2020.

– Those which indicate the total number of individuals in Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections (LDPSC) custody who died by any cause, separated monthly, from January 2000 to December 2020.

– Monthly population records that include the total number of deaths occurring among people in the custody of the LDPSC between January 2000 and December 2020.

– Final reports of death for all individuals in LDPSC custody who died between January 2000 and December 2020.

Additionally, I am requesting an opportunity to inspect or obtain copies of any and all LDPSC policies, regulations, and procedures, pertaining to...

– Investigations of in-custody deaths.

– Requirements for the performance of an autopsy or post-mortem medical examination of individuals who die while in LDPSC custody.

– The reporting of in-custody deaths to other governmental agencies.

– Next-of-kin notification in the event of in-custody deaths.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not. However, we respectfully request a waiver of these fees as we are affiliated with an educational or noncommercial scientific institution, and this request is made for a scholarly or scientific purpose and not for a commercial use.

Section 44:32(D) of the Louisiana Public Records Act requires a response within three business days. If access to the records I am requesting will take longer than that time period, please contact me with information about when I might expect copies or the ability to inspect the requested records.

If you choose to deny this request, please provide a written explanation for the denial including a reference to the specific statutory exemption(s) upon which you rely. Also, please provide all segregable portions of otherwise exempt material.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated assistance in this matter.

Sincerely,

Forrest Behne
Policy Director, COVID Prison Project
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Office: (919) 391-7962
340 MacNider Hall | Campus Box 7240
333 South Columbia Street
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7240

DOC Public Records Staff,

Thank you for your prompt reply and thorough explanation. I can only imagine how much work would be required in order to return all of those hard copy documents. Based on the $2500.00 deposit that you're describing it appears as though you're seeking to transmit tens of thousands of pages. We certainly don't wish to create unnecessary work for an organization that performs such critical work as yours. In order to free your records staff to pursue other vital tasks, we'll simply take the responsive documents that are currently digitized.

Since that would allow us to forgo the mandatory $0.25/page copying fee, I'll assume that the deposit will be substantially less costly. Perhaps you could even begin processing that request without an upfront payment.

Gratefully,

Forrest Behne
Policy Director, COVID Prison Project
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Office: (919) 391-7962
340 MacNider Hall | Campus Box 7240
333 South Columbia Street
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7240