By Matt Davis, The Lens staff writer |

The Lens will host a live web stream Tuesday evening of a community forum hosted by a coalition that wants to encourage the U.S. Department of Justice to take legal action against Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman over jail conditions.

The meeting, being organized by the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition, will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Mahalia Jackson Center, 2405 Jackson Ave.

It’s been two years since the Justice Department threatened to sue as part of a report detailing what it said were unconstitutional conditions at his the Orleans Parish Prison and jail complex. Gusman has said he thinks he can reach an agreement with the department without a court order, but the department has insisted that it plans to pursue a consent decree, which would be supervised by a federal judge.

Department of Justice attorney Regina Jansen is scheduled to attend the forum, and testimony is expected to focus on prisoner experiences inside Gusman’s jail. Read more about the reform coalition’s recent efforts to broaden its community outreach here.

The Lens, which is part of the New Orleans Coalition on Open Governance, is hosting the web stream so that interested citizens will be able to watch if they cannot make it to the hearing.

Check back to this story tomorrow just before 6 p.m. to watch the live stream.