BATON ROUGE - Attorneys have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to halt the state from temporarily moving its most violent juvenile offenders to the state prison in Angola.

The suit spearheaded by several Louisiana attorneys aims to stop the Office of Juvenile Justice from transferring those offenders from the Bridge City Center for Youth, a jail that's been plagued by constant escapes and violence within its walls.

The state announced the plan to relocate the juveniles earlier this year. It's part of a broader strategy that involves reopening the Jetson Correctional Center in Baker, a decision that's met with opposition from residents in that area.

“The State of Louisiana has ignored the comprehensive problems within the juvenile justice for decades,” said Ronald Haley, one of the attorneys representing the youth and their families. “Now, these problems have been deemed unmanageable and the solution is to send our troubled youth to a place where they will be ignored and forgotten–thus, passing the responsibility to an institution that has been sued for numerous civil and human rights violations. This is an unacceptable response to addressing the problems with OJJ."

Read the full statement here

Click here to read the full lawsuit