Almost a quarter of inmates who died from violence behind bars in Louisiana over a six-year period were housed primarily in local jails and had not yet been convicted of the crimes of which they were accused, a recent report by Loyola University found.
When they looked beyond violent deaths and included medical issues, drug overdoses, accidents and suicides, the researchers found about 14% overall were pretrial inmates, highlighting what they say are significant problems in how Louisiana's jails handle people before they get their day in court.