The family of a man who committed suicide at the Orleans Justice Center (OJC) by overdosing on illegal drugs has filed a federal lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Office and multiple jail personnel, saying they failed to ensure his safety while in custody.
The lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of Louisiana on behalf of Anthony Hunt, who was arrested by a New Orleans Police SWAT team on June 11, 2021, over an out-of-state arrest warrant. Hunt was not adequately scanned or searched prior to being placed in a cell, and he was declared dead the next day after taking the powerful synthetic opioid Fentanyl, according to the complaint.
“Mr. Hunt’s death was the result of multiple failures at the OJC, including a failure to recognize and respond appropriately to Mr. Hunt’s obvious medical emergency, a failure to adequately staff the facility to ensure Mr. Hunt’s safety, and a failure to properly screen Mr. Hunt to prevent illegal drugs from entering the facility,” the lawsuit states. “These failures are the continuation of unconstitutional patterns and practices at the Orleans Parish jail stretching back to at least 2008.”
The lawsuit also lists former Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman as a defendant. In 2009, Gusman was issued a “findings letter” from the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division that concluded the Orleans prison system’s mental health services were below constitutional standards and provided inadequate suicide prevention.
The Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office (OPSO) did not comment on the specifics of the Anthony Hunt lawsuit, noting that the incident occurred during Gusman’s administration. But spokesman Timothy David Ray said the new sheriff, Susan Hutson, has been working to reduce violence and increase oversight and care of inmates.
“Since taking office, Sheriff Susan Hutson has taken immediate action to protect the lives of and reduce the number of fatal and violent incidents amongst residents of the Orleans Justice Center,” Ray told the Louisiana Record in an email. “OPSO recently began installing new, state-of-the-art body scanners and x-ray machines to dramatically reduce the chances of contraband entering the jail.”
OPSO is also in the process of creating a new case management system that will help to detect and prevent drug overdoses, according to Ray. And new policies and training programs will be rolled out to implement de-escalation techniques within the jail system, he said.