JIM MUSTIAN and JACK BROOK.

In this image from body camera video from the DeSoto Parish Sheriff's Office, Jarius Brown is interviewed following a jailhouse beating that left him with a bruised face, fractured eye socket and broken nose at the DeSoto Parish Detention Center in Mansfield, La., on Sept. 27, 2019. (DeSoto Parish Sheriff's Office via AP)

A brutal beating by deputies was caught on tape. They were cleared by state police anyway

Never-before-seen footage shows two Louisiana deputies punching an inmate more than 50 times during a jailhouse strip-search in 2019. An Associated Press investigation found the Louisiana State Police initially justified the attack, which left Jarius Brown with a broken nose and fractured eye socket. But federal prosecutors later charged the deputies with excessive force, leading to their guilty pleas and prison sentences. The case highlights the safety net the U.S. Justice Department has long provided in local communities, a role advocates say is diminishing as the department scales back civil rights enforcement. Brown’s attorneys argued he deserves damages for the unprovoked attack.

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