Screen Time
Disciplinary incidents dropped sharply within the Orleans Justice Center with the advent of electronic tablets, which stay on for 17 hours a day, bringing those in the jail new options — movies, music, videogames, and e-messages — all of which are tied to new charges — 50 cents for an e-message and about a penny…
Recent Posts
LNG terminals threaten to push Calcasieu River pollution ‘beyond repair’
The shrimp stopped coming up the Calcasieu River after Venture Global built its Liquified Natural Gas terminal. The river’s ongoing pollution, on top of decades of hazardous waste dumping, earned the Calcasieu the #9 slot on American Rivers’ 2025 list of most endangered rivers.
Angola’s Farm Line again asks judge for consistent shade and water
While prison officials and Farm Line workers disagree about whether the incarcerated workers have all the shade and water they need, Farm Line workers are asking the judge to reverse DOC’s recent policy changes, which make field work even more dangerous in Louisiana’s summer heat, they contend.
In Louisiana’s Cancer Alley, a legacy of resistance lives on.
In the River Parishes, at the site of the largest slave revolt in history, a new generation is fighting for a cleaner future.
Mississippi River named the most endangered of 2025 by non-profit American Rivers
With budget losses to both the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, mitigation grant programs to address riverine flooding could be impacted substantially. According to FEMA, every federal dollar spent on flood mitigation yields $7 in benefits.
Down the Drain: A watershed moment for America’s greatest wetlands
The Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, a journalism collaborative based at the University of Missouri School of Journalism in partnership with Report for America, publishes an examination of how legal and policy changes will impact wetlands in the basin.
One Iowa landowner fights to farm a designated wetland. Others could face consequences downstream
The 1985 “Swampbuster” law — which has protected millions of acres of U.S. wetlands from being cleared and plowed — is being challenged in court.
opinion
Levee board members have no sway over Army Corps design
The Army Corps controls the design and operational procedures of flood reduction, so it doesn’t matter whether the governor selects the levee board members or if a panel picks candidates – or even if we choose the first nine people coming out of church on Sunday.
For hidden wonders, visit wetlands near you
Learn more about the Mississippi River Basin’s wetlands from coastal Louisiana to the headwaters in Minnesota.
Dark Resurrection
Prisoners come to terms with the return of capital punishment in Louisiana.
It’s not a teacher raise, voices against Amendment 2 emphasize
As Louisiana restarts executions, stories about the state’s death penalty — from condemned men, victims, families, and those who work in the death chamber.
PODCAST
Behind The Lens episode 271: ‘Death warrant’
Nick Chastil and Katy Reckdahl on working conditions at Angola’s Farm Line, with an eye on summer heat, and execution in Louisiana, following the first state execution in more than a decade.
About the Lens
The Lens aims to engage and empower the residents of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. We provide the information and analysis necessary to advocate for more accountable and just governance.
