By Matt Davis, The Lens staff writer |
A reform coalition, calling for a smaller, more accountably budgeted jail, dropped off two copies of a 2,200-signature petition at City Hall this afternoon, having grown impatient with Mayor Mitch Landrieu for failing to “man up” on the issue.
“I think the mayor just needs to step up,” said Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition member Norris Henderson, who also runs the reform group Voice of The Ex-Offender. “Like the commercial said, he needs to ‘man up’.”
Henderson made his remarks at a press conference on the steps of City Hall two days before the City Council is scheduled to approve the city’s budget. Henderson said the coalition was trying again this morning to capture the city’s attention on the issue after reading remarks by Councilwoman Stacy Head encouraging more citizen involvement in the budget process. Head, as first reported by The Lens, said she has been disappointed by the lack of public engagement on the city’s budget.
The coalition is calling for two major policy commitments from the city: to cap the size of the new jail at 1,438 beds; and to reject Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman’s budget projections. Gusman continues to base his budget on per-prisoner, per-day revenue assumptions. The coalition wants a fixed budget based on performance measures.
So far the city has not made a commitment on the jail-size issue and has yet to honor a year-old commitment on budgeting reform, despite indications from Gusman that he would be open to the idea.
“The city said it was going to budget for outcomes,” Henderson said. “It needs to do just that.”
Landrieu convened a jail working group last September and charged it with deciding on a final size for the new facility by November 2010, but the group punted as tensions grew between Landrieu and Gusman.
At a budget hearing earlier this month, Guidry criticized Landrieu’s administration for failing to move away from the per diem jail financing. National experts slam the $22.39 per diem, calling it an incentive for Gusman to maximize the city’s already record-breaking incarceration rate. With jails seen as a factory for creating career criminals, community-based rehabilitation programs and a smaller jail would be more effective strategies for reducing rampant crime in New Orleans, critics contend.
The coalition asked for a response from Landrieu and the council before Thursday and said it plans to attend the council budget vote, regardless, to make its voice heard about the jail.
Landrieu was unavailable to receive his copy of the petition this afternoon and his Communications Director Devonna Dolliole and spokesman Ryan Berni brushed off a reporter’s requests to comment on the petition.
The reform coalition had also hoped to deliver a copy of its petition to Council President Jackie Clarkson but nobody in her office answered the telephone, so Henderson gave a copy to Councilwoman Susan Guidry’s chief of staff, Deborah Langhoff.
Langhoff said she would deliver the petition to the council. Clarkson’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment except to say that the councilwoman was in a meeting.
The reform coalition, whose 30 member organizations include the National Lawyers Guild, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Louisiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, has previously rented billboard space near the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and taken out a full page advertisement in The Times-Picayune newspaper to publicize its cause.
“The cover that the mayor needs is there,” Henderson said. “The political cover.”
Of course the ex-offender wants a smaller jail, which will result in more dangerous criminals on the street. If you don’t think so ask the citizens of California, where prisons are overcrowded and the state is being forced to let violent criminals out early.
Also, they can plead and beg the Mayor and the council but it will do no good since the rate is set by a federal consent decree and if all parties don’t agree than it must be litigated (that takes years).Therefore, the Sheriff is the one they need to beg and plead with….. However, as long as the crime rate continues to rise the prison population will also continue to rise!!!!!
There’s very little evidence that incarceration actually does anything to reduce the crime rate (there’s some effect on robbery and burglary if the offender is caught early in his career). We’ve seen the number of people incarcerated increase from about 200,000 to 2.3 million since the early 1970s and there has been very little effect on the crime rate (it’s gone up and down independent of the number of people we lock up). This is based on studies on the national, state and city level all across the country. Prison is a knee-jerk reaction to behavior that is rooted much earlier. California’s problem isn’t in their need to decarcerate or in the fact that they do so, but in the way that they chose to do so. Much of that increase in the number of people in prison is due to drug charges, the rest is due to gang and weapon charges. If we decide to just let anyone out of prison with no really thought into who (like California has done) then we have a problem, but if we do it intelligently then that’s a different story. Plus, the average prisoner’s age has increased quite a bit over the years as well. Because of mandatory minimums and truth-in-sentencing laws, people are staying in jail for longer periods than would have been the case before. This is mostly regarding non-violent offenders, since violent offenders have always and continue to be incarcerated for long periods of time. But as any criminologist will tell you, and I’m sure Gusman and Serpas both know this, there’s a huge aging out of crime that happens in people’s late 20s. Keeping someone incarcerated for much later is just a waste of tax-payer money (and older prisoners cost more because of health needs). I’d rather have my taxes goes somewhere more productive.
Even if Guidry can’t do anything about this issue, it still needs to be talked about. I mean for how long are we going to continue using the same ineffective, misdirected, and overly expensive solutions to crime? Our own stubbornness is costing us lots of money.
The Lens is always covering events given by Norris, and that gives the impression that Norris is the is the only one fighting for justice in the city, and so he’s entitled to funding by the city, and other resources available to better the community. And, you notice he always uses the numbers game to get what he wants. Those 2,000 signatures are from people
ignorant to his game. Betrayal. The only crime not punishable! And negroes like Norris violates this everyday!! Along with these hypocritical pastors, and I never see those stories in this newsletter, I wonder why?