By JIM MUSTIAN and SARA CLINE, Associated Press

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The immigration detainees sent to a notorious Louisiana prison last month are being punished for crimes for which they have already served time, the American Civil Liberties Union said Monday in a lawsuit challenging the government’s decision to hold what it calls the “worst of the worst” there.

The lawsuit accuses President Donald Trump’s administration of selecting the former slave plantation known as Angola for its “uniquely horrifying history” and intentionally subjecting immigrant detainees to inhumane conditions — including foul water and lacking basic necessities — in violation of the Double Jeopardy clause, which protects people from being punished twice for the same crime.

The ACLU also alleges some immigrants detained at the newly opened facility should be released because the government failed to deport them within six months of a removal order. The lawsuit cites a 2001 Supreme Court ruling raised in several recent immigration cases, including that of the Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, that says immigration detention should be “nonpunitive.”

“The anti-immigrant campaign under the guise of ‘Making America Safe Again’ does not remotely outweigh or justify indefinite detention in ‘America’s Bloodiest Prison’ without any of the rights afforded to criminal defendants,” ACLU attorneys argue in a petition reviewed by The Associated Press.

The AP sent requests for comment to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry.

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The lawsuit comes a month after state and federal authorities gathered at the sprawling Louisiana State Penitentiary to announce that the previously shuttered prison complex had been refurbished to house up to 400 immigrant detainees that officials said would include some of the most violent in ICE custody.

The complex had been described as “the dungeon” because it previously held inmates in solitary cells for more than 23 hours a day.

ICE repurposed the facility amid an ongoing legal battle over an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades, and as Trump continues his large-scale attempt to remove millions of people suspected of entering the country illegally. The federal government has been racing to to expand its deportation infrastructure and, with state allies, has announced other new facilities, including in Indiana and Nebraska. ICE is seeking to detain 100,000 people under a $45 billion expansion Trump signed into law in July.

At Angola last month, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters the “legendary” maximum security prison, the largest in the nation, had been chosen to house a new ICE facility to encourage people in the U.S. illegally to self-deport. “This facility will hold the most dangerous of criminals,” she said.

Authorities said the immigration detainees would be isolated from Angola’s thousands of civil prisoners, many of whom are serving life sentences for violent offenses.

“I know you all in the media will attempt to have a field day with this facility, and you will try to find everything wrong with our operation in an effort to make those who broke the law in some of the most violent ways victims,” Landry, a Republican, said during a news conference last month.

“If you don’t think that they belong in somewhere like this, you’ve got a problem.”

The ACLU lawsuit says detainees at the facility already were “forced to go on hunger strike” to “demand basic necessities such as medical care, toilet paper, hygiene products and clean drinking water.” Detainees have described a long-neglected facility that was not yet prepared to house them, saying they are contending with mold, dust and ”black” water coming out of showers, court records show.

Federal and state officials have said those claims are part of a “false narrative” created by the media, and that the hunger strike only occurred after inaccurate reporting.

The lawsuit was filed in Baton Rouge federal court on behalf of Oscar Hernandez Amaya, a 34-year-old Honduran man who has been in ICE custody for two years. He was transferred to the facility last month from an ICE detention center in Pennsylvania.

Amaya fled Honduras two decades ago after refusing the violent MS-13 gang’s admonition “to torture and kill another human being,” the lawsuit alleges. The gang had recruited him at age 12, court documents say.

Amaya came to the United States, where he worked “without incident” until 2016. He was arrested that year and later convicted of attempted aggravated assault and sentenced to more than four years in prison. He was released on good-time credits after about two years and then transferred to ICE custody.

An immigration judge this year awarded Amaya “Convention Against Torture” protection from being returned to Honduras, the lawsuit says, but the U.S. government has failed to deport him to another country.

“The U.S. Supreme Court has been very clear that immigration detention cannot be used for punitive purposes,” Nora Ahmed, the ACLU of Louisiana’s legal director, told AP. “You cannot serve time for a crime in immigration detention.”

Mustian reported from New York

The updated and improved Central Park in Woodbury will have a phased reopening throughout October as construction continues beyond the initial estimated launch date of Oct. 1.

After more than a year of planning and construction, Central Park is close to being completed and ready for the public to enjoy once again.

“The whole intention was to get the space open in some capacity as quickly as possible,” said Woodbury Parks and Recreation Director Michelle Okada.

The project’s budget of $42.3 million was funded through grants, partner contributions, city funding and state bonds.

Lookout Ridge Indoor Playground, located on the lower level, opened to the public on Wednesday. Visitors can access it through both the East and West entrances, according to the city’s Facebook post. The indoor park will feature sustainable architecture, improved accessibility, an indoor playground, green space, comfortable seating and larger capacity event spaces.

“It’s a renovation of old spaces and addition of new spaces,” Okada said.

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Central Park, which first opened in 2002, required multiple updates after 23 years, Okada said. The indoor park, which connects the R.H. Stafford Library, YMCA and Stonecrest Senior Living, has become a staple in the city for people of all ages, she said. The improvements are meant to highlight features people previously loved about the facility, like the indoor green space, amphitheater and Lookout Ridge playground, while providing more points of accessibility and comfort.

One aspect of the update Okada and project partners expressed excitement over is increased seating. Because the space has access points to other organizations and resources, and stays open during the fall and winter months, people often enjoy sitting in the park, Okada said, but before the renovation, options were limited. As construction continues through October, the park will soon have multiple cushy seating options in the west and east entrances, as well as along the path of the indoor green space, she said.

“We really wanted the space to feel welcoming and inclusive,” Okada said. “Soft seating helps to create a welcoming environment.”

Some of the sustainable improvements include a solar rooftop, energy-efficient lighting and wood and metal structures. Visual updates will include a geometric light wall that guides visitors to the elevator, a public art display wall, nature-inspired mosaic murals, a painted mural at Lookout Ridge, a new water feature and more.

While portions of the park will continue to open in phases throughout October, the public is invited to celebrate the official grand reopening from noon to 4 p.m. on Nov. 2. Look for updates at woodburymn.gov.

Woodbury Central Park reopening

Location: 8595 Central Park Pl, Woodbury.

Lookout Ridge indoor playground: Opens Wednesday, Oct. 6. Hours: 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday; 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Cost: $8 per child. No cost for supervising adults.

More information: Visit woodburymn.gov/centralpark.

In a city where half of city households are renters, basic equity demands that city resources reflect this reality. Nearly half the population deserves a government that actively educates them about their rights and holds bad landlords accountable.

Instead, living in Section 42 housing —federally subsidized apartments for low and moderate-income families — I’ve discovered that the real challenge doesn’t stop after finding affordable housing, but learning how to exercise tenant rights in a system designed to make that nearly impossible for working people.

The reality is stark: More than 59% of St. Paul renter households — 33,800 families — earn less than 60% of the area median income. For those of us who secure housing, the city’s scattered resources and weak enforcement mechanisms make protecting our rights nearly impossible.

When housing problems arise, St. Paul forces renters to navigate multiple disconnected departments, each with different procedures and contact methods. The Department of Safety and Inspections (DSI) handles basic complaints at 651-266-8989, while the Rent Stabilization Division operates separately at 651-266-8553. Fair housing issues go to the Department of Planning and Economic Development, and appeals require navigating the Legislative Hearings Office.

Each department operates independently with different office hours, procedures, and timelines. For a renter facing multiple issues — perhaps a maintenance problem, a rent increase concern, and potential discrimination — getting help means becoming an expert in city bureaucracy rather than focusing on resolving housing problems.

Meanwhile, Minneapolis shows what’s possible when cities prioritize tenant empowerment. They maintain comprehensive public databases where tenants can research landlord ownership patterns and violation histories. Their new STOP Slumlords ordinance will remove the worst landlords from routine consent-agenda approval, requiring public City Council votes for license renewals. St. Paul offers only a basic Certificate of Occupancy Map that provides inspection grades but lacks the comprehensive information tenants need to protect themselves.

The city’s most fundamental failure lies in enforcement. St. Paul has created an elaborate system of tenant rights on paper while providing minimal resources to make them meaningful in practice.

Consider rent stabilization, which voters approved in 2021 to limit rent increases to 3% annually. Whether you agree or not, the city budgeted about $717,000 for rent stabilization in 2023, a modest amount for overseeing a program affecting nearly half the city. City officials acknowledge they have “limited resources” and say it’s “sometimes not worth diving deep” into violations.

The enforcement process typically begins with educational letters to non-compliant properties. DSI staff indicated they “would need a pretty significant case” to take a landlord to criminal court. Most violations result in little more than gentle warnings.

This creates an environment where even well-intentioned renters must calculate risk. In my building where management has been helpful, every maintenance request, every question about my lease, every concern requires careful consideration of whether seeking help might somehow jeopardize the home I’ve fought so hard to obtain. That calculation shouldn’t be necessary in a city that claims to protect tenant rights — but in St. Paul, it’s an essential survival skill when you’re living as a renter on eggshells.

In response to concerns like these, the city has passed additional tenant protections in 2025, including 30-day written notice requirements and prohibitions on new landlords raising rents during ownership transitions. My heart goes to the council members who fought for these protections.

However, protections without enforcement are merely suggestions. The same resource constraints that undermine existing rights will likely render these new protections equally ineffective. This goes especially for our neighbors of color. St. Paul sits within the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, which has the nation’s largest Black-white homeownership gap at 51 percentage points, with only 25% of Black households owning homes compared to 77% of white households. Failures in enforcement hit our most vulnerable, our neighbors of color, and everyone trying to simply get by in St. Paul while renting their home.

The dysfunction in St. Paul’s approach to renters became starkly evident this fall when city staff approved 28% increases for tenants on Ashland Avenue despite documented maintenance problems including water leaks, deteriorating foundations, wobbly staircases and mold. The tenants had to organize, hire lawyers, and spend months appealing to get the City Council to override staff and limit increases to 3%. As Council President Noecker noted, the city’s Department of Safety and Inspections failed to properly assess deterioration and code violations before approving massive rent hikes.

Even more troubling was the response from our other council members. Councilmember Molly Coleman argued that habitability questions should be determined through city inspections or housing court — seemingly missing that the city had already failed to conduct proper inspections before approving the rent hikes. Councilmember Anika Bowie worried about being “fair” to landlords who are “really breaking even,” apparently unconcerned that tenants were living with mold and water damage for years before they were faced with 28.5% rent increases. That problem properties like these litter both Ward 4 and Ward 1 (represented by Coleman and Bowie, respectively) should be concerning to anyone who rents and would seek their aid.

This is the fundamental problem: When the city fails to provide basic enforcement, some council members blame tenants for using the only avenue available to them. Bowie and Coleman essentially argued that tenants should accept massive rent hikes for substandard units because the city’s own inspection system had failed them. It’s a perfect circular trap — the city doesn’t enforce, and then criticizes tenants for seeking the only available remedy.

Meanwhile, our elected officials making housing policy — including our mayor and a city council composed entirely of homeowners — are personally insulated from these impacts. No homeowner would stand for a 28% increase to their monthly mortgage payment in these conditions, but a good portion of the city council seems to believe renters should settle for such increases in the name of naturally occurring affordable housing at all costs. Representation is important, and voters have seen the value of broad representation at City Hall. But what about the half of our city that rents? Who speaks for us when the city fails?

St. Paul must fundamentally restructure how it supports tenant rights. This means centralizing renter resources under a single department, creating comprehensive rental databases similar to Minneapolis’s system, and developing proactive inspection programs rather than relying on tenant complaints.

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The city should publish a renter’s bill of rights for every leaseholder to receive at lease-signing and regular reports on enforcement actions. Our City Council should adopt Minneapolis’s novel approach requiring properties below city standards to face public votes for their license renewals rather than hiding behind consent agendas. These properties are not just homes, they’re businesses and need to be regulated as such for the good of neighboring businesses, homeowners and renters alike.

A common refrain from City Hall is that to prevent these sorts of issues from coming up requires adequate enforcement tools, as current enforcement measures are limited. The city recently gained a potential tool when the City Council unanimously voted in January 2025 to allow administrative citations. However, even this modest mechanism faces a ballot challenge in November 2025 after opponents forced the measure to voters. I urge St. Paul voters to approve this measure in November.

Most importantly, the city must recognize that enforcement isn’t optional — it’s essential to making tenant rights real rather than theoretical. Put our money where it belongs: into enforcement of rights we’ve fought so hard to enjoy.

Some may dismiss tenant concerns as complaints of transient residents with less community investment. This misses a fundamental truth: renters care just as much about this city as homeowners do. We live here, work here, send our children to school here, and build our lives here.

Trust me, our packages get stolen just as much as yours do, and we don’t like it either. Our problems are more similar than they are different, and we’re all in this together.

Cole Hanson, a clinical dietitian, renter on University Avenue and longtime neighborhood organizer, was a candidate for the St. Paul City Council seat representing Ward 4.

By ADITHI RAMAKRISHNAN

NEW YORK (AP) — The moon will appear slightly larger and brighter Monday night during what’s known as a supermoon.

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October’s supermoon is the first of three this year. It happens when a full moon is closer to Earth in its orbit. That makes the moon look up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than the faintest moon of the year, according to NASA. The subtle difference happens a few times a year, sometimes coinciding with other astronomical events such as lunar eclipses.

“It’s not really very unusual,” said Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer with the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

Everyone in the world can see a supermoon without special equipment if clear skies permit. But the difference can be tough to discern, especially if people haven’t observed the regular moon on the nights leading up.

“If you go out and just look at the moon when it’s very high in the sky, there is nothing relative to it to give you an idea of how big it looks,” Pitts said.

In the latest viewing, the moon will pass within about 224,600 miles of Earth. The closest supermoon of the year is slated for November, followed by another in December.

The spectacles continue in 2026 with two lunar eclipses: a total eclipse across much of North America, Asia and Australia in March, and a partial one in August across the Americas, Africa and Europe.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.