Gov. Jeff Landry wants to change Angola's federal court after criticizing immigration rulings

WASHINGTON – Gov. Jeff Landry is seeking to move West Feliciana Parish — where the state penitentiary at Angola is located — into a different federal judicial district after criticizing “liberal judges” in the Baton Rouge area for letting immigration detainees out of the “Louisiana Lockup” there.

In a letter to Louisiana members of Congress on Thursday, Landry asked to move the parish from the U.S. Middle District of Louisiana to the Western District. In the letter, he cited an increase in cases, much of it driven by prisoners at Angola.

“The Middle District has seen a 35.2% increase in total filings since 2020 and currently has 25% more new filings per judge than the Western District,” Landry wrote. “Moving West Feliciana Parish into the Western District will improve judicial efficiency and better address public safety needs in East Baton Rouge Parish and the State of Louisiana.”

Congressional action is necessary to effect the Landry proposes.

But Landry showed another reason for the request Thursday when he blasted a federal judge in the Middle District over an immigration case.

“ALERT! The Liberal Judges of the Middle District of Louisiana are at it again,” Landry wrote Thursday afternoon on X. “Judge Shelly Dick has ordered the release of a convicted RAPIST from the Louisiana Lockup, allowing him to roam free.”

Landry continued: “News flash: in Louisiana, we protect victims and punish criminals NOT the other way around. Those who are in the Country illegally and commit crimes like this should be locked away until deportation! Shame on you Judge Dick!”

Gov. Jeff Landry wrote members of Louisiana's congressional delegation asking for a bill to move Angola from the jurisdiction of the U.S. Dist…

U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, the Baton Rouge Republican whose district includes West Feliciana Parish, reposted Landry’s criticism of Dick, and said she would be sponsoring a bill to move the parish’s jurisdiction.

“I stand with Governor Landry and [President Donald Trump] in supporting conservative judges,” Letlow wrote.

Earlier this month, both Landry and Letlow publicly criticized Middle District Judge John deGravelles after Fox News reported that the judge had ordered four Louisiana Lockup detainees to be released from custody.

Rep. Cleo Fields, Baton Rouge Democrat in whose district the federal courthouse is located, said Friday: “I have not seen evidence that the current district boundaries are failing the people they serve. The Middle District was established for good reason, and an established appeals process already exists for litigants who believe a court has erred. I remain committed to protecting the independence and integrity of our federal judiciary.”

The case Landry criticized

Landry was referring to a court order Dick signed Monday ordering the release of Roberto La Coss from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention.

“Court finds that Petitioner is substantially likely to succeed on the merits of his claim that he is unconstitutionally detained,” Dick wrote.

La Coss sought release through a motion for habeas corpus filed February 6. He was arrested September 16. She ordered an evidentiary trial for March 3.

A 47-year-old laborer from Madison, Mississippi, La Coss was born in Manila, Philippines and adopted by Americans stationed by the military in the country. He entered the country at the age of 21 and acquired permanent residence status six years later, according to court records.

As a 26-year-old in March 2005 La Coss pleaded guilty to statutory rape of a girl who was 14 years old or younger, court filings show. He served two years in the Rankin County, Mississippi jail, had 18 additional years in prison suspended and was required to serve five years of supervision upon release, according to his guilty plea.

His only other crime was a DUI in May 2021, court filings say.

Gov. Jeff Landry criticized Chief U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick's order releasing Roberto La Coss from ICE detention.

Chief Judge Dick was nominated by President Barack Obama, as were the two other federal trial judges sitting in the Middle District, which is headquartered in Baton Rouge and covers nine parishes.

Five of the seven federal judges in the Western District, which covers 42 parishes and 47% of the state’s population, were nominated by President Donald Trump; another by President George W. Bush; and the seventh judge by President Joe Biden. There is one vacancy.

The courts sit in Alexandria, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe and Shreveport.

The three Middle District judges had 474 cases filed in 2025, 72 of which were felony criminal actions. Their dockets showed 569 pending cases on the last day of 2025, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Criminal cases take an average of 11.3 months from filing to disposition.

The Middle District received 1,421 legal filings requiring judicial disposition, including supervisory release hearings, in 2025 and had 1,707 such actions pending at the end of the year. That’s the 35.2% increase since 2020 noted in the governor’s letter.

The Western District, by comparison, received 2,642 such filings – a 22.5% increase since 2020 – and had 3,247 actions pending at the end of the year, the Administrative Office recorded.

The seven Western Middle District judges had 377 cases filed in 2025, 55 of which were felony criminal actions and 464 pending cases on the last day of the year, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Criminal cases take an average of 10.5 months from filing to disposition in the Western District.

Staff writer Meghan Friedmann contributed to this report.