New Orleans, LA: ACLU files on behalf of 33-year-old Tangipahoa Parish inmate

Lawsuit: Mentally ill prisoner denied food, drugs

NEW ORLEANS —

A lawsuit accuses Tangipahoa Parish jail officials of routinely withholding prescription drugs and food from a prisoner for nearly two years while he suffered from severe mental illnesses.

A federal suit filed Monday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana claims 33-year-old Dennis Bargher Jr. lost nearly half his body weight and descended into hallucinations and delirium at the jail following his January 2009 arrest on a charge of carnal knowledge of a 15-year-old girl.

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Sheriff: Efforts made to settle ex-inmate’s claims

AMITE, La. —

Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Daniel Edwards says he has made changes at the parish jail and fired a nurse in connection with allegations that medication was withheld from a former inmate.

Edwards also acknowledged that there is some validity to complaints that 33-year-old Dennis Bargher did not receive adequate treatment for a psychotic condition while he was at the jail.

In a statement, Edwards said a recent lawsuit and a news release by the American Civil Liberties Union were unnecessary because his office had attempted to settle Bargher’s claims amicably.

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