Special Litigation Section

DOJ Releases Findings Report Detailing Patterns or Practices in Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, and the Oklahoma City Police Department that Violate Federal Law

The Justice Department completed its pattern or practice investigation of the State of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, and the Oklahoma City Police Department (OKCPD) on January 3, 2025. We concluded that the State of Oklahoma:

• Unnecessarily institutionalizes, or puts at serious risk of unnecessary institutionalization, adults with behavioral health disabilities in the Oklahoma County area;
• Provides insufficient community-based behavioral health alternatives to hospitals and residential care and nursing facilities in the Oklahoma County area; and
• Can reasonably modify its existing service system to meet the needs of Oklahomans in the community.

We also found reasonable cause to believe that Oklahoma City and OKCPD:

• Needlessly send police as the sole responder to most behavioral health calls, when a behavioral health response would be more effective;
• Do not ensure that OKCPD officers make reasonable modifications to their conduct when responding people with behavioral health disabilities, resulting in responses that are ineffective or harmful; and
• Could make reasonable modifications to avoid discrimination in providing an emergency response to people with behavioral health disabilities.

The Justice Department is committed to working collaboratively with Oklahoma, Oklahoma City and OKCPD to address and remedy the harms we identified in our investigation. We welcome ideas about the reform process. The report detailing our findings and an executive summary of the report are available online. To contact us, you can:

• Email MentalHealth.Oklahoma@usdoj.gov;
• Call (888) 473-3460; or
• Mail us a letter at:

Attn: Oklahoma Mental Health Team
Department of Justice, Special Litigation Section, Civil Rights Division
950 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530 

DOJ Files Complaint against the State of Louisiana Challenging its Unlawful Pattern and Practice of Overdetention

On December 20, 2024, the Justice Department filed a Complaint against Louisiana and the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections alleging that the state’s pattern and practice of detaining people after they have fully completed their sentences violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.  The lawsuit follows the Department’s investigation that began in December 2020 and resulted in a findings report issued on January 25, 2023 (view a one-page summary of the findings).  The investigation found that overdetention was routinely occurring within Louisiana, resulting in thousands of people held past their legal release dates each year.  The lawsuit alleges that despite knowing about this overdetention problem for over a decade, Louisiana officials have been deliberately indifferent and failed to take reasonably sufficient steps to correct the systemic deficiencies causing overdetention.  In its Complaint, the Department seeks injunctive relief to remedy this pattern or practice of constitutional violations that has affected thousands of people throughout the state.  Read a one-page summary of the Complaint. 

The investigation and lawsuit are a combined effort of the Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section and the United States Attorney’s Offices for the Middle, Eastern, and Western Districts of Louisiana.

Individuals with information regarding overdetention in Louisiana can contact the Department via phone at 1-833-492-0097 or by email at community.louisianadoc@usdoj.gov.

DOJ Secures Agreement with the State of Connecticut to Protect Children in Manson Youth Institution

On August 30, 2024, the Justice Department announced that it reached an agreement with the State of Connecticut addressing conditions for children at Manson Youth Institution, an adult correctional facility housing children charged in the criminal justice system.

The agreement requires Manson to:

• eliminate the use of disciplinary isolation;
• develop and implement a comprehensive behavior management program that incentivizes positive behaviors, teaches children coping skills, and ensures a daily schedule of structured activities;
• perform thorough and timely mental health assessments;
• provide appropriate mental health treatment;
• timely identify, screen, and assess students with disabilities; and
• develop and implement appropriate individualized educational plans. 

The agreement resolves the Department’s investigation of Manson under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act.  In December 2021, the Department notified Manson that there is reasonable cause to believe that conditions for children at Manson violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.  The Justice Department has been working with the State of Connecticut to remedy problems at Manson since 2021.

Individuals with information related to compliance with the settlement agreement are encouraged to report such information by email at Community.MYInstitution@usdoj.gov or by phone at 833-223-1565.

DOJ Releases Findings Report Detailing Violations of Children’s Rights in Five Secure Facilities Run by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.

On August 1, 2024, the Justice Department completed its pattern or practice investigation of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD). We found reasonable cause to believe that TJJD violates the constitutional and federal statutory rights of children in its five secure facilities. These facilities include Evins Regional Juvenile Center, Gainesville State School, Giddings State School, McLennan County State Juvenile Correctional Facility, and Ron Jackson State Juvenile Correctional Complex. Specifically, we concluded that:

• Protection from harm. Children are often exposed to excessive physical and chemical force. They also spend prolonged periods of time in isolation under stark conditions and without access to adequate services. And they endure sexual abuse.
• Mental health care. Children do not receive adequate mental health assessments, treatment planning, and counseling. TJJD also fails to provide adequate substance use disorder treatment and treatment for children who engage in self-harm or have suicidal thoughts.
• Special education. Children with disabilities do not receive a free appropriate public education. Special education services are not individualized; fail to include specially designed instruction, behavioral supports, related services, and transition services; and are based on outdated evaluations.
• Disability discrimination. Children with disabilities do not receive reasonable modifications to complete programs required for release, prolonging their time in TJJD’s custody or resulting in their transfer to adult prison. They also do not receive an equal opportunity to benefit from education.

The full report is available online in English and Spanish, along with a summary in English and Spanish.

The Justice Department welcomes your ideas about reforms. To contact us:

• Email TX.Juveniles@usdoj.gov;
• Call (866) 432-0438 (voicemail only); or
• Mail a letter:

Attn: Texas Juvenile Justice Department Team
Department of Justice, Special Litigation Section, Civil Rights Division
950 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530

DOJ Releases Findings Report Detailing Unconstitutional Patterns or Practices in the Phoenix Police Department and City of Phoenix

The Justice Department completed its pattern or practice investigation of the Phoenix Police Department (PhxPD) and the City of Phoenix on June 13, 2024. We found reasonable cause to believe that PhxPD:

• uses excessive force, including deadly force;
• with the City, unlawfully detains, cites, and arrests people experiencing homelessness and unlawfully disposes of their belongings;
• discriminates against Black, Hispanic, and Native American people when enforcing the law;
• violates the rights of people engaged in protected speech; and
• with the City, discriminates against people with behavioral health disabilities by dispatching police officers in response to behavioral health calls and by failing to modify their response to people in crisis.

The Justice Department is committed to working collaboratively with the City and PhxPD to address and remedy the harms we identified in our investigation. We welcome ideas about the reform process. The full report (English) (en español) is available online, and the executive summary is also available in English and Spanish. To contact us, you can:

• Email at phoenix.community@usdoj.gov;
• Call at 866-432-0335;
• Mail us a letter:

Attn: Phoenix Police Department Team
Department of Justice, Special Litigation Section, Civil Rights Division
950 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530